A microburst was observed during the early evening by the NWS staff six miles northwest of the airport. No severe reports were received with the event.
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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.
A microburst was observed during the early evening by the NWS staff six miles northwest of the airport. No severe reports were received with the event. Later in the evening, a severe thunderstorm developed and affected the city of West Odessa. This storm produced large hail to the size of golfballs. It also resulted in a damaging downburst, which destroyed a couple of mobile homes. A swift water rescue was conducted by the fire department, as a car was stalled in high water on city streets resulting from the downburst.
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 6, 1:40 PM CST, 6 hours 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 240 PM CDT SUN OCT 6 2002 STRONG SHORTWAVE TO THE NORTH MOVING INTO WISCONSIN AT 19Z WHILE THE BAJA LOW DRIFTS SLOWLY SOUTHWARD. AT THE SURFACE THE FRONT IS STRETCHED ACROSS THE SOUTH PLAINS NEAR KLBB AND STILL MOVING SLOWLY SOUTH...BUT PRESSURE RISES BEHIND THE FRONT HAVE BACKED OFF CONSIDERABLY SINCE THIS MORNING...WHICH WOULD BE EXPECTED WITH DAYTIME HEATING. COUPLE OF CONCERNS WITH THE FORECAST TONIGHT. WITH DAYTIME HEATING AND APPROACH OF THE FRONT THIS AFTERNOON...WE HAVE THE POTENTIAL FOR SOME ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. MID AND UPPER LEVEL DYNAMIC SUPPORT IS MARGINAL...BUT WE WILL BE RATHER UNSTABLE WITH DEWPOINTS IN THE MID TO UPPER 60S AND TEMPERATURES IN THE MID TO UPPER 80S. PRIMARY THREAT WITH ANY THUNDERSTORMS THAT GET GOING WILL BE HAIL... BUT THERE WILL ALSO BE THE POTENTIAL FOR HIGHS WINDS(SEE SWODY1). TOMORROW...WITH THE FRONT IN THE AREA ACTING AS A FOCUS...DIFLUENT FLOW OUT AHEAD OF THE BAJA LOW MOVING IN TO THE AREA...AND PLENTIFUL MOISTURE (PWATS OF 1.4 TO 1.5 THROUGHOUT THE PERIOD)...WE HAVE THE POTENTIAL FOR SOME FLOODING WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. LOOKS LIKE PRETTY WIDESPREAD COVERAGE OF RAIN ACROSS THE CWA OVER AT LEAST THE NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE CWA...AND ESPECIALLY OVER THE WEST IN THE MOUNTAINS WHERE OROGRAPHIC LIFT WILL ALSO ENHANCE PRECIPITATION CHANCES. WILL OPT NOT TO PUT OUT A FLASH FLOOD WATCH AT THIS TIME... AND LET THE OVERNIGHT CREW GET A BETTER LOOK. AS FAR AS THE FRONT ITSELF IS CONCERNED...WINDS WILL BE TURNING TO THE NORTHEAST TONIGHT AS THE FRONT SURGES SOUTHWARD. FAIRLY SLOW PROGRESS RIGHT NOW SHOULD BE HELPED LATER AS CONVECTION GETS GOING AND THE SUN GOES DOWN. TEMPERATURES TOMORROW WILL BE QUITE A BIT COOLER THAN TODAY WITH ALL THE CLOUDS AND RAINFALL IN THE AREA...AND MAY GO EVEN COOLER THAN THE PREVIOUS FORECAST. MOS NUMBERS MOSTLY IN THE 50S FOR HIGHS WITH ALL THE CLOUD-COVER AND RAIN. WILL PROBABLY NOT GO THAT LOW HOWEVER. WILL UP POPS A LITTLE MORE AS GUIDANCE IS GOING PRETTY MUCH 80% OR GREATER TOMORROW. WILL KEEP POPS PRETTY MUCH AS THEY ARE FOR TOMORROW NIGHT...GENERALLY SLIGHT CHANCE OR CHANCE ACROSS THE AREA AS THE BAJA LOW IS STILL APPROACHING THE AREA. TUESDAY...THE BAJA LOW WILL BE MOVING OVER OUR CWA KEEPING POPS IN THE AREA EITHER SLIGHT CHANCE OR CHANCE. FINALLY OVERNIGHT TUESDAY THE LOW SHOULD GET PICKED UP IN THE SOUTHWEST FLOW...OPEN UP AND STARTING HEADING NORTHEAST. NO CHANGES IN THE EXTENDED. PRELIMINARY NUMBERS... MAF 58/62/51/72 364 LSA 55/60/49/70 364 6R6 59/73/57/77 233 MRF 50/65/50/72 254 CNM 55/62/52/73 265 .MAF... TX...NONE. NM...NONE. SN
NMZ027>029-033-034-TXZ045>048-050>053-057>063-067>070-074-075- 079>082-258-071100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 300 PM CDT SUN OCT 6 2002 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST TEXAS AND SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO. .THROUGH OVERNIGHT... THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVERNIGHT ACROSS THE NORTHERN PERMIAN BASIN AND WESTERN LOW ROLLING PLAINS OF WEST TEXAS. THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER GROUPS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL ACROSS THE NORTHERN PERMIAN BASIN AND WESTERN LOW ROLLING PLAINS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION THIS EVENING. .MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. TECHNICAL DISCUSSION... A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO THE NORTHERN PERMIAN BASIN AND WESTERN LOW ROLLING PLAINS BY EARLY THIS EVENING. THE AIRMASS AHEAD OF THE FRONT WILL BECOME INCREASINGLY UNSTABLE WITH SURFACE TEMPERATURES IN THE MID 80S TO LOWER 90S AND DEWPOINTS IN THE MID 60S. STEEP MID-LEVEL LAPSE RATES OVER THE AREA WILL SUPPORT THE POTENTIAL FOR LARGE HAIL. WIND PROFILES ALSO SUGGEST THE POSSIBILITY OF ISOLATED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS.
The Midland/Odessa radar (KMAF), 33 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:17 UTC.
1 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Large hail ranging in size from dimes to golfballs was reported in West Odessa.
Severe thunderstorm winds resulting from a microburst destroyed two mobile homes in West Odessa. One structure was rolled. The roof was blown off of the second resulting in the walls collapsing.
The microburst resulted in a brief downpour. Street flooding resulted in West Odessa. A car was stalled in an intersection, and rescue teams extracted the driver. No injuries were reported.
High water was reported running in low water crossings near Pyote and Wickett.
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: 5318597, 5318598, 5318599, 5318600.