A cold front combined with warm, moist southerly surface flow caused severe thunderstorms in South Central Texas.
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 EWX wrote it up.
A cold front combined with warm, moist southerly surface flow caused severe thunderstorms in South Central Texas.
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 Austin/San Antonio, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 26, 11:51 AM CST, 8 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 1251 PM CDT SUN APR 26 2009 .AVIATION... STRONG MIXING DAY SHOULD KEEP STRATOCU ABOVE 3500 FT MOST OF THIS AFTERNOON AND WINDS GUSTING TO NEAR 30 KTS. STRONG CONVECTION EXPECTED OVER WEST CENTRAL TX TONIGHT IS EXPECTED TO CREEP INTO THE HILL COUNTRY BY AROUND 06Z. WITH STORM MOTIONS MOSTLY EAST TO NORTHEAST, THE EVENTUAL PROPAGATION OF CELLS SHOULD MIGRATE TOWARD THE METRO CITIES AROUND DAYBREAK. THE LLJ SHOULD KEEP STORMS ACTIVE THROUGH THE NIGHT, BUT MAY BE TOO STRONG, STEERING DIRECTIONS TO THE NORTH. THUS WILL COMPROMISE ON THE LATE PERIOD TEMPO WITH SOME FEEDER SHOWERS AND SOME CB CLOUDS NEARBY. THIS SCENARIO SHOULD RESULT IN REDUCED WINDS TO 10-15 KTS AROUND DAYBREAK, ALLOWING FOR A FEW IFR CIGS. AT DRT, THE STORM COVERAGE SHOULD BE LIGHTER AND MORE UNPREDICTABLE DUE TO WIND RESPONSES TO THE EDWARDS PLATEAU CONVECTION HOWEVER, SOME BURRO MOUNTAIN CONVECTION SHOULD BE INTERMITTENT THROUGH MUCH OF THE TAF PERIOD TO WARRANT THE PERSISTENT CB GROUPS. ANY CELLS THAT FORM AROUND THE DRT AREA COULD BE SEVERE, ESPECIALLY DURING THE EVENING HOURS. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 1109 AM CDT SUN APR 26 2009/ UPDATE... THE GOING FORECAST IS IN GOOD SHAPE...BUT JUST SENT AN UPDATE OF GRIDS AND TEXT PRODUCTS TO FRESHEN TEMP/WIND/CLOUDCOVER TRENDS THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. PER LATEST SPC DISCUSSIONS AND OBSERVATIONS...ITS LOOKING LIKE A BIG SEVERE DAY FOR THE TX PANHANDLE THROUGH WRN OK AND INTO KS. SEEMS LIKE CERTAIN DATES GAIN INFAMY...IN THIS CASE...APRIL 26 IS THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE ANDOVER KS TORNADO IN 1991. WE DONT EXPECT DEEP MOIST CONVECTION UNTIL LATE AFTERNOON...WITH THE MAIN THREAT FOR SEVERE STORMS LATER IN THE EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 346 AM CDT SUN APR 26 2009/ DISCUSSION... EARLY THIS MORNING PATCHY DRIZZLE WAS OCCURRING ALONG AND EAST OF THE BALCONES ESCARPMENT. THE DRIZZLE WILL END BY MID-MORNING. TODAY WILL ONCE AGAIN BE WARM AND HUMID WITH PARTLY SUNNY SKIES IN THE AFTERNOON. GFS MOS TEMPS FOR TODAY CONTINUE TO RUN 4 TO 6 DEGREES TOO COOL. THE DRY-LINE IS CURRENTLY LOCATED ACROSS FAR WEST TEXAS AND THIS FEATURE WILL BE THE FOCUS FOR TSTM DEVELOPMENT LATER THIS AFTERNOON. OROGRAPHICS WILL ALSO HELP INITIATE CONVECTION OVER THE SERRANIAS DEL BURRO RANGE LATE THIS AFTERNOON. ONCE CONVECTION GETS GOING THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING THE CONVECTIVE COMPLEX WILL MOVE EASTWARD ASSISTED BY A SHORT WAVE. ISOLATED SEVERE TSTMS WILL BE POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON/EARLY THIS EVENING FROM ALONG THE RIO GRANDE TO THE EDWARDS PLATEAU AND WESTERN HILL COUNTRY. THE SEVERE THREAT WILL SHIFT EASTWARD AND BE ACROSS THE EASTERN HILL COUNTRY LATER TONIGHT AND THEN ACROSS OUR NORTHEAST COUNTIES DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS ON MONDAY. THE PRIMARILY SEVERE WX THREATS WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL ALSO ACCOMPANY THE STRONGER STORMS. MONDAY THERE STILL WILL BE A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS OUR CWFA. THE AREA OF DEVELOPMENT WILL BE DEPENDANT UPON THE LOCATION OF THE OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES ASSOCIATED WITH THE SUNDAY NIGHT/MONDAY MORNING MCS. AFTERNOON TEMPS WILL BE A TAD COOLER ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF OF THE CWFA DUE TO PCPN AND ASSOCIATED CLOUD COVER. HOWEVER GFS MOS STILL LOOKS TO BE A COUPLE OF DEGREES TOO COOL FOR AFTERNOON HIGHS ON MONDAY. ON TUESDAY A COLD FRONT WILL STALL ACROSS NORTH TEXAS. THIS FEATURE WILL BE THE FOCUS FOR MORE CONVECTION. STEERING WINDS SUGGEST THAT STORMS THAT FORM ON THIS BOUNDARY WILL LIKELY MOVE OFF TO THE EAST AND NORTHEAST. HOWEVER THERE IS A CHANCE THAT SOME CONVECTION MAY SINK SOUTHWARD INTO OUR NORTHEAST COUNTIES ON WEDNESDAY. WILL CONTINUE TO FCST HIGHS ON WEDNESDAY 2 TO 3 DEGREES ABOVE MAV MOS GUIDANCE. THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK WILL REMAIN WARM AND HUMID WITH LOW TEMPS RUNNING 10 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL AND AFTERNOON HIGHS 2 TO 4 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. ISOLATED TO SCATTERED PCPN WILL BE LIMITED TO OUR EASTERN COUNTIES. THE 00Z GFS MODEL SOLUTION BRINGS A WIND SHIFT/COLD FRONT THROUGH OUR CWFA ON FRIDAY. THE 00Z ECMWF STALLS THE FRONT ACROSS NORTH TEXAS AND WE PREFER THIS SOLUTION. THUS SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS WILL REMAIN IN THE WARM AND HUMID AIRMASS THRU NEXT WEEKEND WITH A CONTINUATION OF ABOVE NORMAL TEMPS. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... AUSTIN CAMP MABRY 85 70 83 70 85 / 20 40 40 30 20 AUSTIN BERGSTROM INTL AIRPORT 84 69 83 70 85 / 20 30 30 30 20 NEW BRAUNFELS MUNI AIRPORT 86 71 85 72 86 / 20 30 30 20 10 BURNET MUNI AIRPORT 83 68 81 68 83 / 20 50 40 30 20 DEL RIO INTL AIRPORT 89 71 89 72 91 / 20 20 10 - - GEORGETOWN MUNI AIRPORT 82 69 81 69 83 / 20 40 40 40 30 HONDO MUNI AIRPORT 87 72 85 71 86 / 20 20 30 10 - SAN MARCOS MUNI AIRPORT 85 71 84 71 85 / 20 30 30 20 10 LA GRANGE - FAYETTE REGIONAL 84 71 82 71 85 / 20 20 30 30 20 SAN ANTONIO INTL AIRPORT 86 71 85 71 86 / 20 30 30 20 10 STINSON MUNI AIRPORT 86 71 85 72 86 / 20 20 30 20 10 && .EWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 26/99
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 1119 AM CDT SUN APR 26 2009 TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-271630- LLANO-BURNET-WILLIAMSON-VAL VERDE-EDWARDS-REAL-KERR-BANDERA- GILLESPIE-KENDALL-BLANCO-HAYS-TRAVIS-BASTROP-LEE-KINNEY-UVALDE- MEDINA-BEXAR-COMAL-GUADALUPE-CALDWELL-FAYETTE-MAVERICK-ZAVALA- FRIO-ATASCOSA-WILSON-KARNES-GONZALES-DE WITT-LAVACA-DIMMIT- 1119 AM CDT SUN APR 26 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE RIO GRANDE PLAINS INTO THE WESTERN HILL COUNTRY FROM LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH MIDNIGHT. AFTER MIDNIGHT...THE SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THEN SHIFTS TO THE EASTERN HILL COUNTRY...METRO AUSTIN...AND THE PLAINS EAST OF AUSTIN. THE MAIN SEVERE THREATS WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY... THERE IS SIGNIFICANT UNCERTAINTY AS TO THE TIMING AND LOCATION OF A COLD FRONT MOVING INTO TEXAS...AND FUTURE OUTLOOKS MAY INCREASE THE RISK FOR SEVERE STORMS. HOWEVER...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.
The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 93 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:02 UTC.
4 flash flood, 3 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Numerous trees were blown down across a fairly large area a few miles northeast of Stonewall. Most of the heaviest tree damage was found just north of Ranch Road 2721.
A NWS storm survey concluded an EF1 tornado with winds estimated at 85 to 95 mph developed three miles WSW of Jonah, moved northeast and dissipated one mile west of Jonah along Hwy 29. Over 20 homes were damaged, mostly minor roof damage due to falling branches and trees. Several out buildings and small storage sheds were destroyed. Three power poles were snapped. One travel trailer was rolled on its side.
Golf ball size hail was reported near FM539 and FM2772.
There were reports of several low waters crossings being flooded along Highway 473.
Pecan and Ash Streets in Johnson City were closed due to flooding.
Highway 123 was flooded in Geronimo.
Numerous power lines and trees down in Nixon.
A large radio tower approximately 300 ft tall came down in 60 mph winds.
A NWS storm survey team determined the damage to a mobile home on VFW Road was caused by a tornado with estimated 70 to 80 mph winds.
Dime and nickel size hail was reported at the intersection of US Hwy 87 and FM108 in Smiley.
The sheriff office reported several streets closed in Cuero due to flooding.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Texas, 2009Warnings in Texas, April 2009
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: 167215, 167221, 167226, 167702, 167228, 167229, 167230, 167698, 167231, 167235, 167697, 167700.