Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 2018
Tornado Watch 444
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Dec 26, 2018, 5:48 PM CST for 23 counties in Texas. It was in force for 8 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Dec 26, 2018, 5:48 PM CST (23:48 UTC)
- Expired
- Dec 27, 2018, 2:00 AM CST
- In force
- 8 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 23 counties
Atascosa County, TX, Bandera County, TX, Bastrop County, TX, Bexar County, TX, Blanco County, TX, Caldwell County, TX, Comal County, TX, Edwards County, TX, Frio County, TX, Gillespie County, TX, Gonzales County, TX, Guadalupe County, TX, Hays County, TX, Kendall County, TX, Kerr County, TX, Kinney County, TX, Lee County, TX, Medina County, TX, Real County, TX, Travis County, TX, Uvalde County, TX, Wilson County, TX, Zavala County, TX
The radar
The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 51 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:51 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
- 60%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 20%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 60%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 20%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 20%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 10%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 80%
Warnings issued inside it
6 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 26, 6:09 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Edwards, Kinney, Val Verde | 66 min |
| Dec 26, 7:06 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Edwards, Kinney, Val Verde | 54 min |
| Dec 26, 7:10 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Edwards, Kerr, Real | 65 min |
| Dec 26, 8:01 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Bandera, Edwards, Kerr, Kinney, Real, Uvalde | 78 min |
| Dec 26, 10:43 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Comal, Hays | 32 min |
| Dec 27, 12:38 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | EWX | Hays, Travis, Williamson | 3 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
Del Rio, TX (KDLF), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 230 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
- 609 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -68 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 560 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 50 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 233 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 391 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.6
- Supercell composite
- 2.9
The text
As transmitted.
006 WWUS20 KWNS 262346 SEL4 SPC WW 262346 TXZ000-270800- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Tornado Watch Number 444 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 545 PM CST Wed Dec 26 2018 The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a * Tornado Watch for portions of South-central Texas * Effective this Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning from 545 PM until 200 AM CST. * Primary threats include... A few tornadoes likely Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph likely Isolated large hail events to 1 inch in diameter possible SUMMARY...Storms will continue to increase this evening, initially across the Edwards Plateau. Damaging winds and some severe hail will be possible, but a few tornadoes will also be possible, especially as storms encounter richer moisture and stronger low-level shear toward the Hill County/I-35 general vicinity later this evening into the overnight. The tornado watch area is approximately along and 95 statute miles east and west of a line from 60 miles west northwest of Austin TX to 45 miles south of Hondo TX. 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 441...WW 442...WW 443... AVIATION...Tornadoes and a few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to 1 inch. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 60 knots. A few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 500. Mean storm motion vector 23035. ...Guyer
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 26, 11:33 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bailey, Borden, Briscoe, Castro, Coke, Crockett and 24 more | 117 min |
| Dec 26, 12:28 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Archer, Baylor, Brown, Callahan, Coleman, Comanche and 22 more | 2 hr |
| Dec 26, 12:44 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Armstrong, Borden, Briscoe, Carson, Castro, Childress and 40 more | 6 hr |
| Dec 26, 2:11 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bell, Bosque, Brown, Burnet, Callahan, Coleman and 29 more | 10 hr |
| Dec 26, 3:21 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Armstrong, Borden, Briscoe, Castro, Childress, Coke and 34 more | 84 min |
| Dec 26, 4:43 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Archer, Baylor, Bell, Blanco, Bosque, Brown and 42 more | 2 hr |
| Dec 26, 4:58 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Archer, Baylor, Bell, Blanco, Bosque, Brown and 42 more | 62 min |
| Dec 26, 5:06 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Archer, Baylor, Clay, Foard, Hardeman, Knox and 2 more | 4 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.