Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 2015

Tornado Watch 524

October 30, 201522 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 30, 2015, 12:02 PM CDT for 22 counties in Texas. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Oct 30, 2015, 12:02 PM CDT (17:02 UTC)
Expired
Oct 30, 2015, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 22 counties

Austin County, TX, Bastrop County, TX, Bell County, TX, Brazos County, TX, Burleson County, TX, Caldwell County, TX, Colorado County, TX, Falls County, TX, Fayette County, TX, Freestone County, TX, Grimes County, TX, Lee County, TX, Leon County, TX, Limestone County, TX, Madison County, TX, McLennan County, TX, Milam County, TX, Robertson County, TX, Travis County, TX, Waller County, TX, Washington County, TX, Williamson County, TX

The radar

The Ft Hood radar (KGRK), 42 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:01 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
30%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
5%
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
60%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 30, 12:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXLee40 min
Oct 30, 12:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBurleson34 min
Oct 30, 12:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDMilam, Robertson59 min
Oct 30, 12:30 PM CDTFlash Flood Warning EmergencyEWXCaldwell, Guadalupe, Hays3 hr
Oct 30, 12:40 PM CDTTornado WarningHGXBurleson20 min
Oct 30, 1:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazos, Burleson42 min
Oct 30, 1:08 PM CDTTornado Warning Tornado observedHGXBrazos, Burleson37 min
Oct 30, 1:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDRobertson34 min
Oct 30, 2:18 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDBell, Falls7 hr
Oct 30, 3:35 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDMcLennan3 hr

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 5.0 hours before the alert went out and 324 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 2015-10-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1894 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 2015-10-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 138 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
1894 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
648 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
138 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
262 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
5.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 29, 11:55 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBandera, Edwards, Gillespie, Kerr, Kimble, Kinney and 10 more3 hr
Oct 30, 3:48 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtascosa, Bexar, Caldwell, Comal, DeWitt, Frio and 6 more117 min
Oct 30, 6:07 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCAtascosa, Austin, Bandera, Bastrop, Bexar, Blanco and 21 more6 hr
Oct 30, 7:02 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCKenedy, Kleberg, Nueces, San Patricio118 min
Oct 30, 7:49 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtascosa, Austin, Bandera, Bastrop, Bexar, Burleson and 16 more86 min
Oct 30, 10:32 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtascosa, Austin, Bandera, Bastrop, Bexar, Burleson and 18 more58 min
Oct 30, 2:14 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAustin, Bastrop, Bell, Brazos, Burleson, Caldwell and 13 more61 min
Oct 30, 4:45 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBandera, Bexar, Blanco, Brown, Burnet, Concho and 25 more3 hr
Oct 30, 5:40 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBell, Brazos, Burleson, Falls, Freestone, Lee and 7 more2 hr
Oct 30, 6:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBandera, Blanco, Burnet, Dimmit, Edwards, Frio and 11 more8 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.