Texas, 2001

Hail in Texas, March 8, 2001

March 8, 2001 · NWS SJT · 8 events in 4 counties and zones

Although scattered severe thunderstorms produced dime to nickel size hail on the evening of the 8th, the most extensive damage was the result of a long lived supercell. This supercell began if Fisher County near Rotan and tracked across part of Taylor County before striking the city of Coleman.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$2.8 million
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
8

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS SJT wrote it up.

Although scattered severe thunderstorms produced dime to nickel size hail on the evening of the 8th, the most extensive damage was the result of a long lived supercell. This supercell began if Fisher County near Rotan and tracked across part of Taylor County before striking the city of Coleman. Many roofs and automobiles were damaged in Coleman, with extensive damage reported.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS San Angelo, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 8, 2:13 PM CST, 57 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 8, 2:13 PM CST, 57 minutes before
WEST CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX
213 PM CST THU MAR 8 2001

AT 20Z THE POTENT UPPER LEVEL LOW WAS SITUATED NEAR BIG SPRING...PER
VISIBLE IMAGERY. PER LOCAL WARNING RADARS...DRYLINE EXTENDED FROM SONORA
AND SAN ANGELO...TO ROBERT LEE AND SWEETWATER. SCATTERED STORMS HAVE
FIRED ON THE DRYLINE...AS EXPECTED. CELL THAT HIT THE SJT REGIONAL
AIRPORT PRODUCED PEA SIZE HAIL...DESPITE PUNY VILS AND MEAGER MID AND
HIGH LRM/S. NO DOUBT COLD CORE ALOFT AIDING CAUSE. SEVERE STORMS STILL
POSSIBLE...MAINLY EAST OF A BALLINGER TO SONORA LINE...AS LOW LEVEL
MOISTURE MORE PLENTIFUL. SEE NEW DAY1 OUTLOOK. ELSEWHERE...EXTENSIVE
WRAP AROUND CLOUDINESS CAN BE SEEN ACROSS NEW MEXICO AND NORTHERN
TEXAS.

BOUNDARY LAYER MOISTURE TO REMAIN RATHER HIGH THROUGHOUT THE FORECAST
PERIOD. EXTENSIVE WRAP AROUND CLOUDINESS AND SCATTERED PRECIP THE RULE
TONIGHT...AS THE UPPER LOW TRACKS ALONG INTERSTATE 20. ON FRIDAY...WEST
CENTRAL TEXAS COMES UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF HIGH PRESSURE AT THE SURFACE
AND ALOFT. BUT DESPITE THE PRESENCE OF DOWNWARD SYNOPTIC SCALE MOTION...
THE BOUNDARY LAYER REMAINS VERY MOIST...DUE IN PART TO RECENT RAINFALL.
AS THE SURFACE RIDGE MOVES EAST OF THE AREA...RETURN FLOW MATERIALIZES...
PROMOTING MORE CLOUD COVER FOR FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY.

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS AGAIN POSSIBLE SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...AS YET
ANOTHER UPPER LOW TAKES SHAPE OVER THE DESERT SOUTHWEST.

PRELIMS...

ABI 042/061/043/064 3000
SJT 042/060/044/067 2000
JCT 043/062/043/065 3000

.SJT...NONE.

17

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Mar 8, 2:58 PM CST, 12 minutes before
TXZ049-054-064>066-071>073-076>078-098-099-113-114-127-128-139-
140-154-155-168>170-090000-

WEST CENTRAL TEXAS THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX
258 PM CST THU MAR 8 2001

...THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS MAINLY THE
EASTERN SECTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

A STRONG UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE EASTWARD ACROSS
WEST CENTRAL TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. IN ADDITION...
A DRYLINE WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS THE EASTERN SECTIONS OF THE REGION.
WITH UNSTABLE AIR IN PLACE ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE DRYLINE...SCATTERED
STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS WILL OCCUR DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED..

THIS OUTLOOK WILL RESUME SCHEDULED ISSUANCE ON MARCH 15 2001.
HOWEVER... THIS OUTLOOK WILL CONTINUE TO BE ISSUED AS NEEDED WHEN
THUNDERSTORMS THREATEN WEST CENTRAL TEXAS.

19

The radar

The San Angelo radar (KSJT), 121 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:12 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Kimble

When
March 8, 3:10 PM CST
Where
Kimble County, Junction
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
30.483, -99.767

Hail, Fisher

When
March 8, 3:12 PM CST
Where
Fisher County, Rotan
Measured
1.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
32.850, -100.467

Hail, Fisher

When
March 8, 3:35 PM CST
Where
Fisher County, Roby
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
32.750, -100.383

Hail, Taylor

When
March 8, 4:16 PM CST
Where
Taylor County, Buffalo Gap
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
POST OFFICE
Coordinates
32.283, -99.817

Hail, Taylor

When
March 8, 5:00 PM CST
Where
Taylor County, 3 mi N of Trent
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
32.533, -100.133

Hail, Coleman

When
March 8, 5:50 PM CST
Where
Coleman County, Silver Vly
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
31.967, -99.550

Hail, Coleman

When
March 8, 6:30 PM CST
Where
Coleman County, Coleman
Measured
1.75 in hail
Property damage
$2.8 million
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
31.833, -99.433

Hail up to the size of golf balls fell across a large part of the city of Coleman, causing extensive damage to area roofs and vehicles. Local insurance agencies reported nearly 1000 insurance claims, with damage reaching almost 3 million dollars.

Hail, Coleman

When
March 8, 6:52 PM CST
Where
Coleman County, Santa Anna
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
31.733, -99.333

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Texas in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, March 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5238722, 5238723, 5238724, 5238725, 5238726, 5238727, 5238824, 5238825.