Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 2016
Tornado Watch 120
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 28, 2016, 3:46 PM CDT for 19 counties in Texas. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 28, 2016, 3:46 PM CDT (20:46 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 28, 2016, 8:58 PM CDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 2.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 65 kt
Counties Briscoe County, TX, Castro County, TX, Childress County, TX, Cottle County, TX, Crosby County, TX, Dickens County, TX, Floyd County, TX, Garza County, TX, Hale County, TX, Hall County, TX, Kent County, TX, King County, TX, Lamb County, TX, Lubbock County, TX, Lynn County, TX, Motley County, TX, Parmer County, TX, Stonewall County, TX, Swisher County, TX
The radar
The Lubbock radar (KLBB), 55 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:45 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
- 50%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 20%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 30%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 30%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 60%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 30%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 80%
Warnings issued inside it
11 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 28, 4:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Briscoe, Floyd, Hale | 37 min |
| Apr 28, 4:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Briscoe, Floyd, Hall, Motley | 41 min |
| Apr 28, 4:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Crosby, Floyd, Lubbock | 49 min |
| Apr 28, 5:29 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Hall, Motley | 46 min |
| Apr 28, 5:38 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Floyd | 37 min |
| Apr 28, 6:07 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Floyd, Motley | 23 min |
| Apr 28, 6:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Childress, Hall | 47 min |
| Apr 28, 6:22 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Floyd, Motley | 38 min |
| Apr 28, 6:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Motley | 35 min |
| Apr 28, 6:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Childress | 32 min |
| Apr 28, 7:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Cottle | 49 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, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 126 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1215 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 62 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 433 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 426 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted.
033
WWUS20 KWNS 282043
SEL0
SPC WW 282043
TXZ000-290400-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 120
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
345 PM CDT THU APR 28 2016
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
* TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
WEST CENTRAL TEXAS
* EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 345 PM UNTIL
1100 PM CDT.
* PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE...
A FEW TORNADOES POSSIBLE
SCATTERED LARGE HAIL LIKELY WITH ISOLATED VERY LARGE HAIL EVENTS
TO 2.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER POSSIBLE
ISOLATED SIGNIFICANT DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 75 MPH POSSIBLE
SUMMARY...SCATTERED SUPERCELLS WITH SOME RISK FOR TORNADOES...IN
ADDITION TO LARGE HAIL AND LOCALLY DAMAGING WIND...EXPECTED TO
MOVE/DEVELOP GENERALLY NE ACROSS THE TEXAS SOUTH PLAINS AND LOW
ROLLING PLAINS THROUGH LATE EVENING...AS MOISTURE INFLOW INCREASES
AHEAD OF SOUTHWESTERN STATES UPPER-LEVEL TROUGH.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 75 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 45 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF
PLAINVIEW TEXAS TO 55 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LUBBOCK 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 119...
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 65 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
550. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 22025.
...CORFIDISPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 28, 3:17 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Armstrong, Borden, Briscoe, Carson, Castro, Cottle and 32 more | 118 min |
| Apr 28, 4:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Armstrong, Carson, Collingsworth, Dallam, Deaf Smith, Donley and 14 more | 7 hr |
| Apr 28, 6:26 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Armstrong, Briscoe, Carson, Castro, Childress, Collingsworth and 32 more | 94 min |
Nearby
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.