Tornado and Hail in Texas, March 29, 2002

Name: Tornado and Hail in Texas, March 29, 2002
Start: 2002-03-29T19:27
End: 2002-03-29T22:34
Location: Texas

March 29, 2002 · NWS SJT · 7 events in 3 counties and zones

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: $3,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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 SJT wrote it up.

Scattered severe thunderstorm moved northeast across the Big Country during the evening hours of the 29th. One of the storms produced a brief tornado near the town of Tuscola in southern Taylor County. The tornado touched down in an open field and produced no damage. Other storms produced hail up to the size of golf balls south of Baird and near Eula in southern Callahan County.

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 San Angelo, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 29, 2:40 PM CST, 4 hours 47 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 29, 2:40 PM CST, 4 hours 47 minutes before

WEST CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX
240 PM CST FRI MAR 29 2002

COMPLICATED PATTERN CURRENTLY. COLD FRONT CONTINUES TO SLOW AS IT
DRIFTS SOUTH THROUGH THE BIG COUNTRY AND IS NOW LOCATED JUST SOUTH OF
ABILENE. UPPER LEVEL LOW SPINNING OVER SOUTHERN BORDER BETWEEN AZ AND
NM. WESTERN EDGE OF MOISTURE PLUME ASSOCIATED WITH STJ HAD BISECTED
THE CWA EARLIER... ALLOWING TEMPS TO RISE MORE THAN ANTICIPATED OVER
WESTERN SECTIONS. LATEST VIS LOOP SHOWING LARGE AREA OF DEVELOPING CU
OVER SOUTHWESTERN TX WHERE AFTERNOON TEMPS ROSE TO 90 AND ABOVE UNDER
SUNNY SKIES.

MODELS CONTINUE TO SLOW MOVEMENT OF UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM WITH LATEST
AVN TRACKING THE SYSTEM OVER CWA TOMORROW AFTERNOON. EXPECT COLD
FRONT TO STALL OVER CENTRAL PORTION OF CWA THIS EVENING WITH SURFACE
LOW DEVELOPING OVER WESTERN PORTION OF CWA AND MOVING EAST ALONG THE
FRONTAL BOUNDARY SATURDAY MORNING. NOSE OF 40+KT MID LEVEL JET FCSTD
TO BE IN SW CWA AT MIDNIGHT AND MOVE TO WELL EAST OF CWA BY NOON
SATURDAY. BEST 850-700H DIV Q MOVES QUICKLY EAST OVERNIGHT TO THE
EASTERN PORTION OF CWA BY NOON TOMORROW WHERE TRIPLE POINT WILL BE
LOCATED... THEREFORE LOOKS LIKE AN AFTER MIDNIGHT TO EARLY MORNING
EVENT PRIMARILY. DRYSLOT WILL MOVE INTO THE SOUTHWESTERN COUNTIES
EARLY TOMORROW MORNING WITH RAIN CHANCES ENDING CWA WIDE MY MIDNIGHT
SATURDAY.

NEXT SYSTEM SLATED TO ARRIVE LATE TUESDAY WHICH SHOULD ONLY SERVE AS
A TEMPORARY COOL DOWN ON WEDNESDAY. TEMPS WILL BEGIN TO REBOUND ON
THURSDAY TO NEAR CLIMO BY FRIDAY.

CCF PRELIMS...

ABI 054/062/042/068 3851
SJT 058/069/044/070 4720
JCT 059/071/045/073 4730

.SJT...NONE.

15

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Mar 29, 2:18 PM CST, 5 hours 9 minutes before

TXZ049-054-064>066-071>073-076>078-098-099-113-114-127-128-139-140-
154-155-168>170-300000-

WEST CENTRAL TEXAS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX
218 PM CST FRI MAR 29 2002

...THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER MOST OF WEST
CENTRAL TEXAS TONIGHT...

A STRONG UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE OVER SOUTHEAST ARIZONA FRIDAY
AFTERNOON WILL MOVE INTO FAR SOUTHWEST TEXAS BY SUNRISE SATURDAY.
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP OVER WEST CENTRAL TEXAS
TONIGHT...AS THE UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE APPROACHES AND LOW LEVEL
MOISTURE INCREASES. INSTABILITY AND WIND SHEAR WILL SUFFICIENT TO
SUPPORT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...PRIMARILY SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 20
AFTER SUNDOWN. THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
WINDS. ISOLATED TORNADOS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION PLEASE SEE STATEMENTS AND OUTLOOKS FROM
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICES ACROSS TEXAS...OKLAHOMA...AND NEW
MEXICO.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

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

Hail, Nolan

When: March 29, 7:27 PM CST
Where: Nolan County, Roscoe
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 32.433, -100.533

Tornado, Taylor

When: March 29, 10:05 PM CST
Where: Taylor County, Tuscola
Rating: F0
Path length: 0.2 mi
Path width: 20 yd
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates: 32.217, -99.800

An Abilene TV station showed a brief tornado touchdown near the town of Tuscola. There were no injuries and no reported damage.

Hail, Taylor

When: March 29, 10:10 PM CST
Where: Taylor County, Tuscola
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 32.217, -99.800

Hail, Taylor

When: March 29, 10:10 PM CST
Where: Taylor County, View
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 32.350, -99.883

Thunderstorm Wind, Taylor

When: March 29, 10:25 PM CST
Where: Taylor County, 2 mi E of Potosi
Property damage: $3,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 32.317, -99.633

Strong thunderstorm winds ripped part of a roof off of a barn.

Hail, Callahan

When: March 29, 10:30 PM CST
Where: Callahan County, 12 mi S of Baird
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 32.233, -99.400

An NWS Cooperative observer reported hail up to the size of golf balls.

Hail, Callahan

When: March 29, 10:34 PM CST
Where: Callahan County, Eula
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 32.350, -99.567

What these are

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.
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

Every storm in Texas in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Texas, 2002 Warnings in Texas, March 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: 5285813, 5285898, 5285901, 5285902, 5285899, 5285897, 5285900.