Hail in Texas, May 3, 2002

Name: Hail in Texas, May 3, 2002
Start: 2002-05-03T01:15
End: 2002-05-03T03:30
Location: Texas

May 3, 2002 · NWS SJT · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

Several severe thunderstorms moved through the Concho valley and the heartland overnight. These thunderstorms dropped large hail up to the size of tennis balls causing some property damage.

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: $10,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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.

Several severe thunderstorms moved through the Concho valley and the heartland overnight. These thunderstorms dropped large hail up to the size of tennis balls causing some property damage.

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 May 2, 8:43 PM CST, 4 hours 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 2, 8:43 PM CST, 4 hours 32 minutes before

WEST CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX
943 PM CDT THU MAY 2 2002

02Z SURFACE MAP SHOWS A COLD FRONT FROM JUST SOUTH OF KAUS TO NORTH
OF KDRT. GOES STRATUS/IR CHANNEL SHOWS LOWER CLOUDS MAKING THEIR WAY
UP THE ESCARPMENT...INTO THE NW HILL COUNTRY AND HEARTLAND ZONES. UP
NORTH...A STEADY STREAM OF MID AND HIGH CLOUDS EXTENDED FROM FAR W
TX...ACROSS THE BIG COUNTRY...INTO OK.

00Z MESO-ETA PROGS RAPID 850 MB MOISTURE RETURN OVER WC TX
OVERNIGHT...WITH DEWPOINT TEMPS IN THE 15-19C RANGE. 850 MB HEIGHT
TROF/DRYLINE IS PROGGED TO ENTER WC TX IN THE 12Z-15Z TIME FRAME...
AS A MIDLEVEL SHORTWAVE TROF MOVES INTO THE PANHANDLE. EXPECT RAIN
CHANCES TO BE CONFINED TO THE EARLY MORNING HOURS PRIOR TO AND JUST
FOLLOWING SUNRISE.

CURRENT FORECAST APPEARS ON TARGET...BUT WILL CHANGE FIRST PERIOD
SKY CONDITION TO REFLECT CURRENT AND EXPECTED TREND TO MOSTLY
CLOUDY...AND MAKE A FEW MINOR FIRST PERIOD ADJUSTMENTS ELSEWHERE.

14

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Runnels

When: May 3, 1:15 AM CST
Where: Runnels County, 1 mi N of Norton
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 31.883, -100.133

Hail, Coke

When: May 3, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Coke County, 12 mi SW of Robert Lee
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 31.783, -100.633

Hail, Coleman

When: May 3, 2:45 AM CST
Where: Coleman County, Novice
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 31.983, -99.633

Golfball size hail fell in and around Novice as severe thunderstorms moved through the area.

Hail, Brown

When: May 3, 3:30 AM CST
Where: Brown County, 3 mi N of May
Measured: 2.5 in hail
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: POST OFFICE
Coordinates: 32.033, -98.933

Tennis ball size hail fell over northern Brown county in the early morning hours breaking out windows and damaging roofs.

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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 Warnings in Texas, May 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: 5294387, 5294388, 5294389, 5294390.