Name: Damaging Wind in Texas, December 30, 2002
Start: 2002-12-30T22:45
End: 2002-12-30T22:45
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

Open the live radar over this ground

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 and power lines were blown down.

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 Dec 30, 9:15 PM CST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 30, 9:15 PM CST, 1 hour 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
915 PM CST MON DEC 30 2002

WILL UPDATE ZONES...AS NEW TOR WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED...UNTIL 2 AM.

SQUALL LINE TO THE WEST MARCHING TO THE EAST...NUMEROUS WARNINGS
HAVE ALREADY BEEN POSTED...TORNADO WATCH OUT FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS
UNTIL 9 PM. THIS ACTVTY IS EXPECTED END OVR SOUTH-CNTRL LA BEFORE
SUNRISE AS STORM SYSTEM MOVES INTO EASTERN LA.

EVE SOUNDING FM LCH HAS HELICITY AROUND 260 M2/S2...CAPE IS
SOMEWHAT LIMITED...BUT THIS WILL IMPROVE...WET BULB ZERO AT 11000
FT...PRECIP WATER AT 1.4 INCHES. NOW ADD IN A STRONG LOW LEVEL JET
AND MID ENERGY AND UPR LVL DIFLUENCE AND YOU HAVE ALL THE
INGREDIENTS NECESSARY FOR SVR WX OVRNGHT. WOULD EXPECT TO SEE
WATCHES CURRENTLY IN PLACE OVR TX SHIFT OVR TO LA BEFORE MIDNIGHT.

.LCH...SCA GMZ450-455-470-475

.PRELIMINARY NUMBERS...
AEX 54/62/40/62/41/56  +73210
BPT 54/61/40/64/46/63  +42100
LCH 55/62/42/65/45/63  +42100
LFT 58/63/43/64/46/63  +52100

K. KUYPER

Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 30, 4:28 AM CST, 18 hours 17 minutes before

LAZ027>033-041>045-051>055-TXZ180>182-201-215-216-311104-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
428 AM CST MON DEC 30 2002

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS...CENTRAL...
SOUTH-CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP THROUGHOUT THE DAY. A LINE OF
THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A FRONT WILL FORM IN CENTRAL TEXAS TONIGHT AND
MOVE THROUGH THE AREA OVERNIGHT. THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS HAS THE
POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER...TO INCLUDE TORNADOES...HAIL...AND
STRONG WINDS. ALL INTEREST SHOULD MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL
NEWS MEDIA FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AS THIS SITUATION DEVELOPS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY.

THE FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH BY TUESDAY MORNING...LEAVING CLOUDS AND
LINGERING LIGHT RAIN IN THE AREA THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING. A HIGH
PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE IN ON WEDNESDAY AND CLEAR SKIES WILL
PREVAIL UNTIL LATE SATURDAY. ANOTHER FRONT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE
THROUGH ON SUNDAY...ALTHOUGH RIGHT NOW IT APPEARS MOST OF THE RAIN
AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE WELL NORTH OF OUR AREA.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS MAY BE NEEDED TODAY.

YOST

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 73 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:43 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Jefferson

When: December 30, 10:45 PM CST
Where: Jefferson County, Port Arthur
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 29.900, -93.933

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, December 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: 5324116.