Tornado and Hail in Texas, October 12, 2001

Name: Tornado and Hail in Texas, October 12, 2001
Start: 2001-10-12T20:35
End: 2001-10-12T21:25
Location: Texas

October 12, 2001 · NWS EWX · 5 events in 3 counties and zones

2 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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: $80,000
Crop damage: $50,000
Events: 5

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 Oct 12, 8:04 PM CST, 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 12, 8:04 PM CST, 31 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
904 PM CDT FRI OCT 12 2001

SEVERE STORMS ONGOING ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE EWX CWA AND MUCH MORE
EXPECTED.  SPEED MAX STILL WEST OF UPPER TROUGH OVER ALONG TEXAS/NEW
MEXICO BORDER INTO THE BIG BEND AND APPEARS WILL ROUND THE BASE
AROUND OR JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT.  GOOD SHEAR...DIFFLUENCE AND CAPES
MAINTAIN SEVERE MENTIONS OVERNIGHT.  ONLY UPDATES WILL BE MAINLY FOR
THE HIGHLIGHTS AND POSSIBLY SOME TWEAKING OF VARIABLES.
04/06/08/PM

PERVIOUS DISCUSSION...
AREA LOOKS TO BE ON TRACK FOR SEVERE WEATHER TONIGHT...MAINLY OVER
NORTHERN AND EASTERN SECTIONS. STORMS SHOULD BEGIN OUT WEST LATE
THIS AFTERNOON OR EARLY THIS EVENING AND INTENSIFY AS THEY ENCOUNTER
LOW LEVEL JET OVER HILL COUNTRY INTO SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS.  BY LATE
EVENING...THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD ALIGN THEMSELVES IN SQUALL LINE
FASHION ALONG EASTERN (NORTH SOUTH ORIENTED) ESCARPMENT...MOVING
EAST RAPIDLY...WITH TORNADOES AND LARGE HAIL POSSIBLY ACCOMPANYING
STORMS.

INTENSITY OF LOW SHOULD ALLOW FOR GOOD WRAP AROUND CLOUDINESS
THROUGH MUCH OF THE DAY ACROSS EASTERN ZONES...WITH WESTERN ZONES
CLEARING RAPIDLY TOMMORROW MORNING.  WIDESPREAD LIGHT TO MODERATE
PRECIPITATION WITH SOME ELEVATED CONVECTION POSSIBLE AFTER FRONT
PASSES LATE TONIGHT AND THIS SHOULD CONTINUE THROUGH ABOUT LATE
MORNING.

MUCH COLDER AIRMASS WILL BUILD ACROSS AREA SATURDAY NIGHT WITH LOWS
DIPPING INTO THE UPPER 30S OVER THE NORTHERN HILLS...40S ELSEWHERE.
SUNDAY LOOKS LIKE ABUNDANT SUNSHINE WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE UPPER
70S TO NEAR 80. A BEAUTIFUL WEEK IS IN STORE NEXT WEEK WITH ANOTHER
SURGE OF COLDER AIR MOVING ACROSS TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY.
SKIES SHOULD REMAIN MOSTLY CLEAR THROUGHOUT MUCH OF THE EXTENDED
PERIOD WITH NORTHWEST TO WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT.  LOW TEMPERATURES WILL
BE IN THE 40S DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE WORK WEEK...WARMING INTO
THE 50S IN THE LATTER HALF.  HIGHS GENERALLY IN THE 70S MONDAY
THROUGH WEDNESDAY...WARMING INTO THE 80S WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY.

.PRELIMINARY NUMBERS...
AUS 62/69/44/77 8700
DRT 57/75/46/80 4100
SAT 62/73/42/78 8400

.EWX...NONE.

02/18

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Uvalde

When: October 12, 8:35 PM CST to 8:40 PM CST
Where: Uvalde County, 2 mi NW of Sabinal
Measured: 70 kt (81 mph)
Property damage: $50,000
Crop damage: $50,000
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 29.333, -99.483

The damage in the Sabinal area was due to a combination of severe thunderstorm wind downburst followed very quickly by a tornado. The strong winds struck the town first, damaging roofs of mobile homes and buildings and knocking limbs out of trees. A few trees were uprooted. The wind gusts were estimated at 70 miles an hour. The wind damage path was essentially square-shaped, between 4 and 5 miles on each side, and oriented from southwest to northeast. Following the wind, heavy rain was reported, along with small hail.

Tornado, Uvalde

When: October 12, 8:40 PM CST to 8:47 PM CST
Where: Uvalde County, 5 mi N of Sabinal
Rating: F0
Path length: 0.5 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Property damage: $30,000
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 29.383, -99.467

The severe thunderstorm ended quickly and a tornado was spotted at 840 pm CST by a trained Skywarn spotter. It was approximately 100 yards wide and occurred 5 miles north of Sabinal mostly in open country. It tracked for .5 miles toward the southeast, causing minor damage to two homes. It was rated F0 on the Fujita Scale. No injuries were reported.

Thunderstorm Wind, Medina

When: October 12, 8:45 PM CST to 8:50 PM CST
Where: Medina County, 8 mi NW of D Hanis
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 29.117, -99.383

A portion of the downburst that struck in and north of Sabinal was also found to be located in extreme western Medina County. The only damage was to vegetation.

Hail, Kinney

When: October 12, 9:00 PM CST to 9:15 PM CST
Where: Kinney County, Brackettville
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 29.317, -100.417

Hail, Uvalde

When: October 12, 9:15 PM CST to 9:25 PM CST
Where: Uvalde County, 10 mi E of Utopia
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 29.617, -99.367

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
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.
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 The tornado archive for Texas, 2001 Warnings in Texas, October 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: 5269525, 5269586, 5269587, 5269588, 5269589.