Funnel Cloud, Harris
- When
- August 16, 12:01 PM CST to 12:05 PM CST
- Where
- Harris County, Katy
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 29.857, -95.392 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Descending funnel cloud observed.
Funnel Cloud in Texas, August 16, 2003
1 funnel cloud, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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 Aug 16, 8:50 AM CST, 3 hours 11 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 16, 8:50 AM CST, 3 hours 11 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
950 AM CDT SAT AUG 16 2003
COMPOSITE REFLECTIVITY LOOP SHOWS SCATTERED SHOWERS EXTENDING FROM
SOUTH OF HIGH ISLAND INLAND TO THE EASTERN COASTAL COUNTIES.
SURROUNDING SOUNDINGS THIS MORNING INDICATE MOIST AIR MASS IN PLACE
OVER SOUTHERN HALF OF CWFA (HIGHEST TO THE SW) WITH PWATS NEAR
1.9 INCHES. WE SHALL MAKE MINOR UPWARD ADJUSTMENT TO 1ST PERIOD POPS
W/CHANCE CENTRAL/SOUTH AND ISOLATED POPS NORTH. WAVE HEIGHTS AND WINDS
NOW BELOW SCA THRESHOLD FOR 0-20 REGION COASTAL WATERS AND WE EXPECT
TREND TO CONTINUE. 20-60 NM REGION WAVE HEIGHTS LOWERING PAST
SEVERAL HOURS BUT STILL RUNNING HIGH AT 7-8 FEET.
37/47/31
HGX...SCA 20 TO 60 NM COASTAL WATERS.
SCEC 0-20 NM COASTAL WATERS.
CLL BB 098/075 097/073 096 212
IAH BB 095/074 095/074 095 312
GLS BB 090/080 090/080 091 322
PREVIOUS DISCUSSION ..
DEEP LAYER HIGH PRESSURE TO AFFECT SE TX OVER MUCH OF THE NEXT SEVEN
DAYS. AT 08Z...ERIKA WAS NEARING THE DEEP S TX AND FAR NORTHERN
MEXICAN COAST. A FEW RAIN BANDS MAY AFFECT SE TX...MAINLY TOWARD
THE COAST AND SOUTH OF THE INTERSTATE 10 CORRIDOR. WILL GO WITH THE
CURRENT ISOLATED POPS TODAY WITH 10 PERCENT IN THE NORTHERN COUNTIES.
TEMPERATURES SHOULD BECOME THE MAIN CONCERN OVER THE FORECAST PERIOD
WITH THE BUILDING RIDGE OVER THE REGION. THE GFS AND ECMWF BOTH
INDICATE A WEAKNESS IN THE RIDGE TO THE EAST OF THE STATE AND IN THE
GULF FOR A FEW DAYS. THE GFS ALSO INDICATES LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE OVER
THE NORTHERN GULF INTO SE TX. THIS SHOULD TRANSLATE INTO VERY WARM
AND HUMID CONDITIONS OVER THE NEXT WEEK WITH A RETURN OF HIGH HEAT
INDICES WITHIN THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. THE SUBSIDENCE AREA
ASSOCIATED WITH ERIKA COULD HELP GENERATE VERY WARM WEATHER OVER SE TX
TODAY...WILL GO NEAR A MAV/FWC MIX FOR TEMPERATURES.
CANNOT RULE OUT ISOLATED POPS OVER THE AREA FOR SUNDAY. CURRENT IR
SHOWED A DISSIPATING MCS MOVING ACROSS AL INTO MS. ANY SHORTWAVE
TROUGHS MOVING AROUND THE PERIPHERY OF THE HIGH MAY COMBINE WITH THE
SEABREEZE TO BRING ISOLATED ACTIVITY TOMORROW TO SE TX.
SWELLS GENERATED BY ERIKA WILL KEEP THE SEAS UP TODAY AND NEARSHORE
TONIGHT NEAR THE MATAGORDA SHIP CHANNEL. WILL KEEP THE ADVISORY UP
FOR SEAS.
PL-40
33
.Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 16, 6:33 AM CST, 5 hours 28 minutes before
GMZ330-335-TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-162300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 733 AM CDT SAT AUG 16 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.
The radar
The Houston radar (KHGX), 52 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:01 UTC.
Event by event
1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Funnel Cloud
- A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flash Flood and Hail in Massachusetts, August 16, 2003
- Lightning Strike in New Hampshire, August 16, 2003
- Wildfire and Dust Devil in Montana, August 16, 2003
- Damaging Wind in South Carolina, August 16, 2003
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Virginia, August 16 to 17, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Georgia, August 16, 2003
- Flash Flood and Hail in Maryland, August 16, 2003
- Wildfire in Montana, August 16 to 31, 2003
- Damaging Winds in Maryland, August 16, 2003
- Flash Flood in North Carolina, August 16 to 17, 2003
- Damaging Winds in Pennsylvania, August 16, 2003
- Damaging Winds in Michigan, August 16, 2003
More
Every storm in Texas in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, August 2003
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: 5378772.