Tornado and Hail in Texas, May 7, 2003

Name: Tornado and Hail in Texas, May 7, 2003
Start: 2003-05-07T17:23
End: 2003-05-07T19:00
Location: Texas

May 7, 2003 · NWS SJT · 9 events in 4 counties and zones

5 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, 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: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 9

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 San Angelo, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 7, 4:37 PM CST, 46 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 7, 4:37 PM CST, 46 minutes before

WEST CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX
537 PM CDT WED MAY 7 2003

UPDATED THE ZONES AT 515 PM FOR TORNADO WATCH IN THE BIG
COUNTRY...AND TO INCLUDE ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS EARLY TONIGHT CONCHO
VALLEY...WHERE ENHANCED CUMULUS FIELD EXISTS.

400 PM DISCUSSION...

CURRENT...SATELLITE IMAGERY INDICATING CUMULUS DEVELOPING ALONG A
BOUNDARY WHICH EXTENDS FROM THE EASTERN PERMIAN BASIN SOUTHEAST
ACROSS THE CONCHO VALLEY INTO THE NORTHWEST HILL COUNTRY. SO
FAR...THE CAP IS HOLDING.

DAYS 1-3...GIVEN CURRENT CUMULUS DEVELOPMENT...WILL CONTINUE LOW
POPS ACROSS OUR NORTHERN ZONES FOR TONIGHT. NEXT CHANCE FOR RAIN
WILL BE FRIDAY WHEN THE DRYLINE WILL PROVIDE A SURFACE FOCUS AS IT
BEGINS TO MIGRATE SLOWLY EAST AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT.
COLD FRONT PUSHES ACROSS WEST CENTRAL TEXAS SATURDAY. WILL CONTINUE
LOW POPS MAINLY FOR THE BIG COUNTRY FOR FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY.
NUMBER CLOSE TO GUIDANCE LOOK GOOD.

DAYS 4-7...MOISTURE RETURNS QUICKLY AFTER THE FRONT IN THE FORM OF A
DRYLINE. WILL CONTINUE SLIGHT CHANCE OVER MOST OF WEST CENTRAL TEXAS
THROUGH MID WEEK...ESPECIALLY GIVE UNCERTAINTY OF THE DRYLINE
POSITION FOR THESE PERIODS.

THANKS TO OUN...FTW...AND LBB FOR COORDINATION WITH GRIDS.

CCF PRELIMS...

ABI 070/094/066/090  2002
SJT 070/095/068/093  1000
JCT 072/093/071/091  0000

.SJT...NONE.

23/HUBER

Hazardous weather outlook, May 7, 1:15 PM CST, 4 hours 8 minutes before

TXZ049-054-064>066-071>073-076>078-098-099-113-114-127-128-139-140-
154-155-168>170-081930-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANGELO TX
215 PM CDT WED MAY 7 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST CENTRAL TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...
THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BE SLIGHTLY UNSTABLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY
EVENING. DUE TO WARM TEMPERATURES ALOFT...ORGANIZED THUNDERSTORM
DEVELOPMENT IS NOT ANTICIPATED. HOWEVER...AN ISOLATED STRONG
THUNDERSTORM OR TWO WILL BE POSSIBLE THROUGH EARLY EVENING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...
ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE LATE FRIDAY AND EARLY
SATURDAY...AND AGAIN ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

14

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

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

Hail, Haskell

When: May 7, 5:23 PM CST
Where: Haskell County, Sagerton
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 33.083, -99.967

Hail, Jones

When: May 7, 5:30 PM CST to 5:35 PM CST
Where: Jones County, 3 mi W of Hawley
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 32.617, -99.883

Trained storm spotters reported hail in Hawley and up to 3 miles west of Hawley. The hail size ranged from quarter to golfball size.

Thunderstorm Wind, Jones

When: May 7, 5:40 PM CST
Where: Jones County, 3 mi S of Hawley
Measured: 58 kt (67 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 32.567, -99.833

The strong thunderstorm wind damaged a shed.

Hail, Jones

When: May 7, 5:45 PM CST
Where: Jones County, 3 mi SE of Hawley
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 32.583, -99.800

Trained storm spotters reported that golfball size hail covered the ground.

Thunderstorm Wind, Jones

When: May 7, 6:13 PM CST
Where: Jones County, 9 mi E of Hawley
Measured: 62 kt (71 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 32.617, -99.683

Thunderstorm Wind, Shackelford

When: May 7, 6:19 PM CST
Where: Shackelford County, 20 mi SW of Albany
Measured: 70 kt (81 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 32.533, -99.550

A trained spotter estimated up to 80 mph winds and three trees blown down by the high winds.

Hail, Shackelford

When: May 7, 6:40 PM CST
Where: Shackelford County, Moran
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 32.550, -99.167

Tornado, Callahan

When: May 7, 6:50 PM CST
Where: Callahan County, 7 mi NE of Baird
Rating: F1
Path length: 3 mi
Path width: 500 yd
Reported by: NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)
Coordinates: 32.467, -99.317

An off duty National Weather Service employee reported this tornado. This tornado moved east and snapped and stripped a swath of mesquite trees, and damaged some fence. This tornado also destroyed an old wooden school building and a shed.

Hail, Callahan

When: May 7, 7:00 PM CST
Where: Callahan County, 3 mi N of Putnam
Measured: 2.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 32.417, -99.200

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
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.
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.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Texas in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Texas, 2003 Warnings in Texas, May 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: 5357564, 5357565, 5357566, 5357567, 5357568, 5357569, 5357570, 5357571, 5357572.