Tornadoes and Hail in Texas, March 12, 1999

Name: Tornadoes and Hail in Texas, March 12, 1999
Start: 1999-03-12T18:31
End: 1999-03-12T19:08
Location: Texas

March 12, 1999 · NWS EWX · 3 events in 2 counties and zones

2 tornado, 1 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 tornado, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Zavala

When: March 12, 6:31 PM CST to 6:40 PM CST
Where: Zavala County, Batesville
Measured: 1.5 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 28.950, -99.620

Tornado, Zavala

When: March 12, 6:35 PM CST to 6:38 PM CST
Where: Zavala County, 3 mi SE of Batesville
Rating: F0
Path length: 0.5 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Reported by: STORM CHASER
Coordinates: 28.920, -99.580

A chaser spotted the tornado as it formed in open country just southeast of Batesville. It was small and lived for only about one minute.

Tornado, Frio

When: March 12, 7:05 PM CST to 7:08 PM CST
Where: Frio County, Pearsall to 3 mi W of Pearsall
Rating: F1
Path length: 1.5 mi
Path width: 250 yd
Reported by: STORM CHASER
Coordinates: 28.880, -99.130

The same chaser who viewed the tornado just southeast of Batesville, observed a second tornado as it developed over open country near Pearsall. This one lived for approximately three minutes, then became rain-wrapped and dissipated.

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Texas in 1999 Every state in 1999 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Texas, 1999 Warnings in Texas, March 1999

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5689776, 5689777, 5689778.