Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 2008
Tornado Watch 155
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 3, 2008, 4:40 PM CDT for 7 counties in Texas. It was in force for 3 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 3, 2008, 4:40 PM CDT (21:40 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 3, 2008, 7:26 PM CDT
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 4 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
Counties Crockett County, TX, Edwards County, TX, Kinney County, TX, Schleicher County, TX, Sutton County, TX, Terrell County, TX, Val Verde County, TX
The radar
The Laughlin AFB radar (KDFX), 153 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:42 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
- 20%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 20%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 20%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 30%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 40%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 80%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 50%
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, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 108 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
- 749 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -436 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 635 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 57 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 226 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 362 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 032141
SEL5
SPC WW 032141
TXZ000-040200-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 155
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
440 PM CDT THU APR 3 2008
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
SOUTHWEST TEXAS
EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 440 PM UNTIL
900 PM CDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 4 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 60 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 55 MILES SOUTHEAST OF DRYDEN
TEXAS TO 110 MILES NORTHEAST OF DRYDEN TEXAS. FOR A COMPLETE
DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE
(WOUS64 KWNS WOU5).
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...CONTINUE...WW 153...WW 154...
DISCUSSION...INTENSE SUPERCELL IN TERRELL COUNTY TX CONTINUES EARLY
THIS EVENING. ENVIRONMENT IS VERY UNSTABLE BUT CAP STRENGTHENS WITH
EWD EXTENT. HOWEVER...VERY STRONG DEEP LAYER SHEAR WILL CONTINUE TO
SUPPORT SUPERCELLS AND LIKELY VERY LARGE HAIL WITH MID/UPPER JET
OVERSPREADING THE REGION. AN ISOLATED TORNADO OR TWO IS ALSO
POSSIBLE...ALONG WITH DAMAGING WINDS...WITH ANY PERSISTENT
SUPERCELL.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 4 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 27030.
...EVANSSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 3, 10:47 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clay, Collin, Cooke, Dallas, Delta, Denton and 23 more | 58 min |
| Apr 3, 1:42 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Archer, Baylor, Callahan, Clay, Coke, Coleman and 20 more | 93 min |
| Apr 3, 2:04 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Archer, Baylor, Callahan, Clay, Cooke, Eastland and 16 more | 6 hr |
| Apr 3, 3:28 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Coke, Crockett, Glasscock, Irion, Reagan, Sterling and 3 more | 62 min |
| Apr 3, 5:32 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bowie, Camp, Cass, Collin, Cooke, Dallas and 24 more | 58 min |
| Apr 3, 5:54 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bowie, Camp, Cass, Collin, Delta, Denton and 9 more | 3 hr |
| Apr 3, 6:12 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Archer, Baylor, Clay, Cooke, Jack, Montague and 6 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.