1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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 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 Shreveport, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 23, 8:00 PM CST, 3 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
800 PM CST MON DEC 23 2002
WELL...RUC SEEMS TO BE VERIFYING WITH MOVEMENT OF FRONT...A LITTLE
FASTER THAN THE MESOETA I USED. BUT MESOETA IS VERIFYING WELL WITH
THE 2ND ROUND OF CONVECTION STREAMING IN FROM FTW AND SAT AREAS.
THESE STORMS COULD BE HAILERS GIVEN THEIR ELEVATED NATURE BEHIND THE
FRONT AND THE LIKELIHOOD OF COLDER AIR ALOFT WITH THEM. ANYHOW...NO
NEED TO LOWER POPS OUT WEST. ADJUSTED WINDS AND TEMPS IN SOME GROUPS.
NEW TORNADO WATCH COVERS SAME COUNTIES/PARISHES...EXTENDED TIL 3 AM
BUT TX PORTION IS INCREASINGLY BEHIND THE FRONT PUSHING SOUTHWARD
THROUGH OCH AND LFK ALREADY. 17
.SHV...TORNADO WATCH TIL 3 AM
TXZ152-153-165>167
LAZ010-011-013-017>022.
FLASH FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT SOUTH OF I 30.ARZ050-051-059>061-070>073-LAZ001>006-010>014-017>022-OKZ077-TXZ096- 097-108>112-124>126-136>138-149>153-165>167-241200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA 1200 PM CST MON DEC 23 2002 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA...NORTHEAST TEXAS...SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS...NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... THERE IS A MODERATE TO HIGH RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS GENERALLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 20...ESPECIALLY FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. FURTHER NORTH...THERE IS A SLIGHT TO MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ROUGHLY BETWEEN INTERSTATE 20 AND INTERSTATE 30. A VIGOROUS PAIR OF UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA TODAY AND TONIGHT. A WARM FRONT IS MOVING SLOWLY NORTHWARD ACROSS CENTRAL TEXAS AND SOUTHERN LOUISIANA...AND THIS EVENING IT SHOULD BE LOCATED FROM THE EAST TEXAS LAKES AREA TO NORTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA. IN THE WARM AND HUMID AIR SOUTH OF THE FRONT...SURFACE BASED INSTABILITY AND THE VERTICAL WIND PROFILE SHOULD BE CONDUCIVE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF TORNADIC THUNDERSTORMS. NORTH OF THE WARM FRONT...ELEVATED INSTABILITY ABOVE THE COOL SURFACE AIR WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. LATER TONIGHT...A COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP THROUGH THE AREA...BRINGING WITH IT AN ADDITIONAL ROUND OF THUNDERSTORMS...POSSIBLY AS A SQUALL LINE. THESE STORMS WILL ALSO BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING TORNADOES... LARGE HAIL...AND DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS. THIS IS A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SCENARIO. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF EMERGENCY MANAGERS...SKYWARN NETWORKS...AND STORM SPOTTERS WILL BE NEEDED TODAY AND TONIGHT.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
715 PM CST MON DEC 23 2002
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....PARISH/COUNTY LOCATION....
0525 PM 6 S VOWELLS MILL LA WIND DAMAGE
12/23/02 NATCHITOCHES TREES AND POWER LINES
DOWNED. FROM A STORM
SPOTTER REPORT.
0635 PM ALTO TX 1.25 INCH HAIL
12/23/02 CHEROKEE REPORT FROM SHERIFF OFFICE
0635 PM WELLS TX 1.25 INCH HAIL
12/23/02 CHEROKEE REPORT FROM SHERIFF
OFFICE.
VIII.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT, LA
816 PM CST MON DEC 23 2002
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0615 PM 3 SE ST MAURICE LA WIND DAMAGE
12/23/02 WINN TREE DOWN OVER HIGHWAY 71
BETWEEN ST MAURICE AND
MONTGOMERY REPORT FROM LAW
ENFORCEMENT
15PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
848 PM CST MON DEC 23 2002
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....PARISH/COUNTY LOCATION....
0840 PM 2 W DIALVILLE TX 1.75 INCH HAIL
12/23/02 CHEROKEE REPORT FROM PUBLIC...NWS
COOP OBSERVER.
0845 PM JACKSONVILLE TX 1.75 INCH HAIL
12/23/02 CHEROKEE REPORT FROM SHERIFF.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
930 PM CST MON DEC 23 2002
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....PARISH/COUNTY LOCATION....
0915 PM GALLATIN TX 1.75 INCH HAIL
12/23/02 CHEROKEE SPOTTER REPORT.
0915 PM HENDERSON TX 1.25 INCH HAIL
12/23/02 RUSK SPOTTER REPORT.
VIII.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
930 PM CST MON DEC 23 2002
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....PARISH/COUNTY LOCATION....
0850 PM GALLATIN TX 1.75 INCH HAIL
12/23/02 CHEROKEE SPOTTER REPORT.
0850 PM TURNEY TX 1.00 INCH HAIL
12/23/02 CHEROKEE FROM SPOTTER
0915 PM HENDERSON TX 1.25 INCH HAIL
12/23/02 RUSK SPOTTER REPORT.
0915 PM HENDERSON TX 1.75 INCH HAIL
12/23/02 RUSK COVERED THE GROUND ON
THE WEST LOOP. IT RESULTED
IN CAR WRECKS. FROM LAW
ENFORCEMENT.
THIS CORRECTS TIME OF THE GALLATIN REPORT.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
1005 PM CST MON DEC 23 2002
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....PARISH/COUNTY LOCATION....
0850 PM GALLATIN TX 1.75 INCH HAIL
12/23/02 CHEROKEE FROM SPOTTER...THIS
CORRECTS TIME OF EARLIER
REPORT.
0937 PM TATUM TX .88 INCH HAIL
12/23/02 PANOLA HAIL COVERED THE GROUND.
FROM LAW ENFORCEMENT.The Shreveport radar (KSHV), 118 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:58 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Numerous county roads underwater.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, December 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: 5321825.