Name: Damaging Wind in Texas, April 8, 2002
Start: 2002-04-08T02:37
End: 2002-04-08T02:37
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: $5,000
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 happened

The episode as NWS LCH wrote it up.

Trees blown down on Forest Ranch Road in north Vidor.

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 Lake Charles, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 8, 1:30 AM CST, 1 hour 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 8, 1:30 AM CST, 1 hour 7 minutes before

SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
230 AM CDT MON APR 8 2002

MOISTURE HAS SLOWLY INCREASED WITH A FAIRLY STRONG SOUTHERLY FLOW
FROM THE GULF.  THE LCH SOUNDING LAST NIGHT SHOWED A PRECIP WATER OF
1.61 AND A TOTAL TOTALS OF 46.  BOUNDARY LAYER RHS WILL CONTINUE TO
INCREASE TODAY WITH A PRETTY GOOD LOW LEVEL JET CAUSING STRONG
SOUTHERLY WINDS.  THIS SYSTEM WILL MOVE EVEN CLOSER TODAY INCREASING
THE CHANCES FOR RAIN.  HIGH OMEGAS TODAY WILL CONTINUE TO CAUSE A
CHANCE FOR SEVERE WEATHER THIS MORNING.  WINDS WILL BE VERY STRONG
FROM THE SOUTH TODAY WITH AN APPROACHING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM FROM
TEXAS.  TEMPERATURES WILL INCREASE RAPIDLY TODAY WITH GOOD WAA
EXPECTED.  HOWEVER...DUE TO THE INCREASE CLOUD COVER HIGH
TEMPERATURES WILL NOT INCREASE AS RAPIDLY AS THEY NORMALLY WOULD. A
COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA MONDAY NIGHT CAUSING A DRIER
AND MORE STABLE AIRMASS.  RHS ARE LESS THAN 30 PERCENT FOR MOST
LEVELS ON TUESDAY.

MARINE...BOY035 SHOWS A SOUTHEAST WIND OF 16 KNOTS WITH 6 FOOT
SEAS.  THE WINDS AND SEAS WILL CONTINUE TO BE STRONG TODAY FROM THE
SOUTH WITH AN APPROACHING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM FROM TEXAS.  THE LOW
PRESSURE SYSTEM WITH AN ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE
AREA TONIGHT CAUSING THE WIND TO SHIFT FROM THE NORTHWEST.  A
SCA IS IN EFFECT AND WILL LIKELY CONTINUE THROUGH TODAY.

LONG TERM...DRY AND STABLE AIR WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE END OF THE
WEEK.  MOISTURE WILL INCREASE WITH A SOUTHEAST FLOW BY FRIDAY
CAUSING A CHANCE FOR SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS.

.LCH...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY...GMZ450-455-470-475.

.PRELIMINARY NUMBERS...
    MO    TU    WE M T W
AEX 73/62/79/58/79 83000
BPT 76/64/81/60/81 82000
LCH 75/64/81/60/81 82000
LFT 74/64/81/63/81 84000

55

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. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Orange

When: April 8, 2:37 AM CST
Where: Orange County, Vidor
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 30.117, -94.017

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.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Texas in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Texas, April 2002

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: 5289492.