Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2011

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 313

May 20, 201166 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 20, 2011, 12:28 PM CDT for 66 counties in Texas. It was in force for 10 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 20, 2011, 12:28 PM CDT (17:28 UTC)
Expired
May 20, 2011, 10:00 PM CDT
In force
10 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 66 counties

Anderson County, TX, Bandera County, TX, Bastrop County, TX, Bell County, TX, Bexar County, TX, Blanco County, TX, Bosque County, TX, Burnet County, TX, Caldwell County, TX, Collin County, TX, Comal County, TX, Comanche County, TX, Cooke County, TX, Coryell County, TX, Dallas County, TX, Delta County, TX, Denton County, TX, Ellis County, TX, Erath County, TX, Falls County, TX, Fannin County, TX, Fayette County, TX, Freestone County, TX, Gillespie County, TX, Gonzales County, TX, Grayson County, TX, Guadalupe County, TX, Hamilton County, TX, Hays County, TX, Henderson County, TX, Hill County, TX, Hood County, TX, Hopkins County, TX, Hunt County, TX, Jack County, TX, Johnson County, TX, Kaufman County, TX, Kendall County, TX, Kerr County, TX, Lamar County, TX, Lampasas County, TX, Lee County, TX, Leon County, TX, Limestone County, TX, Llano County, TX, Mason County, TX, McLennan County, TX, Medina County, TX, Milam County, TX, Mills County, TX, Montague County, TX, Navarro County, TX, Palo Pinto County, TX, Parker County, TX, Rains County, TX, Real County, TX, Robertson County, TX, Rockwall County, TX, San Saba County, TX, Somervell County, TX, Tarrant County, TX, Travis County, TX, Uvalde County, TX, Van Zandt County, TX, Williamson County, TX, Wise County, TX

The radar

The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 69 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:31 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
5%
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
40%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 20, 12:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDParker, Wise59 min
May 20, 1:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDHamilton, Mills45 min
May 20, 2:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDCooke, Denton41 min
May 20, 2:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDCollin, Dallas47 min
May 20, 2:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDParker, Tarrant44 min
May 20, 2:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDCoryell, Hamilton, Lampasas52 min
May 20, 3:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBurnet28 min
May 20, 3:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDDallas, Tarrant30 min
May 20, 3:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDAnderson, Freestone, Leon58 min
May 20, 3:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBurnet, Llano47 min
May 20, 4:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDCollin, Denton27 min
May 20, 4:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDDallas, Tarrant48 min
May 20, 4:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDCollin, Fannin, Hunt62 min
May 20, 5:23 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDFannin3 hr
May 20, 5:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDHunt, Rains, Van Zandt66 min
May 20, 5:40 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDLeon6 hr
May 20, 5:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDFreestone, Limestone60 min
May 20, 5:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDLeon66 min
May 20, 6:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDKaufman58 min
May 20, 6:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDEllis, Navarro52 min
May 20, 6:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDHenderson, Kaufman57 min
May 20, 7:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDVan Zandt57 min
May 20, 7:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDLimestone49 min
May 20, 7:13 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDAnderson, Freestone, Limestone, Robertson3 hr
May 20, 7:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDMilam, Robertson54 min
May 20, 7:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBastrop, Hays, Travis, Williamson41 min
May 20, 7:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDLimestone62 min
May 20, 8:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis26 min
May 20, 8:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDLeon63 min
May 20, 8:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDMilam, Robertson64 min
May 20, 8:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXCaldwell, Hays, Travis23 min
May 20, 8:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXHays, Travis32 min
May 20, 8:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBastrop, Lee, Travis, Williamson61 min
May 20, 9:21 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDMilam, Robertson3 hr
May 20, 9:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBastrop, Caldwell, Lee, Travis38 min
May 20, 9:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDMilam, Robertson64 min
May 20, 9:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDAnderson, Leon63 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

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), launched 12:00Z, 5.5 hours before the alert went out and 97 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2011-05-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2657 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2011-05-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 129 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2657 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-30 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
545 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
129 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
203 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
5.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 19, 7:47 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaylor, Haskell, Knox, Wichita, Wilbarger118 min
May 19, 9:36 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBorden, Briscoe, Childress, Coke, Collingsworth, Cottle and 28 more84 min
May 19, 11:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBaylor, Borden, Childress, Coke, Cottle, Dickens and 19 more6 hr
May 20, 2:58 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaylor, Coke, Fisher, Foard, Glasscock, Haskell and 11 more92 min
May 20, 10:30 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnderson, Bowie, Camp, Cass, Cherokee, Collin and 31 more60 min
May 20, 11:03 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCBowie, Camp, Cass, Cherokee, Franklin, Gregg and 10 more7 hr
May 20, 12:08 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnderson, Bandera, Bastrop, Bell, Blanco, Bosque and 56 more67 min
May 20, 1:28 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBowie, Camp, Cass, Franklin, Gregg, Harrison and 8 more62 min
May 20, 4:00 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnderson, Bowie, Camp, Cass, Delta, Franklin and 18 more60 min
May 20, 5:34 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnderson, Bandera, Bastrop, Bell, Bexar, Blanco and 41 more116 min
May 20, 5:56 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBowie, Camp, Cass, Cherokee, Franklin, Gregg and 10 more3 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Texas, 2011Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2011

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.