Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 2015

Tornado Watch 210

May 25, 201533 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 25, 2015, 9:02 AM CDT for 33 counties in Texas. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 25, 2015, 9:02 AM CDT (14:02 UTC)
Expired
May 25, 2015, 4:00 PM CDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 33 counties

Atascosa County, TX, Bandera County, TX, Bastrop County, TX, Bexar County, TX, Blanco County, TX, Burnet County, TX, Caldwell County, TX, Comal County, TX, DeWitt County, TX, Dimmit County, TX, Edwards County, TX, Fayette County, TX, Frio County, TX, Gillespie County, TX, Gonzales County, TX, Guadalupe County, TX, Hays County, TX, Karnes County, TX, Kendall County, TX, Kerr County, TX, Kinney County, TX, Lavaca County, TX, Lee County, TX, Llano County, TX, Maverick County, TX, Medina County, TX, Real County, TX, Travis County, TX, Uvalde County, TX, Val Verde County, TX, Williamson County, TX, Wilson County, TX, Zavala County, TX

The radar

The Laughlin AFB radar (KDFX), 115 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:04 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
10%
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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 25, 9:51 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXEdwards, Kerr17 min
May 25, 9:57 AM CDTTornado WarningEWXGillespie20 min
May 25, 10:06 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXEdwards, Kerr19 min
May 25, 10:12 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXGillespie, Llano5 hr
May 25, 10:25 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXLlano46 min
May 25, 11:20 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBurnet, Llano3 hr
May 25, 11:32 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXGillespie, Kerr3 hr
May 25, 12:33 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXGillespie27 min
May 25, 12:51 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXBlanco, Gillespie24 min
May 25, 12:53 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBlanco, Gillespie, Kendall3 hr
May 25, 1:08 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXBurnet37 min
May 25, 1:13 PM CDTTornado Warning Tornado observedConsiderable damage threatEWXBlanco, Burnet, Llano47 min
May 25, 1:51 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBexar, Burnet, Comal, Hays, Travis, Williamson3 hr
May 25, 1:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBlanco, Burnet, Travis, Williamson39 min
May 25, 1:59 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXBurnet, Travis, Williamson46 min
May 25, 2:18 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBurnet, Llano117 min
May 25, 2:29 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXHays, Travis46 min
May 25, 2:42 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXWilliamson20 min
May 25, 3:16 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXTravis29 min
May 25, 3:18 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBastrop, Caldwell, Comal, Guadalupe, Hays, Lee and 2 more3 hr
May 25, 3:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXWilliamson33 min
May 25, 3:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXTravis, Williamson52 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

Del Rio, TX (KDRT), launched 12:00Z, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 161 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, Del Rio, TX at 12:00Z on 2015-05-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2864 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Del Rio, TX at 12:00Z on 2015-05-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 145 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
2864 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-27 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
649 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
145 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
277 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
4.5
Supercell composite
17.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

897 
WWUS20 KWNS 251400
SEL0  
SPC WW 251400
TXZ000-252100-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 210
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
900 AM CDT MON MAY 25 2015

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 
  SOUTHWEST INTO CENTRAL TEXAS

* EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 900 AM UNTIL
  400 PM CDT.

* PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE...
  A COUPLE TORNADOES POSSIBLE
  SCATTERED LARGE HAIL AND ISOLATED VERY LARGE HAIL EVENTS TO 2
    INCHES IN DIAMETER POSSIBLE
  ISOLATED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH POSSIBLE

SUMMARY...ONGOING SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE IN
AREAL COVERAGE TODAY WITH ACTIVITY MOVING EAST ACROSS THE WATCH
AREA.  A COUPLE OF TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS WILL
ACCOMPANY THE STRONGEST STORMS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 60 STATUTE
MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 95 MILES WEST OF HONDO TEXAS
TO 45 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF AUSTIN TEXAS.  FOR A COMPLETE
DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE
(WOUS64 KWNS WOU0).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

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 209...

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
600. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24030.


...MEAD

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 24, 7:57 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCHemphill, Lipscomb, Ochiltree, Roberts93 min
May 24, 8:24 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCHansford, Lipscomb, Ochiltree5 hr
May 25, 3:17 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBandera, Coke, Crane, Crockett, Ector, Edwards and 21 more4 hr
May 25, 6:45 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAndrews, Borden, Brown, Callahan, Coke, Coleman and 34 more6 hr
May 25, 6:50 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAndrews, Borden, Callahan, Coke, Coleman, Crosby and 26 more55 min
May 25, 7:53 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBandera, Bexar, Blanco, Burnet, Comal, Frio and 8 more2 hr
May 25, 10:13 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnderson, Archer, Baylor, Bell, Bosque, Brown and 69 more2 hr
May 25, 10:54 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCArcher, Baylor, Bell, Bosque, Brown, Callahan and 55 more7 hr
May 25, 11:37 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtascosa, Bandera, Bastrop, Bexar, Blanco, Burnet and 26 more113 min
May 25, 1:54 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBell, Bosque, Clay, Collin, Cooke, Coryell and 26 more2 hr
May 25, 2:10 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAustin, Bastrop, Bexar, Blanco, Brazos, Burleson and 26 more95 min
May 25, 2:35 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnderson, Austin, Bowie, Brazos, Burleson, Camp and 34 more55 min
May 25, 2:52 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAnderson, Angelina, Bastrop, Blanco, Bowie, Brazos and 53 more8 hr
May 25, 3:19 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Dimmit, Edwards, Frio and 9 more56 min
May 25, 5:15 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBowie, Camp, Cass, Gregg, Harrison, Marion and 7 more90 min
May 25, 5:51 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCSabine6 hr
May 25, 6:06 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAustin, Brazoria, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend, Galveston and 14 more54 min
May 25, 6:24 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAustin, Bee, Brazoria, Calhoun, Chambers, Colorado and 18 more9 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Texas, 2015Every tornado watch in 2015

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.