Hail in Texas, May 30, 2002

Name: Hail in Texas, May 30, 2002
Start: 2002-05-30T16:15
End: 2002-05-30T18:05
Location: Texas

May 30, 2002 · NWS HGX · 5 events in 4 counties and zones

5 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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: $50,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

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 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 Houston/Galveston, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 30, 2:04 PM CST, 2 hours 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 30, 2:04 PM CST, 2 hours 11 minutes before

SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
304 PM CDT THU MAY 30 2002

MID AND UPPER LOW OVER LA THIS AFTERNOON.  MODELS STILL FAIRLY
CONSISTENT IN DRIFTING THE LOW SOUTHWARD INTO THE GULF BY FRIDAY
NIGHT.  MOST IMPORTANT ITEMS CONSIDERED INCLUDE POPS AND STORM
STRENGTH FOR THE FIRST PERIOD...THEN TEMPERATURES AND POPS FROM THE
SECOND PERIOD ON.

THE BULK OF THE ACTIVITY SO FAR TODAY HAS BEEN OVER LA.  HOWEVER...
WATER VAPOR SHOWS A DECENT VORTICITY AREA APPROACHING FROM THE NORTH.
WITH TEMPERATURES REACHING INTO THE UPPER 80S AND THE CURRENT MAPS/
ACARS SOUNDINGS INDICATING THE CAP HAS BEEN ERODED...FEEL STORMS ARE
LIKELY.  THESE SHOULD TAPER OFF TOWARD EVENING...SO WILL KEEP THE
CURRENT POPS IN PLACE FOR TONIGHT.  SEVERE ITEMS TO CONSIDER LOOK TO
BE HAIL AND WIND INLAND GIVEN THE CURRENT CAPE VALUES AT IAH...ABOUT
2000.  ALONG THE COAST THERE MAY BE ENOUGH OF A FAVORABLE WIND PROFILE
FOR ISOLATED TORNADOES TO BE CONSIDERED...THOUGH AS LCH MENTIONED
FUNNEL CLOUDS MAY BE MORE LIKELY.

STARTING SUNDAY THE MODELS MOVE A RIDGE OVERHEAD FROM THE NORTH AS THE
LOW PUSHES INTO THE GULF.  DEPENDING HOW CLOSE THE LOW IS WILL
DETERMINE THE POPS.  FOR NOW THINK THAT ISOLATED IS BEST FOR MAINLY
DAYTIME SEABREEZE ACTIVITY.  BETTER CHANCES LOOK TO OCCUR BY WEDNESDAY
AS THE RIDGE MOVES EAST AND A TROUGH APPROACHES FROM THE WEST.

PL-40
43

.HGX...NONE.

CLL BB 063/090 066/090 068 332
IAH BB 066/088 068/088 069 442
GLS BB 072/081 073/082 075 542

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 30, 11:30 AM CST, 4 hours 45 minutes before

TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-310100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
1230 PM CDT THU MAY 30 2002

...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS
EVENING...

AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE ROTATING AROUND AN UPPER LEVEL LOW
PRESSURE SYSTEM NEAR THE TEXAS-LOUISIANA BORDER WILL BRING SCATTERED
TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO THE REGION LATE THIS
AFTERNOON. IT APPEARS THAT THUNDERSTORMS WILL BEGIN TO DEVELOP
AROUND 2 PM NORTH OF A COLLEGE STATION TO CLEVELAND LINE. THIS
ACTIVITY WILL SPREAD SOUTH OVER THE REMAINDER OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS
LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING.

THE MAIN THREAT WITH THESE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE STRONG
DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL.

RESIDENTS ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS ARE URGED TO MONITOR THE WEATHER
FORECASTS DURING THE NEXT FEW DAYS AND BE PREPARED FOR POSSIBLE
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OR TORNADO WATCHES OR WARNINGS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OTHER WEATHER NEWS SOURCES
INCLUDING LOCAL TELEVISION OR RADIO STATIONS...OR ON THE INTERNET AT
WEATHER.GOV FOR THE LATEST UPDATES.

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 32 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:14 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Galveston

When: May 30, 4:15 PM CST to 4:20 PM CST
Where: Galveston County, Galveston
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Property damage: $3,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 29.300, -94.817

Hail, Galveston

When: May 30, 4:20 PM CST to 5:35 PM CST
Where: Galveston County, Texas City
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $15,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 29.400, -94.900

Hail, Harris

When: May 30, 5:48 PM CST
Where: Harris County, Houston
Measured: 1 in hail
Property damage: $15,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 29.733, -95.367

Hail at the Astrodome.

Hail, Fort Bend

When: May 30, 5:50 PM CST
Where: Fort Bend County, Stafford
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Property damage: $2,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 29.617, -95.567

Hail at US 59 and Wilcrest.

Hail, Brazoria

When: May 30, 6:05 PM CST
Where: Brazoria County, 3 mi SW of Alvin
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $15,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 29.383, -95.283

Hail at CR 435 just south of FM 1462.

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: 5299882, 5299883, 5299886, 5299884, 5299885.