The western edge of a long early morning line of thunderstorms draped across Eastern Texas into Western Louisiana produced a couple of severe hail events.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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 episode as NWS HGX wrote it up.
The western edge of a long early morning line of thunderstorms draped across Eastern Texas into Western Louisiana produced a couple of severe hail events.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 11, 1:05 AM CST, 51 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
205 AM CDT SUN MAY 11 2008
.UPDATE...
HAVE SENT OUT A ZONE UPDATE TO RAISE OVERNIGHT POPS...ESPECIALLY
NORTHEAST...BASED ON RADAR TRENDS WHICH ARE INDICATING GRADUALLY
INCREASING SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE ALONG THE COLD FRONT
NOW MOVING THROUGH OUR NORTHERN COUNTIES. 42
&&
.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 907 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2008/
UPDATE...
THE 00Z CRP AND LCH UPPER AIR SOUNDINGS SHOW A SUBSTANTIAL CAP IN
PLACE ALONG THE GULF COAST. LONE SEVERE STORM THAT WAS OVER
AUSTIN HAS PUSHED EAST AND DISSIPATED. FEEL FAIRLY CONFIDENT OF
THE CAP HOLDING THROUGH 06Z TONIGHT SO TOOK OUT POPS UNTIL THEN.
THE 00Z RUC AND NAM RUNS OUT TO 12HRS SHOW SOME PRECIP DEVELOPING
OVER SE TX AS THE FRONT PUSHES INTO THE REGION. GIVEN THE CAP IN
PLACE...THINK SHOWERS WILL BE MORE LIKELY THAN THUNDERSTORM
ACTIVITY. IT IS STILL POSSIBLE FOR AN ISOLATED SEVERE STORM
SHOULD THE CAP BREAK WITH FRONTAL FORCING. THE CAP STILL LOOKS
TOO STOUT. THE FORECAST WILL KEEP 20 POPS FROM 06Z TO 12Z SUN
WITH THE FRONT PUSHING OFF THE COAST BY 15Z. TOMORROW SHOULD BE A
PLEASANT DAY BEHIND THE FRONT WITH DRIER AIR IN PLACE.
ALONG THE UPPER TX COAST...WINDS MAY REACH 20KTS SUSTAINED BEHIND
THE FRONT SO ADDED SCA FOR 0 TO 60NM WATERS. SEAS MAY REACH 7FT
FARTHER OFF THE COAST GIVEN LONG ENOUGH OF A FETCH. THE 15Z TO
21Z TIME FRAME WILL BE WHEN SCA CONDITIONS WILL BE MOST LIKELY.
39/43
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
COLLEGE STATION (CLL) 54 84 68 87 74 / 30 0 10 10 20
HOUSTON (IAH) 56 83 70 87 74 / 30 0 10 10 20
GALVESTON (GLS) 66 79 74 84 77 / 30 0 10 10 10
&&
.HGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
TX...NONE.
GM...SMALL CRAFT SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION FROM 7 AM THIS MORNING TO 1
PM CDT THIS AFTERNOON FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: GALVESTON
BAY...MATAGORDA BAY.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FROM 8 AM THIS MORNING TO 1 PM CDT THIS
AFTERNOON FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: WATERS FROM FREEPORT TO
THE MATAGORDA SHIP CHANNEL OUT 20 NM...WATERS FROM HIGH
ISLAND TO FREEPORT OUT 20 NM.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FROM 8 AM THIS MORNING TO 4 PM CDT THIS
AFTERNOON FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: WATERS FROM FREEPORT TO
THE MATAGORDA SHIP CHANNEL 20 NM TO 60 NM...WATERS FROM
HIGH ISLAND TO FREEPORT 20 TO 60 NM.
&&
DISCUSSION...42
AVIATION/MARINE...31HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 341 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2008 TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-111300- AUSTIN-BRAZORIA-BRAZOS-BURLESON-CHAMBERS-COLORADO-FORT BEND- GALVESTON-GRIMES-HARRIS-HOUSTON-JACKSON-LIBERTY-MADISON-MATAGORDA- MONTGOMERY-POLK-SAN JACINTO-TRINITY-WALKER-WALLER-WASHINGTON- WHARTON- 341 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP BY EARLY THIS EVENING OVER CENTRAL AND NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS ALONG AND AHEAD OF A SURFACE DRYLINE. A FEW OF THESE STORMS COULD IMPACT THE NORTHWEST HALF OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS BETWEEN 6 PM AND MIDNIGHT. STRONG CAPPING IN THE ATMOSPHERE WILL KEEP THE OVERALL THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE VERY LIMITED. HOWEVER...THE STRONG INSTABILITY WILL ALLOW ANY STORMS THAT MANAGE TO DEVELOP TO BECOME SEVERE. THE THREAT OF ISOLATED SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE TO THE NORTHWEST OF A LINE FROM COLUMBUS TO CONROE TO LIVINGSTON. THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER THREAT WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. THE THREAT SHOULD END BY MIDNIGHT AS THE AIRMASS STABILIZES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH FOUR...SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAY FIVE...WEDNESDAY SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED TO GRADUALLY INCREASE WITH THE APPROACH AND PASSAGE OF THE NEXT STORM SYSTEM. SINCE THIS SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO TAKE A MORE SOUTHERN ROUTE AS IT MOVES EASTWARD ACROSS THE STATE...SOME OF THE STORMS ON WEDNESDAY MIGHT BE ABLE TO BECOME SEVERE OR PRODUCE HEAVY RAINFALL. THE TIMING OF THIS STORM SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO BECOME CLEARER OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS...AND THIS MAY RESULT IN SOME TIMING ADJUSTMENTS FOR THIS MIDWEEK STORM SYSTEM. .DAYS SIX AND SEVEN...THURSDAY AND FRIDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE THIS EVENING OVER THE NORTHWEST HALF OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS.
The Houston radar (KHGX), 154 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 07:55 UTC.
2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail to the size of three quarters of an inch was reported at the intersection of FM 350 North and Ray Marsh Road.
Penny size hail was reported in Spring Valley.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, May 2008
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: 103912, 103913.