Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 2016
Tornado Watch 194
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 22, 2016, 6:55 PM CDT for 13 counties in Texas. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 22, 2016, 6:55 PM CDT (23:55 UTC)
- Expired
- May 23, 2016, 12:00 AM CDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 3 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
Counties Coke County, TX, Crockett County, TX, Glasscock County, TX, Irion County, TX, Midland County, TX, Pecos County, TX, Reagan County, TX, Schleicher County, TX, Sterling County, TX, Sutton County, TX, Terrell County, TX, Tom Green County, TX, Upton County, TX
The radar
The San Angelo radar (KSJT), 119 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:54 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
- 10%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 30%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 30%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 50%
Warnings issued inside it
13 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 22, 7:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Glasscock, Howard, Martin | 44 min |
| May 22, 7:14 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MAF | Glasscock, Howard | 31 min |
| May 22, 7:21 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | SJT | Sterling | 39 min |
| May 22, 7:36 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Glasscock, Howard, Martin | 54 min |
| May 22, 7:41 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MAF | Glasscock, Howard | 34 min |
| May 22, 8:13 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MAF | Glasscock | 32 min |
| May 22, 8:42 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MAF | Glasscock | 33 min |
| May 22, 8:50 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | MAF | Glasscock, Howard | 4 hr |
| May 22, 9:10 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MAF | Glasscock | 35 min |
| May 22, 9:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Glasscock, Howard, Martin, Midland | 55 min |
| May 22, 9:41 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MAF | Glasscock | 34 min |
| May 22, 10:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Glasscock, Reagan | 50 min |
| May 22, 10:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Glasscock, Reagan | 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
Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 148 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
- 2486 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -117 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 831 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 85 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 117 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.4
- Supercell composite
- 5.1
The text
As transmitted.
863 WWUS20 KWNS 222351 SEL4 SPC WW 222351 TXZ000-230500- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 194 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 650 PM CDT SUN MAY 22 2016 THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF WEST TEXAS * EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY NIGHT FROM 650 PM UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT. * PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE... A COUPLE TORNADOES POSSIBLE ISOLATED VERY LARGE HAIL EVENTS TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER POSSIBLE ISOLATED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH POSSIBLE SUMMARY...THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE IN THIS AREA SHOULD REMAIN ISOLATED BUT POTENTIALLY QUITE SEVERE...WITH A TORNADIC SUPERCELL NEAR I-20 PERFORMING HARD-RIGHT MOTION TOWARD NORTHERN PARTS OF THE NEW WATCH AS OF ISSUANCE TIME...AND OTHER DEVELOPMENT POSSIBLE ALONG THE DRYLINE IN THE WESTERN PORTIONS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 60 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF DRYDEN TEXAS TO 60 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF SAN ANGELO TEXAS. FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU4). 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 190...WW 191...WW 192...WW 193... AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 600. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 27020. ...EDWARDS
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 9:29 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Armstrong, Bailey, Carson, Castro, Cochran, Dallam and 17 more | 61 min |
| May 22, 12:05 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Andrews, Armstrong, Bailey, Carson, Castro, Cochran and 21 more | 2 hr |
| May 22, 1:39 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Armstrong, Bailey, Briscoe, Carson, Castro, Collingsworth and 23 more | 2 hr |
| May 22, 2:48 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Armstrong, Borden, Briscoe, Carson, Castro, Childress and 40 more | 9 hr |
| May 22, 6:25 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Coke, Crockett, Glasscock, Irion, Reagan, Schleicher and 5 more | 2 hr |
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.