Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2003

F0 tornado, Wharton County, Texas, November 17, 2003

This F0 tornado ran 0.2 miles across Wharton County on November 17, 2003, touching down at 9:20 AM CST and reaching 20 yards wide. It killed nobody.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mphthis tornado

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

The record

Rating
F0
Date
November 17, 2003
Touchdown
9:20 AM CST (15:20 UTC)
Path length
0.2 miles (0.3 km)
Path width
20 yards (18 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Wharton County
Touchdown point
29.280, -96.100
Lift-off point
29.280, -96.100
Record number
990

The warnings

14 minutes of warning. NWS HGX issued a tornado warning for this county at 15:06 UTC, 14 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 15:45 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
14:23 UTC15:15 UTCTornado WarningHGX
15:06 UTC15:45 UTCTornado WarningHGX
15:16 UTC15:45 UTCTornado WarningHGX
15:50 UTC16:15 UTCTornado WarningHGX
16:17 UTC16:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGX
18:02 UTC21:00 UTCFlash Flood WarningHGX
18:55 UTC19:45 UTCTornado WarningHGX

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 13:17 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, 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 tornado touched down at Nov 17, 2:20 AM CST, 7 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 17, 2:20 AM CST, 7 hours before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
220 AM CST MON NOV 17 2003

SCT CONVECTION IS ALREADY BREAKING OUT W AND SW OF SE TX TONIGHT
WHERE THE LLJ IS INCREASING. CONVECTION IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE OVER
SE TX THIS MORNING...BECOMING WIDESPREAD BY MID-DAY.

MAIN FORECAST ISSUES ARE FLOOD AND SVR TSTM THREAT. WHAT TO SAY
THAT HAS NOT ALREADY BEEN SAID? IN A NUTSHELL...PARAMETERS ARE ALL
IN PLACE FOR A FLASH FLOOD AND SVR TSTM THREAT TODAY AND TONIGHT.
EXPECT THE EXIT REGION OF THE UPPER LEVEL JET TO PROVIDE SIGNIFICANT
DIVERGENCE ALOFT THIS MORNING AND COUPLED WITH A LITTLE
HEATING...WILL PROVIDE FOR AN EXPLOSIVE ENVIRONMENT OVR SE TX. WITH
LOW-LEVEL HELICITIES IN THE 200-300 RANGE LATER THIS MORNING AND
DURING THE AFT HOURS...IT APPEARS THAT THERE WILL BE A TORNADO
THREAT OUT AHEAD OF A SQUALL LINE THAT SHOULD PUSH THROUGH THE
REGION TONIGHT AS MID-LEVEL WINDS REALLY STRENGTHEN WITH THE
APPROACH OF THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH. DAMAGING WINDS/LARGE HAIL ARE
LIKELY TO BE THE PRIMARY THREATS TONIGHT. TWO ITEMS THAT HAVE CAUGHT
MY ATTENTION WITH THIS UPCOMING EVENT ARE THE MODEL FORECASTS OF
NEAR 2 INCH PW OVER SE TX THIS AFT/EVE (RARE FOR NOV) AND THE
STRENGTH OF THE UPPER LEVEL JET CORE OVR SE TX (140 KTS) TONIGHT.
APPEARS THAT THERE WILL BE A GOOD SETUP FOR TRAINING PRECIP IN AN
EXTREMELY MOIST ATMOSPHERE. STILL HAVE A WEAK BOUNDARY IN PLACE FROM
LAST EVENINGS CONVECTION WHICH COULD AID IN FOCUSING PRECIP LATER
TODAY. THEREFORE...FLOOD WATCH IS A GIVEN AND WILL BE EXTENDED
THROUGH TONIGHT.

BEHIND THE FRONT...FROM TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...DRY AND SEASONAL
TEMPS EXPECTED WITH A TEMPORARY WEAK MID-LEVEL RIDGE IN PLACE. DEEP
TROF DEVELOPS ON FRIDAY OVER THE WESTERN U.S. WHICH IS PROGGED TO
AMPLIFY INTO A CLOSED LOW OVR THE CENTRAL PLAINS ON SUNDAY. WILL
HAVE SLIGHT CHC POPS ON SAT AND CHC POPS ON SUN AHEAD OF THIS
FEATURE. IF THIS PATTERN VERIFIES...WILL SEE MUCH COOLER TEMPS TO
START NEXT WEEK.

WILL HAVE A CAUTION STATEMENT TODAY FOR THE MARINE AREA AS WINDS
SHOULD INCREASE AS GRADIENT TIGHTENS.

33/41

.HGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
 FLOOD WATCH ALL SE TX TODAY AND TONIGHT.
 CAUTION HIGH ISLAND TO MATAGORDA SHIP CHANNEL OUT 60 NM AND BAYS.

PRELIMS...
CLL TU 078/058 072/044 071 8+1
IAH TB 079/063 074/045 071 8+2
GLS TB 081/068 074/054 070 7+4

MONDAY RECORDS FOR GALVESTON:
HIGH MIN 73/1921
REC HIGH 80/1986
Hazardous weather outlook, Nov 17, 7:00 AM CST, 2 hours 20 minutes before
TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-181300-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
700 AM CST MON NOV 17 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS.

...FLOOD WATCH TODAY AND TONIGHT...
...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TODAY AND TONIGHT...

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT
A STRONG STORM SYSTEM WILL APPROACH SOUTHEAST TODAY AND MOVE ACROSS
THE AREA TONIGHT AND EARLY TUESDAY. STRONG WINDS WILL BE PRESENT IN
THE ATMOSPHERE OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS BY MID-DAY TODAY AND WILL INCREASE
DURING THE AFTERNOON. THESE STRONG WINDS ABOVE THE SURFACE AND
INCREASING INSTABILITY IN THE ATMOSPHERE WILL CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT
FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. TONIGHT...A SQUALL LINE
IS LIKELY TO MOVE ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT.
THEREFORE...AN ISOLATED SEVERE THREAT DURING THE LATE MORNING AND
EARLY AFTERNOON HOURS MAY INCREASE AS ORGANIZED CONVECTION MOVES
ACROSS THIS EVENING. IT APPEARS THAT TORNADOES...HAIL...AND DAMAGING
WINDS WILL ALL BE THREATS.

IN ADDITION TO THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM THREAT...HEAVY RAINFALL IS
POSSIBLE TODAY AND TONIGHT AS WELL. FAST MOVING STORMS WILL LIKELY
MOVE REPEATEDLY OVER THE SAME LOCATIONS...CREATING THE HEAVY RAINFALL
THREAT. AVERAGE RAINFALL AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE IN THE 2 TO 4
INCH RANGE WITH ISOLATED AMOUNTS OF 6 TO 8 INCHES POSSIBLE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO END WITH THE COLD FRONT
PASSAGE. THE FRONT IS EXPECTED TO REACH THE COAST TUESDAY MORNING.
DRY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY.
HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED LATE THIS MORNING THROUGH
TONIGHT.

The air that afternoon

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), 12:00Z

3.3 hours before the tornado, 211 km from the path. November 17, 2003.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 2003-11-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1818 joules per kilogram, CIN -1, lifted condensation level 573 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 2003-11-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 150 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 39 knots.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1818 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2125 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
573 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
150 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
146 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.4
Supercell composite
8.4
0-3 km lapse rate
4.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), 00:00Z

8.7 hours after it, 211 km from the path. November 18, 2003.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Corpus Christi, TX at 00:00Z on 2003-11-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1329 joules per kilogram, CIN -17, lifted condensation level 929 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Corpus Christi, TX at 00:00Z on 2003-11-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 129 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 40 knots.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1329 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-17 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1439 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
929 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
129 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
152 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
6.6
0-3 km lapse rate
5.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 101 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 15:20 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2003 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of November 17, 2003

26 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 178:33 AM CSTF0Wharton, TX0.525$1,000
November 178:38 AM CSTF0Wharton, TX1.01002$10,000
November 179:10 AM CSTF0Matagorda, TX0.575$30,000
November 179:10 AM CSTF0Wharton, TX0.550$2,000
November 1710:00 AM CSTF0Wharton, TX1.050$20,000
November 1712:05 PM CSTF2Fort Bend, TX1.520060$500,000
November 1712:15 PM CSTF2Fort Bend, TX1.050$800,000
November 171:00 PM CSTF0Harris, TX0.250
November 172:50 PM CSTF0Brazoria, TX1.0751$70,000
November 173:01 PM CSTF2Harris, TX0.7100$550,000
November 174:25 PM CSTF0Galveston, TX0.130$100,000
November 174:40 PM CSTF0Galveston, TX1.030$30,000
November 174:50 PM CSTF0Chambers, TX0.125
November 175:20 PM CSTF0Harris, TX0.550$30,000
November 175:20 PM CSTF0Cass, NE0.140
November 175:30 PM CSTF1Chambers, TX0.51005$100,000
November 175:42 PM CSTF0Liberty, TX0.220$10,000
November 175:45 PM CSTF1Liberty, TX0.220$30,000
November 178:55 PM CSTF0Harris, TX1.420$10,000
November 179:08 PM CSTF1Galveston, TX0.225$200,000
November 179:15 PM CSTF1Galveston, TX0.250$280,000
November 179:15 PM CSTF2Newton, TX1.020$1.0 million
November 179:30 PM CSTF0Harris, TX0.550$50,000
November 1710:30 PM CSTF1Harris, TX1.5503$230,000
November 1711:15 PM CSTF1Jasper, TX5.050$1.0 million
November 1711:35 PM CSTF1Chambers, TX1.050$300,000

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.