Scattered strong to severe thunderstorms developed across southeast Texas during the afternoon hours, with a couple of reports of large hail and damaging winds received.
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 LCH wrote it up.
Scattered strong to severe thunderstorms developed across southeast Texas during the afternoon hours, with a couple of reports of large hail and damaging winds received.
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 Lake Charles, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 26, 11:41 AM CST, 3 hours 18 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 1241 PM CDT TUE MAY 26 2009 .AVIATION... SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED OVER THE ACADIANA AREA LATE THIS MORNING AND ARE MOVING TOWARD THE EAST NORTHEAST AROUND 10 KNOTS. THIS ACTIVITY SHOULD CLEAR KLFT AND KARA BY 18Z...BUT WITH DEVELOPMENT TOWARD THE NORTHWEST...KAEX COULD SEE SOME STORMS BETWEEN 18-21Z THIS AFTERNOON. CONVECTION HAS BEEN MORE ISOLATED BACK TOWARD KLCH AND KBPT. MOIST UNSTABLE AIRMASS REMAINS IN PLACE TODAY AND EXPECT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO BECOME MORE NUMEROUS DURING THE AFTERNOON...BUT WITH UNCERTAINTIES IN TIMING AND LOCATION WILL GO WITH VCTS AT TAF SITES AND AMEND AS NEEDED DURING THE AFTERNOON. OTHERWISE...SKY CONDITIONS AND VISIBILITIES WITH BE GENERALLY VFR WITH OCCASIONAL MVFR CIGS/VISBYS ASSOCIATED WITH CONVECTION. ACTIVITY WILL DIMINISH AFTER SUNSET WITH VFR CONDITIONS CONTINUING OVERNIGHT. SOME PATCHY FOG IS POSSIBLE TOWARD DAYBREAK WITH VISBYS AROUND 4 MILES. 24 && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 1204 PM CDT TUE MAY 26 2009/ DISCUSSION... DIFFICULT NEAR TERM FORECAST IN TERMS OF SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT AND EVOLUTION...WITH CONFLICTING SIGNALS IN THE AVAILABLE SHORT TERM GUIDANCE. THE 4KM WRF SEEMS TO HAVE A GOOD HANDLE ON THE CONVECTION OUT WEST OVER EAST TEXAS...THOUGH DID NOT CAPTURE THE ACTIVITY CURRENTLY OVER LOUISIANA AS WELL AS THE NAM AND GFS DID IN THEIR QPF FIELDS. THE NAM IS ESPECIALLY DRY OVER US THIS AFTERNOON...AND BASED ON TRENDS...APPEARS UNREALISTIC. FROM AN ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVE...PWAT IS SLIGHTLY DRIER THAN YESTERDAY...THOUGH STILL ENOUGH FOR EFFICIENT RAIN PRODUCING THUNDERSTORMS. POTENTIAL INSTABILITY ON THE MORNING SOUNDING HAS ALSO INCREASED WITH STEEPER LOW LEVEL LAPSE RATES...SO GIVEN THE LACK OF VERTICAL WIND SHEAR...PULSE TYPE SEVERE IS ALSO POSSIBLE. IN THE END...PREFERRED THE WETTER SOLUTIONS SHOWN ON THE 4KM WRF...GFS...AND RUC. POPS WERE INCREASED TO 50 PERCENT FOR THE REST OF TODAY. REMAINING PARAMETERS WERE ADJUSTED ONLY SLIGHTLY. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... KLCH 86 72 86 69 / 50 20 60 30 KBPT 86 72 85 69 / 50 20 60 30 KAEX 88 70 86 68 / 50 20 60 30 KLFT 85 70 86 69 / 50 20 60 30 && .LCH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... LA...NONE. TX...NONE. GM...NONE. && PUBLIC/MARINE...13 AVIATION...24
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 544 AM CDT TUE MAY 26 2009 GMZ430-432-435-450-452-455-470-472-475-LAZ027>033-041>045-051>055- TXZ180>182-201-215-216-271045- SABINE LAKE-CALCASIEU LAKE-VERMILION BAY- COASTAL WATERS FROM CAMERON, LA TO HIGH ISLAND, TX OUT 20 NM- COASTAL WATERS FROM INTRACOASTAL CITY TO CAMERON, LA OUT 20 NM- COASTAL WATERS FROM LOWER ATCHAFALAYA RIVER TO INTRACOASTAL CITY, LA OUT 20 NM- WATERS FROM CAMERON, LA TO HIGH ISLAND, TX EXTENDING FROM 20 NM TO 60 NM- WATERS FROM INTRACOASTAL CITY, LA TO CAMERON, LA EXTENDING FROM 20 NM TO 60 NM- WATERS FROM LOWER ATCHAFALAYA RIVER TO INTRACOASTAL CITY, LA EXTENDING FROM 20 NM TO 60 NM-VERNON-RAPIDES-AVOYELLES-BEAUREGARD- ALLEN-EVANGELINE-ST. LANDRY-CALCASIEU-JEFFERSON DAVIS-ACADIA- LAFAYETTE-UPPER ST. MARTIN-CAMERON-VERMILION-IBERIA-ST. MARY- LOWER ST. MARTIN-TYLER-JASPER-NEWTON-HARDIN-JEFFERSON-ORANGE- 544 AM CDT TUE MAY 26 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF THE NORTHWEST GULF OF MEXICO...CENTRAL LOUISIANA...SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA... SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA...WEST CENTRAL LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED ACROSS THE REGION AGAIN TODAY. NONE OF THIS ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE UNTIL A WEAK FRONTAL PASSAGE THURSDAY. NONE OF THIS ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 226 PM CDT TUE MAY 26 2009 TXZ180-262015- TYLER TX- 226 PM CDT TUE MAY 26 2009 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR TYLER COUNTY UNTIL 315 PM CDT... AT 224 PM CDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF CHESTER...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH. * THE STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... ROCKLAND BY 310 PM CDT FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...PEA SIZE HAIL...AND WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH ARE LIKELY WITH THIS STORM. HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CAUSE PONDING OF WATER ON AREA ROADWAYS...ESPECIALLY THOSE IN POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. RESIDENTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO MONITOR THE SITUATION CLOSELY AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE THE PROPER ACTIONS SHOULD A WARNING BE ISSUED. 24
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 337 PM CDT TUE MAY 26 2009 TXZ180-262130- TYLER TX- 337 PM CDT TUE MAY 26 2009 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR TYLER COUNTY UNTIL 430 PM CDT... AT 337 PM CDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR 9 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WOODVILLE...MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH. * THE STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... WARREN BY 405 PM CDT IVANHOE BY 410 PM CDT WOODVILLE AND HILLISTER BY 415 PM CDT FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...PEA SIZE HAIL...AND WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH ARE LIKELY WITH THIS STORM. HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CAUSE PONDING OF WATER ON AREA ROADWAYS...ESPECIALLY THOSE IN POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. RESIDENTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO MONITOR THE SITUATION CLOSELY AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE THE PROPER ACTIONS SHOULD A WARNING BE ISSUED. 24
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 343 PM CDT TUE MAY 26 2009 LAZ027-TXZ182-262145- VERNON LA-NEWTON TX- 343 PM CDT TUE MAY 26 2009 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR VERNON PARISH...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR NEWTON COUNTY UNTIL 445 PM CDT... AT 342 PM CDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF TOLEDO BEND DAM... MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH. * THE STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... TOLEDO BEND DAM BY 350 PM CDT BURR FERRY BY 405 PM CDT FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...PEA SIZE HAIL...AND WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH ARE LIKELY WITH THIS STORM. HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CAUSE PONDING OF WATER ON AREA ROADWAYS...ESPECIALLY THOSE IN POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. RESIDENTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO MONITOR THE SITUATION CLOSELY AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE THE PROPER ACTIONS SHOULD A WARNING BE ISSUED. 24
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 354 PM CDT TUE MAY 26 2009 TXZ201-215-262200- HARDIN TX-JEFFERSON TX- 354 PM CDT TUE MAY 26 2009 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR HARDIN AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES UNTIL 500 PM CDT... AT 353 PM CDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR OVER NOME...MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH. * THE STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... CHINA BY 415 PM CDT BEVIL OAKS BY 430 PM CDT BEAUMONT BY 500 PM CDT FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...PEA SIZE HAIL...AND WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH ARE LIKELY WITH THIS STORM. HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CAUSE PONDING OF WATER ON AREA ROADWAYS...ESPECIALLY THOSE IN POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. RESIDENTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO MONITOR THE SITUATION CLOSELY AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE THE PROPER ACTIONS SHOULD A WARNING BE ISSUED. 24
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Newton County Sheriff Office reported trees blown down near the Highway 63 Bridge east of Burkeville.
Penny size hail was reported at Warren High School.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, May 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: 174186, 174187.