Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 2007

Tornado Watch 59

March 12, 200711 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 12, 2007, 4:01 AM CDT for 11 counties in Texas. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 12, 2007, 4:01 AM CDT (09:01 UTC)
Expired
Mar 12, 2007, 7:38 AM CDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Austin County, TX, Brazoria County, TX, Chambers County, TX, Fort Bend County, TX, Galveston County, TX, Harris County, TX, Liberty County, TX, Matagorda County, TX, Montgomery County, TX, Waller County, TX, Wharton County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 57 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:05 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.

What SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes
40%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
10%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
5%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
60%

Warnings issued inside it

7 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 12, 4:28 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXAustin, Fort Bend, Waller, Wharton62 min
Mar 12, 4:58 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHarris62 min
Mar 12, 5:03 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazoria42 min
Mar 12, 5:08 AM CDTTornado WarningHGXHarris37 min
Mar 12, 5:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazoria45 min
Mar 12, 5:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazoria, Galveston, Harris44 min
Mar 12, 6:32 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXChambers, Galveston58 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

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 248 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 2007-03-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 9 joules per kilogram.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.
HodographHodograph, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 2007-03-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 47 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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.
Mixed-layer CAPE
9 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
968 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
47 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
53 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000
WWUS20 KWNS 120902
SEL9  
SPC WW 120902
TXZ000-CWZ000-121300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 59
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
405 AM CDT MON MAR 12 2007

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 

       SOUTHEAST TEXAS
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY MORNING FROM 405 AM UNTIL 800 AM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 45 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES NORTH OF HOUSTON
TEXAS TO 25 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF PALACIOS TEXAS.  FOR A
COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU9).

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.

DISCUSSION...WELL ORGANIZED LINEAR MCS WITH SEVERAL EMBEDDED LEWP
STRUCTURES WILL CONTINUE EWD ACROSS SE TX THROUGH THE EARLY MORNING
HOURS.  THE LOW LEVELS SHOULD DESTABILIZE SUFFICIENTLY FOR
CONVECTION TO BE BASED AT THE SURFACE...WHILE LOW-LEVEL SHEAR WILL
BE STRONG ENOUGH TO MAINTAIN A THREAT FOR A COUPLE OF TORNADOES AND
A FEW DAMAGING GUSTS WITHIN THE MOIST ENVIRONMENT.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 27030.


...THOMPSON

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 11, 9:09 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell and 19 more2 hr
Mar 11, 11:16 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtascosa, Bexar, Caldwell, Comal, Dimmit, Frio and 8 more89 min
Mar 12, 1:39 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAustin, Bastrop, Bee, Colorado, DeWitt, Fayette and 13 more2 hr
Mar 12, 5:09 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAustin, Brazoria, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend, Galveston and 10 more96 min
Mar 12, 6:10 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCHardin, Jasper, Jefferson, Newton, Orange95 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Texas, 2007Every tornado watch in 2007

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.