Severe thunderstorms rolled across much of West Central Texas during the afternoon and evening hours of the 7th. Two supercells produced a total of 5 tornadoes, 3 across the northern Big Country in Throckmorton County and 2 more across the Northern Edwards Plateau in Crockett County.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS SJT wrote it up.
Severe thunderstorms rolled across much of West Central Texas during the afternoon and evening hours of the 7th. Two supercells produced a total of 5 tornadoes, 3 across the northern Big Country in Throckmorton County and 2 more across the Northern Edwards Plateau in Crockett County. Although one of the tornadoes in Throckmorton was about three quarters of a mile wide and stayed on the ground for 16 minutes, it fortunately crossed open farmland, striking no homes were causing no injuries. Damage was more extensive with the southern supercell, with tennis ball size hail causing tens of thousands of dollars of damage to several ranch houses in eastern Crockett County. Other storms produced hail up to golf ball size across parts of the Concho Valley and Heartland.
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 Apr 7, 1:40 PM CST, 6 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED TIME
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX
240 PM CDT SUN APR 7 2002
UPDATED ZONE PACKAGE AGAIN TO ADD TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 8 PM THIS
EVENING FOR BROWN AND SAN SABA.
.SJT...TORNADO WATCH BROWN AND SAN SABA UNTIL 8 PM THIS EVENING.
...TORNADO WATCH ALL OTHER ZONES...EXCEPT MASON...UNTIL 7 PM
THIS EVENING.
...CAUTION ON AREA LAKES ALL ZONES THIS AFTERNOON.
23/HUBER
**** 312 AM CDT SUN APR 7 2002 DISCUSSION FOLLOWS ****
ONGOING PRECIP THIS MORNING ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS HELPED ALONG
BY A VORT MAX MOVING ACROSS AHEAD OF THE MAIN UPPER TOUGH OVER
WESTERN NEW MEXICO. PRECIP WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE EASTWARD ACROSS
THE CONCHO VALLEY AND BIG COUNTRY THIS MORNING. CONVECTION WILL
REMAIN ELEVATED EARLY THIS MORNING ABOVE A COOL AND STABLE
SURFACE...BUT WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE A LITTLE HAIL WITH A
COUPLE OF THE STRONGER STORMS. MAIN PRECIP THIS MORNING WILL OCCUR
ACROSS THE BIG COUNTRY AS THE STORMS CONTINUE TO MOVE NORTHEAST.
ANOTHER ROUND OF STORMS IS EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AS THE DRYLINE
OVER FAR WEST TEXAS MOVES EASTWARD ACROSS THE AREA AS THE MAIN UPPER
TROUGH MOVES EAST. STORMS SHOULD BEGIN TO FIRE EARLY THIS AFTERNOON
ACROSS WESTERN COUNTIES AND MOVE EASTWARD THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND
EVENING HOURS. LOW CLOUDS AND DRIZZLE ACROSS MUCH OF WEST CENTRAL
TEXAS WILL INHIBIT DAYTIME HEATING...BUT WITH COOLER TEMPERATURES
ALOFT...WILL STILL SEE DECENT INSTABILITY. ETA STILL SHOWING CAPES
IN THE 1500 RANGE BY THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS CENTRAL AND EASTERN
COUNTIES. EXPECT TO SEE A FEW SEVERE STORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING AS THE UPPER TROUGH AND DRYLINE MOVE THROUGH.
CLEARING EXPECTED TONIGHT FROM WEST TO EAST WITH TEMPERATURES A BIT
COOLER BY MORNING. ZONAL FLOW EXPECTED THROUGH MID WEEK WITH PARTLY
CLOUDY SKIES...WARMER TEMPERATURES AND NO PRECIP. THE NEXT UPPER
TROUGH MOVES INTO THE WEST COAST ON WEDNESDAY...REACHING WEST TEXAS
ON FRIDAY. LATEST MODEL RUN SHOWS THE TRACK A LITTLE FURTHER SOUTH
INTO WEST CENTRAL TEXAS ON FRIDAY AFTERNOON. WILL GO AHEAD AND
INTRODUCE MORE CLOUDS AND A SLIGHT CHANCE OF PRECIP INTO THE
FORECAST FOR FRIDAY.
CCF PRELIMS...
ABI 070/051/075/050 630
SJT 073/052/077/051 510
JCT 075/053/078/050 550
.SJT...CAUTION ON AREA LAKES TODAY.
08TXZ049-054-064>066-071>073-076>078-098-099-113-114-127-128-139-140- 154-155-168>170-071930- WEST CENTRAL TEXAS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 1200 PM CDT SUN APR 7 2002 ...THERE IS A MODERATE RISK FOR SEVERE STORMS OVER ALL OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON... A POTENT UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE OUT OF NEW MEXICO INTO WEST TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT. A DRYLINE WILL ADVANCE EASTWARD ACROSS MUCH OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS DURING THE AFTERNOON. THUNDERSTORMS WILL RAPIDLY DEVELOP BY EARLY AFTERNOON ALONG THE DRYLINE AS IT ENTERS WESTERN SECTIONS OF THE REGION. CONDITIONS WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR THE STORMS WILL RAPIDLY INTENSIFY AND BECOME SEVERE. GIVEN THE STRENGTH OF THIS SYSTEM...ISOLATED STRONG TORNADOS WILL BE POSSIBLE...ALONG WITH VERY LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. PEOPLE THROUGHOUT WEST CENTRAL TEXAS SHOULD TUNE INTO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL TELEVISION AND RADIO STATIONS FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. KEEP INFORMED OF THE LATEST WEATHER DEVELOPMENTS. BE READY TO SEEK SHELTER IF WARNINGS ARE ISSUED. SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED.
TXZ049-054-064>066-071>073-076>078-098-099-113-114-127-128-139-140- 154-155-168>170-071930- WEST CENTRAL TEXAS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 1208 PM CDT SUN APR 7 2002 ...THERE IS A MODERATE RISK FOR SEVERE STORMS OVER ALL OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON... A POTENT UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE OUT OF NEW MEXICO INTO WEST TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT. A DRYLINE WILL ADVANCE EASTWARD ACROSS MUCH OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS DURING THE AFTERNOON. THUNDERSTORMS WILL RAPIDLY DEVELOP BY EARLY AFTERNOON ALONG THE DRYLINE AS IT ENTERS WESTERN SECTIONS OF THE REGION. CONDITIONS WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR THE STORMS TO RAPIDLY INTENSIFY AND BECOME SEVERE. GIVEN THE STRENGTH OF THIS SYSTEM...ISOLATED STRONG TORNADOS WILL BE POSSIBLE...ALONG WITH VERY LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. PEOPLE THROUGHOUT WEST CENTRAL TEXAS SHOULD TUNE INTO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL TELEVISION AND RADIO STATIONS FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. BE READY TO SEEK SHELTER IF WARNINGS ARE ISSUED. SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED.
TXZ049-054-064>066-071>073-076>078-098-099-113-114-127-128-139-140- 154-155-168>170-071930- WEST CENTRAL TEXAS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 1209 PM CDT SUN APR 7 2002 ...THERE IS A MODERATE RISK FOR SEVERE STORMS OVER ALL OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON... A POTENT UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE OUT OF NEW MEXICO INTO WEST TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT. A DRYLINE WILL ADVANCE EASTWARD ACROSS MUCH OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS DURING THE AFTERNOON. THUNDERSTORMS WILL RAPIDLY DEVELOP BY EARLY AFTERNOON ALONG THE DRYLINE AS IT ENTERS WESTERN SECTIONS OF THE REGION. CONDITIONS WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR THE STORMS TO RAPIDLY INTENSIFY AND BECOME SEVERE. GIVEN THE STRENGTH OF THIS SYSTEM...ISOLATED STRONG TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE...ALONG WITH VERY LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. PEOPLE THROUGHOUT WEST CENTRAL TEXAS SHOULD TUNE INTO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL TELEVISION AND RADIO STATIONS FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. BE READY TO SEEK SHELTER IF WARNINGS ARE ISSUED. SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
25 hail, 5 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Law enforcement reported a brief tornado touch down 8 miles southwest of Ozona. No injuries or damage was reported.
A storm chaser spotted a second tornado from the main storm, passing south of Ozona in central Crockett County. Again, no injuries or damage was reported.
Hail up to the size of baseballs battered eastern Crockett County. At least one house suffered extensive damage, with many windows broken out and the roof destroyed. Several automobiles were also hard hit, losing their windshields and having extensive dent damage.
A supercell thunderstorm dropped the first of its 3 tornadoes across Throckmorton County. This initial tornado was short lived and weak, producing no injuries and no damage.
Immediately after the first tornado dissipated, a second larger, more stable multiple vortex tornado developed. Tracking along a 7 mile long path across western Throckmorton County, this tornado would reach over three quarters of a mile wide. Fortunately, the tornado tracked largely over open county and damage was minimal for a tornado of this size. Partially buried fence posts were torn out of the ground and disappeared, while a 300 yard path was swept clean and a large mesquite tree was ripped out of the ground.
The third and final tornado across Throckmorton County was similar to the first, a brief tornado touchdown in open country that produced no damage.
A severe thunderstorm produced high winds across Winters in northern Runnels County, downing a handful of large trees.
Nickel size hail covering the ground was reported.
Heavy rainfall of 2 to 4 inches across northern Throckmorton County forced the closure of at least 1 road 10 miles north of Throckmorton.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Texas, 2002Warnings in Texas, April 2002
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: 5287959, 5287961, 5287962, 5287960, 5288027, 5288028, 5288029, 5288041, 5288030, 5288031, 5288032, 5288033, 5288034, 5288037, 5288038, 5288035, 5288036, 5288039, 5288040, 5288042, 5288043, 5288124, 5288044, 5288048, 5288045, 5288123, 5288046, 5288047, 5288119, 5288120, 5288121, 5288122.