Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2012

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 681

December 14, 20126 counties in Oklahoma; 46 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Dec 14, 2012, 2:28 PM CST for 6 counties in Oklahoma; 46 counties in Texas. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Dec 14, 2012, 2:28 PM CST (20:28 UTC)
Expired
Dec 14, 2012, 7:20 PM CST
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
0.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 52 counties

Beckham County, OK, Ellis County, OK, Greer County, OK, Harmon County, OK, Jackson County, OK, Roger Mills County, OK, Armstrong County, TX, Bailey County, TX, Baylor County, TX, Briscoe County, TX, Carson County, TX, Castro County, TX, Childress County, TX, Cochran County, TX, Collingsworth County, TX, Cottle County, TX, Crosby County, TX, Deaf Smith County, TX, Dickens County, TX, Donley County, TX, Floyd County, TX, Foard County, TX, Garza County, TX, Gray County, TX, Hale County, TX, Hall County, TX, Hansford County, TX, Hardeman County, TX, Hemphill County, TX, Hockley County, TX, Hutchinson County, TX, Kent County, TX, King County, TX, Knox County, TX, Lamb County, TX, Lipscomb County, TX, Lubbock County, TX, Lynn County, TX, Moore County, TX, Motley County, TX, Ochiltree County, TX, Oldham County, TX, Parmer County, TX, Potter County, TX, Randall County, TX, Roberts County, TX, Stonewall County, TX, Swisher County, TX, Terry County, TX, Wheeler County, TX, Wilbarger County, TX, Yoakum County, TX

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 49 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:29 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
60%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
20%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
5%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
80%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 14, 2:58 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBBailey, Castro, Lamb, Parmer32 min
Dec 14, 3:05 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMADeaf Smith, Oldham55 min
Dec 14, 3:25 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAMoore, Potter, Randall95 min
Dec 14, 3:25 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBCastro, Floyd, Hale, Hockley, Lamb, Lubbock and 1 more35 min
Dec 14, 4:02 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBBriscoe, Crosby, Floyd, Hale, Hockley, Lubbock and 1 more28 min
Dec 14, 4:03 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAArmstrong, Carson, Hutchinson73 min
Dec 14, 4:19 PM CSTTornado WarningAMAArmstrong, Carson26 min
Dec 14, 4:28 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBBriscoe, Crosby, Floyd, Hall, Lubbock, Motley32 min
Dec 14, 4:48 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMADonley, Gray52 min
Dec 14, 4:51 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBBriscoe, Crosby, Dickens, Floyd, Hall, Motley24 min
Dec 14, 4:53 PM CSTTornado WarningAMADonley27 min
Dec 14, 4:54 PM CSTTornado WarningAMAGray26 min
Dec 14, 5:13 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMACollingsworth, Wheeler68 min
Dec 14, 5:16 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBChildress, Cottle, Dickens, Hall, King, Motley29 min
Dec 14, 5:48 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNBeckham, Custer, Dewey, Greer, Harmon, Jackson and 3 more57 min
Dec 14, 5:57 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNFoard, Hardeman, Knox48 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, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 49 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 2012-12-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2012-12-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 81 square meters per square second.1939587897117136156Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1556 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
81 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 14, 2:12 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaver, Beckham, Ellis, Roger Mills, Texas93 min
Dec 14, 3:38 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeckham, Ellis, Greer, Harmon, Roger Mills97 min
Dec 14, 5:21 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeckham, Caddo, Comanche, Cotton, Custer, Dewey and 7 more84 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Texas, 2012Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Oklahoma, 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.