Pasadena Tornado
October 11, 2001

INTRODUCTION

Historically speaking (in climatological terms)...October has been considered an active month for severe weather and heavy rains for southeast Texas. Our "second" severe weather season usually begins this time of year. As the summer heat wanes and the hurricane season winds down...cold fronts begin making some headway south toward the Gulf coast. These fronts usually act as a focusing mechanism for storms fed by the deep tropical moisture that is still close at hand. Some of the more memorable October weather events include the devastating floods of October 1994 and October 1998. Other severe weather events can be found at this link.

SYNOPSIS

In some ways...the October 11 Pasadena tornado followed form when compared to other October severe weather events. During the early morning hours of Thursday, October 11, 2001, showers and thunderstorms began developing in the deep tropical airmass over southeast Texas. The season's first significant cold front had passed through the week before and the airmass over the region was moistening back up via an increasingly strong onshore flow that had returned at the beginning of the week. Precipitable water levels that had dropped to below 1/2 inch with the front had climbed back up to levels near 2 inches Thursday morning. A weak upper level disturbance was forecast to move across the area and maybe bring a chance of strong to severe thunderstorms Thursday afternoon...but the main fireworks were slated for Friday night with the passage of the cold front.

But like most things...plans were made to be changed. The unstable airmass combined with favorable winds with height and the ongoing convection were enough to produce a tornadic thunderstorm. This storm initially formed near Hobby airport just before 7 am...and as it moved to the east-northeast it continued to strengthen. At about 7:05 am...the tornado first touched down near the intersection of South Shaver and Edgebrook Drives. The tornado traveled about 3.5 miles to the northeast through Pasadena. [MAP]

All in all...the lifetime of the tornado was about 15 minutes...but the cost of the damage was estimated to be somewhere between 3.5 and 4 million dollars. Luckily... there were no fatalities or injuries with this storm. This may be due in part to the fact that the schools and businesses that were hit had not yet opened for the day.

NWS PRODUCTS

• Area Forecast Discussions (10/9/1)
• Special Weather Statement (10/9/1)
• Area Forecast Discussions (10/10/1)
• Special Weather Statements (10/10/1)
• Area Forecast Discussions (10/11/1)
• Special Weather Statements (10/11/1)
• Tornado Warnings (10/11/1)
• Severe Thunderstorm Warnings (10/11/1)
• Severe Weather Statements (10/11/1)

POST STORM REPORTS

• Local Storm Report (10/11)
• Damage Photos [1]
• Damage Photos [2]
• Map of Tornado Track