Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2012

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 156

April 11, 201212 counties in New Mexico; 25 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Apr 11, 2012, 2:43 PM MDT for 12 counties in New Mexico; 25 counties in Texas. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 11, 2012, 2:43 PM MDT (20:43 UTC)
Expired
Apr 11, 2012, 9:00 PM MDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 37 counties

Chaves County, NM, Colfax County, NM, Curry County, NM, De Baca County, NM, Eddy County, NM, Guadalupe County, NM, Harding County, NM, Lea County, NM, Mora County, NM, Quay County, NM, Roosevelt County, NM, San Miguel County, NM, Andrews County, TX, Bailey County, TX, Brewster County, TX, Castro County, TX, Cochran County, TX, Crane County, TX, Culberson County, TX, Dawson County, TX, Ector County, TX, Gaines County, TX, Hockley County, TX, Jeff Davis County, TX, Lamb County, TX, Loving County, TX, Martin County, TX, Midland County, TX, Parmer County, TX, Pecos County, TX, Reeves County, TX, Terrell County, TX, Terry County, TX, Upton County, TX, Ward County, TX, Winkler County, TX, Yoakum County, TX

The radar

The Cannon AFB radar (KFDX), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:46 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
50%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
70%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
20%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
90%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 11, 2:58 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFPecos, Reeves62 min
Apr 11, 3:50 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFCulberson, Reeves55 min
Apr 11, 3:56 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFPecos, Reeves, Ward64 min
Apr 11, 4:03 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea57 min
Apr 11, 4:09 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEddy66 min
Apr 11, 4:37 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEddy53 min
Apr 11, 4:56 PM MDTTornado WarningMAFPecos34 min
Apr 11, 5:01 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea59 min
Apr 11, 5:01 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFCrane, Pecos, Reeves, Ward59 min
Apr 11, 5:10 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEddy65 min
Apr 11, 5:25 PM MDTTornado WarningMAFPecos35 min
Apr 11, 5:29 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEddy34 min
Apr 11, 5:58 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea62 min
Apr 11, 6:03 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBCochran, Yoakum42 min
Apr 11, 6:11 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEddy, Lea64 min
Apr 11, 6:33 PM MDTTornado WarningMAFLea27 min
Apr 11, 6:46 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBCochran, Yoakum29 min
Apr 11, 7:11 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea64 min
Apr 11, 7:15 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBCochran, Yoakum60 min
Apr 11, 7:58 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFCrane, Pecos, Reeves, Ward62 min
Apr 11, 8:06 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBCochran, Hockley, Terry, Yoakum39 min
Apr 11, 8:43 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBHockley, Lynn, Terry47 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

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 253 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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 12:00Z on 2012-04-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 676 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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 12:00Z on 2012-04-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 91 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
676 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-107 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1126 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
91 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
135 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 11, 1:05 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChaves, Colfax, Curry, De Baca, Guadalupe, Harding and 9 more115 min
Apr 11, 1:53 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCEddy, Otero97 min
Apr 11, 2:05 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCUnion25 min
Apr 11, 2:11 PM MDTTornado WatchSPCUnion7 hr
Apr 11, 5:21 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChaves, Curry, De Baca, Eddy, Guadalupe, Harding and 5 more84 min
Apr 11, 5:08 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArmstrong, Carson, Dallam, Gray, Hansford, Hartley and 7 more97 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Texas, 2012Severe Thunderstorm Watches in New Mexico, 2012Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2012

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.