Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 2008
Tornado Watch 734
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jul 23, 2008, 9:39 AM CDT for 26 counties in Texas. It was in force for 113 min.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Jul 23, 2008, 9:39 AM CDT (14:39 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 23, 2008, 11:32 AM CDT
- In force
- 113 min
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 0.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 90 kt
All 26 counties
Aransas County, TX, Bee County, TX, Brazoria County, TX, Brooks County, TX, Calhoun County, TX, Cameron County, TX, DeWitt County, TX, Duval County, TX, Goliad County, TX, Gonzales County, TX, Hidalgo County, TX, Jackson County, TX, Jim Wells County, TX, Karnes County, TX, Kenedy County, TX, Kleberg County, TX, Lavaca County, TX, Live Oak County, TX, Matagorda County, TX, Nueces County, TX, Refugio County, TX, San Patricio County, TX, Victoria County, TX, Wharton County, TX, Willacy County, TX, Wilson County, TX
What SPC expected
The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.
- Two or more tornadoes
- 60%
- 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
- 5%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 5%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 30%
Warnings issued inside it
1 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 23, 9:39 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | CRP | Nueces, San Patricio | 36 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
Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 2.7 hours before the alert went out and 51 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
- 232 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -62 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 599 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 22 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 78 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 112 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 231443
SEL4
SPC WW 231443
TXZ000-CWZ000-240000-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 734
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
940 AM CDT WED JUL 23 2008
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
SOUTH TEXAS
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY MORNING AND EVENING FROM 940 AM UNTIL
700 PM CDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 0.5 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 105 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 90 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM BROWNSVILLE TEXAS TO 35 MILES
NORTH OF VICTORIA TEXAS. FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH
SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU4).
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 732. WATCH NUMBER 732 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER
940 AM CDT.
DISCUSSION...CENTER OF HURRICANE DOLLY FCST BY NHC TO MOVE INLAND
AND ACROSS LOWER VALLEY REGION OF DEEP S TX. TORNADO PROBABILITIES
WILL INCREASE WITH OUTWARD EXTENT FROM CORE REGION INTO AREA OF GALE
WINDS...N THROUGH NE OF CENTER. THIS TREND WILL RESULT FROM
COMBINATION OF MORE FAVORABLE KINEMATIC GEOMETRY...0-1 KM
SHEAR...AND INCREASING CAPE FROM POCKETS OF STRONGER SFC HEATING IN
OUTER PARTS OF CYCLONE CIRCULATION.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 90 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 10045.
...EDWARDS/HALESSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 22, 10:27 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Brooks, Cameron, Hidalgo, Kenedy, Kleberg, Nueces and 1 more | 11 hr |
| Jul 23, 6:56 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Calhoun, Cameron, Hidalgo, Kenedy, Matagorda, Willacy | 94 min |
| Jul 23, 9:00 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Aransas, Bee, Brooks, Calhoun, Cameron, Goliad and 12 more | 60 min |
| Jul 23, 11:27 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Aransas, Bee, Brooks, Calhoun, Cameron, DeWitt and 19 more | 8 hr |
| Jul 23, 1:28 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Aransas, Bee, Brooks, Calhoun, Cameron, DeWitt and 16 more | 2 hr |
| Jul 23, 3:52 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Aransas, Bee, Brooks, Calhoun, DeWitt, Duval and 14 more | 113 min |
| Jul 23, 5:38 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Aransas, Atascosa, Bee, Brooks, Calhoun, Duval and 15 more | 97 min |
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.