Hail in Texas, May 31, 2001

Name: Hail in Texas, May 31, 2001
Start: 2001-05-31T08:35
End: 2001-05-31T17:25
Location: Texas

May 31, 2001 · NWS HGX · 6 events in 4 counties and zones

4 hail, 2 funnel cloud, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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: $11,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 6

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 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 Houston/Galveston, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 31, 1:50 AM CST, 6 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 31, 1:50 AM CST, 6 hours 45 minutes before

SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
250 AM CDT THU MAY 31 2001

GENERALLY FOLLOWED ETA/MESOETA FOR FCST SINCE THEY SEEM TO HAVE A
BETTER HANDLE ON CURRENT CONDITIONS. INGREDIENTS IN PLACE FOR GOOD
RAINS ACROSS SE TX NEXT 24 HOURS. 00Z CRP/LCH SOUNDINGS WERE STILL
CAPPED...BUT MUCH WEAKER CAP THAN IN PREVIOUS DAYS. 850 MB ANALYSIS
SHOWS DEWPOINTS OF +14 TO +16 ACROSS EASTERN HALF OF TX. FCST MODEL
CROSS SECTIONS SHOW STRONG UVV AND PRESENCE OF UPPER LEVEL DIFLUENCE
ACROSS CWA TODAY AS SHORTWAVE OVER WEST TX MOVES TOWARD REGION. FCST
MODEL SOUNDINGS TODAY SHOW PWS OF 1.5 TO 1.6 INCHES...CAPES OF
2000-3000...AND LIS OF -4 TO -7.

EXPECT SCATTERED TSRA TO DEVELOP ACROSS CWA BY MIDDAY AND CONTINUE
INTO TONIGHT. WILL PLACE SEVERE WORDING IN FCST PER SPC DAY1 THOUGH
EXPECT SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE ISOLATED IN NATURE WITH NEARLY
SATURATED ATMOSPHERE AND WEAK WIND FLOW ALOFT. SLOW CELL MOTION WILL
LEAD TO POSSIBILITY OF HEAVY RAIN ALTHOUGH NO PROBLEMS ANTICIPATED
SINCE REGION HAS BEEN DRY LATELY. BEST LIFT SHIFTS TO SOUTHERN HALF
OF REGION TONIGHT. NUMEROUS OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES WILL PROVIDE FOCUS
FOR CONVECTION THIS AFTN/TNGT.

SHORTWAVE TROF SLIPS EAST OF AREA ON FRIDAY WITH SINKING MOTION
SPREADING ACROSS SE TX. WITH ATMOSPHERE UNCAPPED AND LIKELY PRESENCE
OF OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES...WILL LEAVE POPS IN FCST. 00Z AVN SHOWS UPPER
LOW MOVING INTO GREAT LAKES TOWARD WEEKEND WITH ANOTHER COOL FRONT
MOVING TOWARD NORTH TX FRI NIGHT. AVN KEEPS MORE MOISTURE IN PLACE
AHEAD OF THIS SYSTEM AND AGAIN DEPICTS VERY STRONG UVV OVER CWA
AROUND 12Z SAT. WILL LEAVE CHANCE IN FCST FRI NIGHT/SAT MORNING NRN
HALF AND SLIGHT CHANCE SOUTH.

THIS FRONT WILL ALSO STALL NORTH OF CWA...SO EXPECT TEMPS TYPICAL
FOR JUNE HEADING INTO THE FIRST FEW DAYS OF THE MONTH.

.HGX...SCEC FOR 20-60NM.

PRELIMS...
CLL EB 088/068 090/070 090 632
IAH EB 090/070 089/071 089 643
GLS EB 085/075 085/076 086 543

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 31, 3:00 AM CST, 5 hours 35 minutes before

GMZ330-335-350-355-TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-
312100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
400 AM CDT THU MAY 31 2001

...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER ALL OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS
TODAY AND TONIGHT...

AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE OVER WEST TEXAS EARLY THIS MORNING WILL
MOVE TOWARD SOUTHEAST TEXAS TODAY. THE DISTURBANCE WILL COMBINE WITH
A VERY MOIST AIRMASS TO PRODUCE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS
SOUTHEAST TEXAS TODAY. DUE TO THE UNSTABLE AIRMASS IN PLACE...A FEW
OF THE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND.
THE THREAT FOR SEVERE STORMS WILL SHIFT TO MAINLY THE SOUTHERN HALF
OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS TONIGHT.

THE STORMS WILL BE SLOW MOVING IN NATURE DUE TO WEAK WIND FIELDS
ALOFT. RAINFALL AMOUNTS ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS THROUGH TONIGHT WILL
AVERAGE 1/2 TO 1 INCH...WITH ISOLATED TOTALS UP TO 2 INCHES IN SLOW
MOVING HEAVIER STORMS. DUE TO THE DRY WEATHER OF LATE...SIGNIFICANT
FLOODING PROBLEMS ARE NOT ANTICIPATED.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND LOCAL MEDIA FOR THE LATEST
FORECASTS...UPDATES...AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 hail, 2 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.

Funnel Cloud, Wharton

When: May 31, 8:35 AM CST
Where: Wharton County, Hillje
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 29.278, -96.222 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Funnel Cloud, Brazoria

When: May 31, 10:18 AM CST
Where: Brazoria County, Angleton
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 29.168, -95.434 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Madison

When: May 31, 4:30 PM CST
Where: Madison County, North Zulch
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates: 30.917, -96.100

Hail, Madison

When: May 31, 4:38 PM CST
Where: Madison County, 2 mi SW of North Zulch
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Property damage: $2,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 30.900, -96.117

Hail, Grimes

When: May 31, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Grimes County, Cross
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Property damage: $2,000
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates: 30.800, -96.100

Hail, Grimes

When: May 31, 5:25 PM CST
Where: Grimes County, 4 mi E of Roans Prairie
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Property damage: $2,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 30.583, -95.883

What these are

Funnel Cloud: A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.
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

Every storm in Texas in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Texas, May 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: 5245164, 5245165, 5245166, 5245167, 5245168, 5245169.