Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 2005
Tornado Watch 648
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jul 20, 2005, 12:55 AM CDT for 7 counties in Texas. It was in force for 9 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Jul 20, 2005, 12:55 AM CDT (05:55 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 20, 2005, 9:38 AM CDT
- In force
- 9 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
Counties Brooks County, TX, Cameron County, TX, Hidalgo County, TX, Kenedy County, TX, Starr County, TX, Willacy County, TX, Zapata County, TX
The radar
The Brownsville radar (KBRO), 120 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:56 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.
Open the radar archive at this moment
The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.
Warnings issued inside it
4 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 4:32 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BRO | Willacy | 43 min |
| Jul 20, 5:24 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | BRO | Hidalgo | 96 min |
| Jul 20, 7:02 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BRO | Cameron | 43 min |
| Jul 20, 8:09 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | BRO | Hidalgo | 41 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
Brownsville Intl, TX (KBRO), launched 00:00Z, 5.9 hours before the alert went out and 123 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
- 1109 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -1 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 594 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 26 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 172 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 162 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 200551
SEL8
SPC WW 200551
TXZ000-CWZ000-201500-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 648
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1255 AM CDT WED JUL 20 2005
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
DEEP SOUTH TEXAS
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY MORNING FROM 1255 AM UNTIL 1000 AM CDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 0.5 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 60 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 65 STATUTE MILES
EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 60 MILES NORTH OF MCALLEN TEXAS TO 25
MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF MCALLEN TEXAS. FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION
OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS
WOU8).
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 646. WATCH NUMBER 646 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER
1255 AM CDT. CONTINUE...WW 647...
DISCUSSION...THREAT FOR ISOLATED TORNADOES MAY INCREASE LATER THIS
MORNING AS EMILY MOVES ASHORE IN NE MEXICO...INCREASING LOW LEVEL
DIRECTIONAL COMPONENT TO STRONGLY-SHEARED WIND FIELD ALREADY PRESENT
OVER REGION.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 50 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 12035.
...CORFIDI
270,0970 255,0970 255,0990 270,0991SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 19, 10:01 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Brooks, Cameron, Duval, Hidalgo, Jim Hogg, Jim Wells and 6 more | 89 min |
| Jul 20, 9:24 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Brooks, Cameron, Duval, Hidalgo, Jim Hogg, Jim Wells and 5 more | 96 min |
| Jul 20, 9:40 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Brooks, Cameron, Duval, Hidalgo, Jim Hogg, Jim Wells and 7 more | 9 hr |
| Jul 20, 12:42 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Brooks, Cameron, Duval, Hidalgo, Jim Hogg, Jim Wells and 7 more | 2 hr |
| Jul 20, 5:08 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bee, Brooks, Duval, Hidalgo, Jim Hogg, Jim Wells and 9 more | 2 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.