Name: Tornado in Texas, November 15, 2001
Start: 2001-11-15T15:50
End: 2001-11-15T16:00
Location: Texas

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $100,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 Austin/San Antonio, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 15, 3:05 PM CST, 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 15, 3:05 PM CST, 45 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
305 PM CST THU NOV 15 2001

UPPER LOW CENTERED NEAR GUADALUPE PEAK TO CONTINUE CHURNING OUT BITS
OF ENERGY ON ITS SOUTH SIDE.  AS THESE VORTICIES COLLIDE WITH THE
MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR MASS OVER SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS AND THE HILL
COUNTRY TONIGHT AND FRIDAY...EXPECT MORE LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN EVENTS
ON TOP OF WHAT WEVE ALREADY RECEIVED LAST NIGHT AND TODAY.  A BRIEF
RESPITE NOTED IN RADAR AND SATELLITE DISPLAYS BUT THIS WILL BE SHORT
LIVED AS SATELLITE IMAGERY ALREADY SHOWS A SPEED MAX JETTING ACROSS
THE BIG BEND AND NORTHERN MEXICO TOWARD THE RIO GRANDE WITH
CONVECTION ONCE MORE BLOSSOMING WEST OF THE RIVER IN RESPONSE TO
THIS UPPER-LEVEL FEATURE.

UPPER LOW FORECAST TO MOVE OUT ON SUNDAY WITH SOME MENTION OF PRECIP
REMAINING IN THE EXTENDED FORECAST MUCH OF NEXT WEEK.

WILL CONTINUE THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH TONIGHT AND MENTION THE
POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN THE BODY OF THE FORECAST.
TORNADO WATCH TO RUN UNTIL 6 PM CST.

.PRELIMINARY NUMBERS...
AUS 62/72/60/73 9876
DRT 60/72/60/72 7765
SAT 63/72/62/73 9876

.EWX...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT ALL OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS AND HILL
COUNTRY.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Nov 15, 11:25 AM CST, 4 hours 25 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO, TX
1125 AM CST THU NOV 15 2001

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0940 AM    9 NW WIMBERLEY            TX   TORNADO
11/15/01   HAYS                           *** 1 INJ ***
                                          REPORTED BY HAYS COUNTY
                                          EMERGENCY COORDINATOR

0940 AM    9 NW WIMBERLEY            TX   PROPERTY DAMAGE
11/15/01   HAYS                           REPORTED BY HAYS COUNTY
                                          EMERGENCY COORDINATOR
WR

Local storm report, Nov 15, 3:40 PM CST, 10 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO, TX
340 PM CST THU NOV 15 2001

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

312 PM    4 N SAN MARCOS            TX   TORNADO
11/15/01   HAYS                           REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT

315 PM    2 S BUDA                  TX   TORNADO
11/15/01   HAYS                           REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT

335 PM    4 S AUSTIN BEN WHITE & I35  TX   TORNADO ON GROUND
11/15/01   TRAVIS                          REPORTED BY CITY OF
                                           AUSTIN

WR

The radar

The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 65 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:51 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Travis

When: November 15, 3:50 PM CST to 4:00 PM CST
Where: Travis County, 3 mi S of Austin
Rating: F1
Path length: 2.5 mi
Path width: 800 yd
Property damage: $100,000
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 30.233, -97.750

An F1 tornado estimated to be near 1/4 mile wide formed near William Cannon Road about 1/4 mile east of I-35 in Austin. It moved northeast for just over 2 miles. In the North Bluff Estates Trailer Park, at least two dozen mobile homes sustained minor to extensive damage. One mobile home in particular was overturned upside down against another mobile home and a car. The mobile home was tied-down. No reports of injuries as both trailers were empty at the time. In addition, tree and roof damage was evident to businesses in the area and an apartment complex across William Cannon from the trailer park. Several trees were again sheared at the top or completely uprooted. One pickup truck was lifted and placed on top of a pile of debris. It is possible there were two tornadoes in this event, especially due to the width of the damage path. However, based on the reports received to this time, and the survey made, the best conclusion is that one tornado occurred.

What these are

Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Texas in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Texas, 2001 Warnings in Texas, November 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: 5273159.