Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2018

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 9

March 17, 201843 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Mar 17, 2018, 2:20 PM CDT for 43 counties in Texas. It was in force for 9 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 17, 2018, 2:20 PM CDT (19:20 UTC)
Expired
Mar 17, 2018, 11:00 PM CDT
In force
9 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
3 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 43 counties

Anderson County, TX, Bell County, TX, Bosque County, TX, Brown County, TX, Callahan County, TX, Coleman County, TX, Comanche County, TX, Coryell County, TX, Dallas County, TX, Eastland County, TX, Ellis County, TX, Erath County, TX, Falls County, TX, Freestone County, TX, Hamilton County, TX, Henderson County, TX, Hill County, TX, Hood County, TX, Houston County, TX, Johnson County, TX, Kaufman County, TX, Lampasas County, TX, Leon County, TX, Limestone County, TX, Madison County, TX, McCulloch County, TX, McLennan County, TX, Milam County, TX, Mills County, TX, Navarro County, TX, Palo Pinto County, TX, Parker County, TX, Rains County, TX, Robertson County, TX, Rockwall County, TX, Runnels County, TX, San Saba County, TX, Shackelford County, TX, Somervell County, TX, Stephens County, TX, Tarrant County, TX, Taylor County, TX, Van Zandt County, TX

The radar

The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 78 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:22 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
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
10%
Ten or more severe hail reports
60%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
40%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
90%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 17, 2:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSJTBrown24 min
Mar 17, 2:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDComanche, Eastland40 min
Mar 17, 4:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDCoryell67 min
Mar 17, 4:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDBell, Coryell, McLennan64 min
Mar 17, 5:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDBell, Falls, McLennan62 min
Mar 17, 5:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSJTSan Saba50 min
Mar 17, 6:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDLampasas59 min
Mar 17, 6:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDFalls36 min
Mar 17, 7:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDFalls, Leon, Limestone, Robertson53 min
Mar 17, 8:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDBell, Milam40 min
Mar 17, 8:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDLeon55 min
Mar 17, 8:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHouston, Madison46 min
Mar 17, 9:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHouston, Madison, Trinity, Walker39 min
Mar 17, 9:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHouston, Trinity, Walker35 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

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), launched 12:00Z, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 98 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2018-03-17Temperature 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2018-03-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 70 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
2469 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
70 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-22 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
Mar 17, 1:15 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnderson, Bell, Bosque, Brown, Callahan, Cherokee and 30 more3 hr
Mar 17, 5:25 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnderson, Bell, Coryell, Falls, Freestone, Henderson and 7 more2 hr
Mar 17, 5:45 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCaldwell, Comal, Guadalupe, Hays, Travis, Wilson90 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Texas, 2018Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2018

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.