Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 2009
Tornado Watch 65
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 25, 2009, 7:12 PM CDT for 15 counties in Texas. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 25, 2009, 7:12 PM CDT (00:12 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 26, 2009, 1:00 AM CDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 2 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
Counties Austin County, TX, Brazoria County, TX, Chambers County, TX, Colorado County, TX, Fort Bend County, TX, Galveston County, TX, Hardin County, TX, Harris County, TX, Jackson County, TX, Jefferson County, TX, Liberty County, TX, Matagorda County, TX, Orange County, TX, Waller County, TX, Wharton County, TX
The radar
The Houston radar (KHGX), 45 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:13 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
- 40%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 30%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 70%
Warnings issued inside it
6 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 25, 8:10 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Harris, Montgomery | 50 min |
| Mar 25, 8:22 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Hardin, Jasper, Tyler | 38 min |
| Mar 25, 8:25 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, San Jacinto | 50 min |
| Mar 25, 9:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Chambers, Liberty | 40 min |
| Mar 25, 9:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Hardin, Jasper, Jefferson, Newton, Orange | 48 min |
| Mar 25, 10:14 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Hardin, Jefferson, Orange | 31 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, 0.2 hours before the alert went out and 230 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
- 3131 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 474 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 53 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 130 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 153 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 2.5
- Supercell composite
- 9.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
612
WWUS20 KWNS 260012
SEL5
SPC WW 260012
TXZ000-CWZ000-260600-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 65
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
710 PM CDT WED MAR 25 2009
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
SOUTHEAST TEXAS
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING FROM 710 PM
UNTIL 100 AM CDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 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 55 STATUTE
MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 35 MILES NORTHWEST OF
PALACIOS TEXAS TO 15 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF PORT ARTHUR 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 63...WW 64...
DISCUSSION...BROKEN LINE OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL
CONTINUE DEVELOPING ALONG AND AHEAD OF SURFACE COLD FRONT EXPECTED
TO PUSH SEWD INTO SOUTHEASTERN TX THIS EVENING. DEEP LAYER SHEAR
REMAINS QUITE STRONG...AND LOW LEVEL SHEAR WILL BE SUFFICIENT FOR
ISOLATED TORNADOES. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE
ADDITIONAL HAZARDS FROM THE STRONGER CORES.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 29035.
...EVANSSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 25, 7:31 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Austin, Brazos, Burleson, Fayette, Grimes, Harris and 9 more | 59 min |
| Mar 26, 9:14 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Blanco, Caldwell, Comal and 16 more | 31 min |
| Mar 26, 9:39 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Atascosa, Bandera, Bastrop, Bexar, Blanco, Burnet and 25 more | 5 hr |
| Mar 26, 12:43 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Aransas, Atascosa, Bee, Brazoria, Calhoun, DeWitt and 11 more | 62 min |
| Mar 26, 12:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Aransas, Bee, Brazoria, Calhoun, Chambers, Duval and 17 more | 6 hr |
| Mar 26, 3:06 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Hardin, Jasper, Jefferson, Newton, Orange, Tyler | 54 min |
| Mar 26, 3:51 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Aransas, Brazoria, Calhoun, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston and 8 more | 54 min |
| Mar 26, 3:57 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Angelina, Cherokee, Hardin, Jasper, Jefferson, Nacogdoches and 6 more | 7 hr |
| Mar 26, 4:52 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Archer, Clay, Comanche, Eastland, Erath, Hamilton and 9 more | 83 min |
| Mar 26, 6:32 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Dallam | 4 hr |
| Mar 26, 6:56 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Angelina, Cherokee, Hardin, Jasper, Jefferson, Nacogdoches and 6 more | 94 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.