Several severe thunderstorms produced large hail across parts of West Texas on the 27th. Only minor hail damage to vehicles was reported.
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 MAF wrote it up.
Several severe thunderstorms produced large hail across parts of West Texas on the 27th. Only minor hail damage to vehicles was reported.
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 Midland/Odessa, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 27, 1:50 PM CST, 5 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 150 PM CST SUN OCT 27 2002 LOW CLOUDS AND FOG THIS MORNING STARTED TO LIFT FINALLY BY NOON AT KMAF AND EARLIER ELSEWHERE. MID-LEVEL CLOUDS OVER SOUTHERN NM AND FAR W TEXAS OUT AHEAD OF THE MID AND UPPER LEVEL TROUGH MOVING TOWARD W TEXAS. THINGS STARTING TO SHAPE UP FOR A PRETTY GOOD RAIN EVENT FOR THE PERMIAN BASIN AREA TONIGHT. THERE IS ALSO THE POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE WEATHER IN THE AREA. 100 TO 120KT JET AT 250MB IS MOVING ACROSS THE AREA WITH 50 TO 60KT AT 500MB SETTING UP GOOD VERTICAL WIND SHEAR ENVIRONMENT. 850MB WINDS MAY NOT BE AS STRONG AS LAST NIGHT...BUT WILL STILL PROVIDE GOOD WAA AND MODERATE MOISTURE ADVECTION IN THE LOWER LEVELS OVER THE PERMIAN BASIN. WILL KEEP GOING FORECAST FOR TONIGHT AS IS AND KEEP SEVERE WORDING AS WELL. THINK STRONG CONVECTION WILL START AFTER DARK WEST OF KMAF AND THEN SPREAD EAST OVERNIGHT. STORMS WILL BE MOVING QUICKLY WITH THE STRONG MID AND UPPER LEVEL WINDS...SO DAMAGING WINDS MAY ALSO BE A THREAT ALONG WITH LARGE HAIL IF THAT MOMENTUM IS BROUGHT TO THE SURFACE. SINCE RAIN AREA MAY BE FAIRLY LARGE...WILL HAVE TO MONITOR THIS SITUATION OVERNIGHT FOR POSSIBLE FLASH FLOODING. STORMS MAY CONTINUE INTO THE MORNING HOURS ON MONDAY BEFORE MOVING OUT OF THE AREA DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS. AS THE TROUGH PASSES...WILL PROBABLY START TO SEE SOME BREAKS IN THE CLOUDS BY LATE AFTERNOON. MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY SHOULD BE DRY FOR MOST OF THE CWA...EXCEPT FOR POSSIBLY OUT EXTREME EASTERN COUNTIES. TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY SHOULD ALSO REMAIN DRY. THE NEXT MAIN FEATURE IS THE STRONG COLD FRONT THAT WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA MID-WEEK. WILL OPT TO FOLLOW THE HIGHER RESOLUTION ECMWF AND MESOETA AS THEY SEEM TO BE HANDLING THE FRONT BETTER THAN THE GFS...AND KEEP FORECAST AS IT IS. PRECIP WITH THE FRONT INITIALLY LOOKS VERY LIGHT IF ANY...AND WILL NOT INSERT ANY POPS AT THIS TIME. PRELIMINARY NUMBERS... MAF 53/69/49/75 762- LSA 48/65/45/72 762- 6R6 59/72/53/75 332- MRF 47/70/40/73 42-- CNM 48/69/44/76 54-- .MAF... TX...NONE. NM...NONE. SN
NMZ027>029-033-034-TXZ045>048-050>053-057>063-067>070-074-075- 079>082-258-281100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 311 PM CST SUN OCT 27 2002 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST TEXAS AND SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO. .TONIGHT... ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE TRANS PECOS REGION THROUGH EARLY EVENING WITH LARGE HAIL BEING THE MAIN CONCERN. BETWEEN 1000 PM AND 500 AM THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE AREA FROM THE WEST. ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS WILL AGAIN BE POSSIBLE WITH HAIL AND FLOODING RAINS THE CONCERN. THE FAVORED AREA FOR SEVERE STORMS AND HEAVY RAIN LATE TONIGHT IS WEST OF A LINE FROM GARDEN CITY TO PECOS. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED. .MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY... ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE AREA MONDAY. WITH THE GROUND EXPECTED TO BE NEAR SATURATION FLOODING AND FLASH FLOODING IS A CONCERN. UPDATES MAY INCLUDE THE ISSUANCE OF A FLASH FLOOD WATCH. NO ADDITIONAL HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.
The Midland/Odessa radar (KMAF), 100 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:19 UTC.
6 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
The public reported large hail resulting in dents on vehicles traveling on Highway 18 in northern Pecos County. Hail stones were estimated to be the size of half dollars.
Dime size hail was reported near the United Gin southeast of Lamesa. The hail covered the ground and stripped leaves from trees.
Ping pong ball size hail was reported near mile marker 241 on Interstate 10.
Nickel size hail was reported at the McInyre Prison Unit.
Quarter size hail was reported by the DPS near mile marker 262 on Interstate 10.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, October 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: 5318761, 5318762, 5318760, 5318763, 5318764, 5318765.