An intense upper level low moving across West Central Texas spawned at least a half dozen tornadoes on the afternoon of the 30th. Although most touched down in open fields and produced little in the way of damage, one tornado did strike a house and cause moderate damage.
Every event with a place to put it. 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.
An intense upper level low moving across West Central Texas spawned at least a half dozen tornadoes on the afternoon of the 30th. Although most touched down in open fields and produced little in the way of damage, one tornado did strike a house and cause moderate damage. Other storms produced up to golf ball size hail near San Saba and quarter size hail west of Winters in Runnels County and in Albany in Shackelford County.
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 30, 11:31 AM CST, 1 hour 35 minutes earlier.
WEST CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX 1131 AM CST SAT MAR 30 2002 ZONE UPDATE RECENTLY SENT TO REMOVE SEVERE TSTORM WATCH. MINOR ADJUSTMENTS WERE MADE TO FIRST PERIOD POPS AND TEMPS. UPPER LOW WAS CENTERED OVER THE TRANS PECOS REGION...PER 1545Z WATER VAPOR IMAGERY. A SURFACE COLD FRONT EXTENDED E-W ACROSS THE NORTHERN CONCHO VALLEY. MOST RAINFALL WAS OCCURRING NORTH OF THE COLD FRONT... WHILE PARTLY SUNNY SKIES WERE IN PLACE JUST EAST OF THE LOW UPPER LOW CENTER. EXPERIMENTAL GOES SOUNDINGS ESTIMATED CAPES OF 1000 TO 1500 J/KG OVER THE CONCHO VALLEY AND NORTHERN EDWARDS PLATEAU AT 14Z. HAVE MAINTAINED CHANCE/SLIGHT CHANCE POPS OVER THESE AREAS FOR THE AFTERNOON PERIOD. 14
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO, TX
833 AM CST SAT MAR 30 2002
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0727 PM ROSCOE TX 1.00 INCH HAIL
03/29/02 NOLAN
1005 PM TUSCOLA TX TORNADO
03/30/02 TAYLOR BRIEF TOUCHDOWN
1030 PM 12 S BAIRD TX 1.75 INCH HAIL
03/30/02 CALLAHANPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED EVENT DATES
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO, TX
1156 AM CST SAT MAR 30 2002
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0727 PM ROSCOE TX 1.00 INCH HAIL
03/29/02 NOLAN
1005 PM TUSCOLA TX TORNADO
03/29/02 TAYLOR BRIEF TOUCHDOWN
1030 PM 12 S BAIRD TX 1.75 INCH HAIL
03/29/02 CALLAHANPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO, TX
1210 PM CST SAT MAR 30 2002
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0727 PM ROSCOE TX 1.00 INCH HAIL
03/29/02 NOLAN
1005 PM TUSCOLA TX TORNADO
03/29/02 TAYLOR BRIEF TOUCHDOWN
1010 PM TUSCOLA TX .75 INCH HAIL
03/29/02 TAYLOR
1010 PM VIEW TX .75 INCH HAIL
03/29/02 TAYLOR
1025 PM 2 E POTOSI TX WIND DAMAGE
03/29/02 TAYLOR ROOF BLOWN OFF BARN
1030 PM 12 S BAIRD TX 1.75 INCH HAIL
03/29/02 CALLAHAN
1034 PM EULA TX 1.75 INCH HAIL
03/29/02 CALLAHANThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 tornado, 5 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A tornado touched down along Ranch Road 384 in northeast Runnels County, striking and damaging a house. Part of the roof was torn off, allowing rainwater to enter the building.
A large tornado touched down in an open field northwest of Norton in northeast Runnels County. Little damage was reported.
Amateur radio personnel reported 2 simultaneous brief tornado touchdowns just south of Lawn in southern Taylor County.
Amateur radio personnel reported 2 brief tornado touchdowns simultaneously just south of lawn in southern Taylor County.
Trained spotters reported a large tornado across southern Callahan County. Fortunately, although the tornado traveled along a nearly 9 mile long track, the tornado crossed open country and little in the way of damage was reported.
Spotters reported a brief tornado touchdown in an open field just northwest of Cottonwood in extreme eastern Callahan County.
Amateur radio personnel measured a wind gust of 68 mph across southern Haskell County.
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, March 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: 5285903, 5285909, 5285904, 5285910, 5285905, 5285906, 5285907, 5285911, 5285908, 5285912, 5285913, 5285914.