Texas, 2002

Tornadoes and Hail in Texas, May 7, 2002

May 7, 2002 · NWS SJT · 16 events in 5 counties and zones

Severe thunderstorms moved across the big country. There were three reports of tornadoes with damage only to utility poles.

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
$31,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
16

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.

Severe thunderstorms moved across the big country. There were three reports of tornadoes with damage only to utility poles. Hail up to baseball size was also reported with a few of these storms. Two severe thunderstorms about an hour apart moved along the same path in Nolan 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 May 7, 1:27 PM CST, 5 hours 27 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 7, 1:27 PM CST, 5 hours 27 minutes before
WEST CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX
227 PM CDT TUE MAY 7 2002

MORE POTENTIAL FOR ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE DRYLINE THIS
EVENING. DENSE CIRRUS CANOPY...WHICH LIMITED SURFACE HEATING
YESTERDAY...HAS SHIFTED EAST OF THE FORECAST AREA EARLY THIS
AFTERNOON. COMBO OF STRONG HEATING AND MID-UPPER 60S DEWPOINTS
PUSHING CAPE VALUES INTO THE 2500 TO 3000 J/KG RANGE ACROSS THE
CONCHO VALLEY AND WESTERN BIG COUNTRY. AS OF 1845Z...DRYLINE HAS
PUSHED THROUGH MIDLAND AND FORT STOCKTON...SO MAKING EASTWARD
PROGRESS. PER MSAS...BETTER LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE OCCURRING NEAR
THE PECOS RIVER IN FAR WESTERN CROCKETT COUNTY. SURMISE STORMS
COULD INITIATE HERE. WEAK SHORTWAVE ENERGY IN SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT
EXPECTED TO INTERSECT THE DRYLINE BETWEEN 00Z-06Z...AIDING THE
CAUSE. SO PARAMETERS COMING TOGETHER. HOWEVER...THE CAP REMAINS
STRONG WITH CIN VALUES IN EXCESS OF 140 J/KG. THUS...BELIEVE
ISOLATED THUNDER WILL HOLD OFF UNTIL AT LEAST 6 PM...THEN PERSIST
THROUGH ABOUT 10 PM. STAY TUNED.

THE DRYLINE RETREATS WEST OF THE FORECAST AREA OVERNIGHT...BUT
DOESN/T STRAY TOO FAR. LOW CLOUDS LIKELY TO SPREAD OVER THE
HEARTLAND AND NORTHWEST HILL COUNTRY LATE TONIGHT. DRYLINE MIXES
THROUGH ALL BUT THE FAR EASTERN COUNTIES ON WEDNESDAY...BRINGING
WARM AND BREEZY CONDITIONS.

COUPLE OF COLD FRONTS...WITH UPPER SUPPORT...TO BRING DECENT RAIN
CHANCES TO WEST CENTRAL TEXAS THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY...THEN AGAIN
ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY. INITIAL FRONT PULLS UP STATIONARY SOUTH OF
THE FORECAST AREA THURSDAY AFTERNOON. STRONG LOW LEVEL JET THEN
PUMPS COPIOUS MOISTURE OVER THE STALLED BOUNDARY...GENERATING
SCATTERED ELEVATED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS MAINLY THE CENTRAL AND
SOUTHERN COUNTIES THURSDAY NIGHT. BOUNDARY THEN LIFTS NORTH INTO
THE CONCHO VALLEY AND HEARTLAND BY FRIDAY AFTERNOON...TOUCHING OFF
ANOTHER ROUND OF THUNDERSTORMS. STORMS TO LINGER OVER THE BIG
COUNTRY FRIDAY NIGHT...BEFORE THE WARM FRONT LIFTS NORTH OF THE
FORECAST AREA. NEXT OF KIN ARRIVES SUNDAY NIGHT...WITH MORE
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ALONG...NEAR THE BOUNDARY MONDAY AND
TUESDAY. ACTIVE MID MAY WEATHER PATTERN MATERIALIZING...RIGHT ON
SCHEDULE.

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY LOOK WARM AND HUMID IN CAPPED WARM SECTOR.

PRELIM CCF...

ABI 070/093/061/077 100
SJT 071/094/063/085 100
JCT 071/090/064/086 110

.SJT...NONE.

17

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 7, 1:30 PM CST, 5 hours 24 minutes before
TXZ049-054-064>066-071>073-076>078-098-099-113-114-127-128-139-140-
154-155-168>170-072330-

WEST CENTRAL TEXAS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX
230 PM CDT TUE MAY 7 2002

...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE NORTHERN BIG COUNTRY
THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

AN EASTWARD MOVING DRYLINE WILL APPROACH THE WESTERN PORTIONS OF
WEST CENTRAL TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING... BUT A PERSISTENT
WARM LAYER OF AIR ALOFT WILL ACT TO INHIBIT THUNDERSTORM
DEVELOPMENT. HOWEVER... GIVEN STRONG HEATING UNDER MOSTLY CLEAR
SKIES THIS AFTERNOON IN THE VICINITY OF THE DRY LINE... ISOLATED
NON-SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP ACROSS PRIMARILY THE WESTERN
HALF OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS. WITH MODERATE TO STRONG INSTABILITY
FORECASTED ACROSS THE NORTHERN BIG COUNTRY... THERE IS THE
POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING NORTH OF INTERSTATE
20. THESE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL... DAMAGING
WINDS... AND ISOLATED TORNADOES.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.

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

12 hail, 3 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Sterling

When
May 7, 6:54 PM CST
Where
Sterling County, 12 mi W of Sterling City
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
31.833, -101.200

Hail, Sterling

When
May 7, 7:10 PM CST
Where
Sterling County, Sterling City
Measured
1.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
31.833, -101.000

A law enforcement officer reported golfball size hail on the north side of Sterling City.

Hail, Nolan

When
May 7, 7:20 PM CST
Where
Nolan County, Roscoe
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
32.433, -100.533

Tornado, Nolan

When
May 7, 7:50 PM CST
Where
Nolan County, 9 mi S of Sweetwater
Rating
F0
Path length
0.5 mi
Path width
20 yd
Property damage
$1,000
Reported by
FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD
Coordinates
32.333, -100.400

The fire department reported a narrow debris path crossing state highway 70 south of Sweetwater.

Hail, Nolan

When
May 7, 8:00 PM CST
Where
Nolan County, 2 mi SW of Maryneal
Measured
2.75 in hail
Property damage
$15,000
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
32.250, -100.467

A severe thunderstorm produced damage to several cars at a camp near Maryneal.

Hail, Nolan

When
May 7, 8:25 PM CST
Where
Nolan County, Maryneal
Measured
1.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
32.267, -100.450

A second severe thunderstorm moves into Maryneal producing golfball size hail.

Hail, Nolan

When
May 7, 8:30 PM CST
Where
Nolan County, 7 mi SE of Sweetwater
Measured
1.75 in hail
Property damage
$8,000
Reported by
FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD
Coordinates
32.400, -100.317

Golfball size hail produce roof and window damage to a house near Lake Sweetwater.

Thunderstorm Wind, Nolan

When
May 7, 8:30 PM CST
Where
Nolan County, 7 mi SE of Sweetwater
Property damage
$5,000
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
32.400, -100.317

High thunderstorm winds blew down several trees at the Lake Sweetwater Country Club. One house had some slight damage due to the winds.

Hail, Taylor

When
May 7, 8:35 PM CST
Where
Taylor County, Trent
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
32.483, -100.133

Tornado, Jones

When
May 7, 8:45 PM CST
Where
Jones County, Hawley
Rating
F0
Path length
0.2 mi
Path width
20 yd
Property damage
$1,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
32.617, -99.833

A brief tornado blew down a few utility poles near Hawley.

Tornado, Taylor

When
May 7, 8:45 PM CST
Where
Taylor County, Abilene
Rating
F0
Path length
0.2 mi
Path width
20 yd
Property damage
$1,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
32.450, -99.733

A brief tornado blew down a few power poles on the north side of Abilene.

Hail, Taylor

When
May 7, 8:50 PM CST
Where
Taylor County, 12 mi S of Trent
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
AMATEUR RADIO
Coordinates
32.317, -100.133

Hail, Shackelford

When
May 7, 9:10 PM CST
Where
Shackelford County, Albany
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
32.733, -99.300

Hail, Nolan

When
May 7, 9:28 PM CST
Where
Nolan County, 7 mi SE of Sweetwater
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
32.400, -100.317

The second severe thunderstorm about an hour apart moves across Lake Sweetwater.

Hail, Taylor

When
May 7, 9:28 PM CST
Where
Taylor County, Abilene
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
32.450, -99.733

Quarter size hail feel at the intersection of south first and Willis in Abilene.

Hail, Taylor

When
May 7, 9:30 PM CST
Where
Taylor County, Abilene
Measured
1.75 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
32.450, -99.733

Golfball size hail feel at Abilene Christian University.

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

More

Every storm in Texas in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Texas, 2002Warnings 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: 5294478, 5294479, 5294480, 5294481, 5294482, 5294483, 5294484, 5294485, 5294486, 5294487, 5294488, 5294489, 5294490, 5294491, 5294492, 5294493.