Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 2004
Tornado Watch 201
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 13, 2004, 2:30 PM CDT for 27 counties in Texas. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 13, 2004, 2:30 PM CDT (19:30 UTC)
- Expired
- May 13, 2004, 8:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 27 counties
Atascosa County, TX, Bandera County, TX, Bastrop County, TX, Bexar County, TX, Caldwell County, TX, Comal County, TX, DeWitt County, TX, Edwards County, TX, Fayette County, TX, Frio County, TX, Goliad County, TX, Gonzales County, TX, Guadalupe County, TX, Hays County, TX, Karnes County, TX, Kendall County, TX, Kerr County, TX, Kinney County, TX, Lavaca County, TX, Maverick County, TX, Medina County, TX, Real County, TX, Uvalde County, TX, Val Verde County, TX, Victoria County, TX, Wilson County, TX, Zavala County, TX
Warnings issued inside it
8 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 13, 2:30 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | EWX | Gonzales, Karnes, Wilson | 3 hr |
| May 13, 3:02 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | EWX | Bastrop, Caldwell, Fayette | 4 hr |
| May 13, 3:36 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | EWX | Karnes | 54 min |
| May 13, 4:34 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | EWX | DeWitt, Gonzales, Karnes, Lavaca, Wilson | 3 hr |
| May 13, 4:40 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | EWX | Karnes | 3 hr |
| May 13, 5:12 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | CRP | Bee, Goliad | 48 min |
| May 13, 6:21 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | CRP | Victoria | 114 min |
| May 13, 7:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Zavala | 66 min |
Discussions around it
SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.
The nearest sounding before it
Del Rio, TX (KDRT), launched 12:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 128 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 3925 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -42 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 585 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 25 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 88 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 190 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.3
- Supercell composite
- 7.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
669
WWUS20 KWNS 131928
SEL1
SPC WW 131930
TXZ000-140100-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 201
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
230 PM CDT THU MAY 13 2004
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
SOUTH TEXAS
EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 230 PM UNTIL
800 PM CDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 55 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 25 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF DEL RIO TEXAS TO
35 MILES NORTH OF VICTORIA TEXAS.
REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.
OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO
WATCH NUMBER 197. WATCH NUMBER 197 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 230
PM CDT. CONTINUE...WW 198...WW 199...WW 200...
DISCUSSION...EXTREME INSTABILITY OVER S TX WITH MLCAPES IN EXCESS OF
4000 J/KG. ALTHOUGH SHEAR IS WEAK THE AMOUNT OF INSTABILITY AND
BOUNDARY INTERACTION SUPPORTS SUPERCELLS AND ISOLATED TORNADOS. IN
ADDITION VERY LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING DOWNBURST WINDS ARE LIKELY.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 600.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24015.
...HALES
301,1011 300,0965 283,0965 284,1011SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 12, 8:04 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Archer, Baylor, Callahan, Fisher, Foard, Hardeman and 13 more | 86 min |
| May 13, 3:52 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Anderson, Angelina, Austin, Bastrop, Brazos, Burleson and 27 more | 83 min |
| May 13, 8:30 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Angelina, Austin, Bastrop, Brazos, Burleson, Caldwell and 17 more | 6 hr |
| May 13, 9:54 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Angelina, Austin, Bastrop, Brazos, Burleson, Caldwell and 17 more | 96 min |
| May 13, 10:20 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Archer, Baylor, Clay, Cottle, Dickens, Foard and 10 more | 115 min |
| May 13, 10:45 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Archer, Baylor, Clay, Foard, Hardeman, Knox and 2 more | 6 hr |
| May 13, 12:10 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Angelina, Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Colorado, Fayette and 22 more | 6 hr |
| May 13, 12:26 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bandera, Brown, Callahan, Coke, Coleman, Concho and 26 more | 2 hr |
| May 13, 12:48 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Archer, Baylor, Clay, Foard, Haskell, Knox and 4 more | 117 min |
| May 13, 12:55 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Brown, Callahan, Coleman, Concho, Eastland, Haskell and 14 more | 6 hr |
| May 13, 1:38 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Colorado, Fayette, Fort Bend and 15 more | 97 min |
| May 13, 2:48 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Archer, Baylor, Clay, Haskell, Wichita | 87 min |
| May 13, 2:57 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Brown, Callahan, Coleman, Concho, Eastland, Haskell and 14 more | 2 hr |
| May 13, 3:34 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Atascosa, Bandera, Bastrop, Bexar, Caldwell, Comal and 21 more | 86 min |
| May 13, 5:22 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Angelina, Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend and 17 more | 53 min |
| May 13, 5:54 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Brown, Callahan, Coleman, Concho, Eastland, Haskell and 14 more | 96 min |
| May 13, 6:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Bandera, Edwards, Gillespie, Kerr, Kimble, Mason and 6 more | 5 hr |
Nearby
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.