Tornado and Hail in Texas, October 12, 2001

Name: Tornado and Hail in Texas, October 12, 2001
Start: 2001-10-12T21:32
End: 2001-10-12T21:55
Location: Texas

October 12, 2001 · NWS EWX · 3 events in 1 county or zone

1 thunderstorm wind, 1 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 25
Property damage: $23 million
Crop damage: $250,000
Events: 3

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, 1 hour 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 12, 8:04 PM CST, 1 hour 28 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

In the hours before

Local storm report, Oct 12, 8:47 PM CST, 45 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO, TX
947 PM CDT FRI OCT 12 2001

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

0930 PM    DEL RIO                   TX   1.25 INCH HAIL
10/12/01   VAL VERDE                      REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT

0945 PM    5 N SABINAL               TX   TORNADO
10/12/01   UVALDE                         REPORTED BY CO-OP
                                          OBSERVERS

Local storm report, Oct 12, 9:03 PM CST, 29 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO, TX
1003 PM CDT FRI OCT 12 2001

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

0930 PM    DEL RIO                   TX   1.25 INCH HAIL
10/12/01   VAL VERDE                      REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT

0945 PM    5 N SABINAL               TX   TORNADO
10/12/01   UVALDE                         REPORTED BY CO-OP
                                          OBSERVERS

0950 PM    STONEWALL                 TX   TORNADO
10/12/01   GILLESPIE                      SEMI-TRACTOR
                                          TRAILERS OVER TURNED                                     OVERTURNED
                                          REPORTED BY
                                          EMERGENCY MANAGERS

PM

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

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

Thunderstorm Wind, Medina

When: October 12, 9:32 PM CST to 9:55 PM CST
Where: Medina County, 2 mi NW of Hondo
Measured: 100 kt (115 mph)
Property damage: $2.0 million
Crop damage: $100,000
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 29.367, -99.167

The damage at Hondo was due to the combination of a large tornado, severe downburst winds and large hail. The event was classic, as taught in the NWS Skywarn training program. Severe downburst winds (estimated in excess of 100 miles an hour), struck first, followed by heavy rain, then hail to the size of golfballs, and finally, just in front of the tornado, winds began to calm. This is the classic sequence - wind - rain - hail - calm - tornado. Wind damage began 2 miles northwest of the Hondo Airport, continued across the downtown area, and ended 5 miles southeast of the center of town. This damage was characterized by large limbs knocked from trees, trees uprooted, roofs and winds torn from homes and businesses, and power lines knocked down.

Hail, Medina

When: October 12, 9:35 PM CST to 9:55 PM CST
Where: Medina County, 2 mi NW of Hondo
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $500,000
Crop damage: $100,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 29.367, -99.167

Tornado, Medina

When: October 12, 9:40 PM CST to 9:50 PM CST
Where: Medina County, 1 mi NW of Hondo
Rating: F2
Path length: 1.2 mi
Path width: 500 yd
Injuries: 25 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $20 million
Crop damage: $50,000
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 29.367, -99.167

The tornado was spotted as it touched down near 940 pm CST just northwest of the Hondo airport. It grew to nearly 500 yards in width and moved toward the southeast for 1.2 miles across the airport and over the National Guard Armory before dissipating near the center of town. Although much of the damage was F0 and F1 on the Fujita Scale, the tornado was rated F2 because of the level of damage from the airport to the armory. During this time it destroyed a large hangar, partially destroyed the roof and walls of the concrete Armory and moved numerous mobile homes off their pads. One mobile home clearly showed the nature of damage from a tornado. The center of the mobile home was completely destroyed, along with a tree in front of it, while much less damage was indicted on both ends of the mobile home as well as vegetation near the ends. The storm also knocked out power to much of the area, and this, along with the darkness in the late night hour, made spotting very difficult. It is possible that additional small tornadoes might have accompanied the storm, but the combination of damage from the large tornado and the downburst winds, along with the darkness of the late night hour made it impossible to tell. Almost 150 homes in Hondo and almost 50 more outside the city were damaged, with nearly 100 mobile homes damaged. At least 10 houses and 30 mobile homes were destroyed. Losses to homes and mobile homes were estimated at 1.5 million dollars. In addition, nearly two dozen aircraft, including one corporate jet and 14 crop dusters, were damaged and destroyed at the Hondo Airport. Some were in collapsed hangars while others were lifted, tossed and set down across the Airport area. Commercial losses placed at 18 million dollars. At least 25 persons were injured.

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

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: 5269657, 5269658, 5269721.