Scattered thunderstorms developed over the southern portions of the Coastal Bend ahead of a stalled frontal boundary over the Brush Country to the Victoria Crossroads. Severe thunderstorms developed north of Alice and moved toward Nueces Bay in the afternoon.
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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 CRP wrote it up.
Scattered thunderstorms developed over the southern portions of the Coastal Bend ahead of a stalled frontal boundary over the Brush Country to the Victoria Crossroads. Severe thunderstorms developed north of Alice and moved toward Nueces Bay in the afternoon.
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 Corpus Christi, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 8, 5:58 AM CST, 1 hour 17 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX 658 AM CDT TUE MAY 8 2012 .DISCUSSION...SEE UPDATED 12Z AVIATION DISCUSSION. && .AVIATION...THERE ARE LIGHT ECHOS ON RADAR THIS MORNING LEADING TO PATCHY LIGHT RAIN OVER AREAS EAST OF ALI-VCT. ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT OVER NORTHEAST MEXICO WILL LEAD TO SOME STORMS NEARING THE LRD SITE. DUE TO AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE AND SURFACE COLD FRONT...SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED BY LATE THIS MORNING OVER SOUTH TEXAS THROUGH THE AFTERNOON...ALTHOUGH ITS DIFFICULT TO SAY HOW MUCH COVERAGE. DEVELOPMENT SHOULD KEEP OVER AREAS WEST OF LRD-BEA DURING THE DAY...THEN EXPAND EASTWARD REACHING NEAR THE COASTAL AREAS THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT. MVFR CONDITIONS THIS MORNING SHOULD IMPROVE TO VFR...THOUGH BKN CEILINGS WILL BE POSSIBLE FOR THE MOST PART... WITH A RETURN OF MVFR CEILINGS WILL BE EXPECTED FOR TONIGHT. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 540 AM CDT TUE MAY 8 2012/ SHORT TERM (TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY)...CONVECTION DEVELOPING OVER WEST TEXAS THIS MORNING WITH SUPPORT FROM THE COMBINATION OF A S/W AND DIFFLUENT FLOW ALOFT. COOLING IN THE MIDLEVELS WILL CONTINUE TO CREATE AN UNSTABLE AIRMASS ALOFT. THE HINDRANCE FOR SOUTH TEXAS WITH THE MORNING STORMS IS THE CAP THAT WAS SHOWN BY THE 00Z CRP SOUNDING. HOWEVER...DUE TO THE CLOSER PROXIMITY OF THE CURRENT S/W...EXPECTING A COOLING TREND IN THE MIDLEVELS... ERODING THE CAP THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS...THUS ALLOWING FOR THE INCREASING CHANCES FOR RAIN. IN ADDITION TO THE S/W...A SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT WILL TREK SOUTHWARD...BECOMING AN ADDITIONAL FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. AS FOR CURRENT...BEST AREA FOR EARLY MORNING CONVECTION WILL BE NEAR THE NORTHERN BRUSH COUNTRY...THEN EXTEND FURTHER EAST BY LATE MORNING. THE LOCATION OF THE DIFFLUENT FLOW ALOFT WILL GRADUALLY SHIFT FROM NEAR THE BIG BEND AREA FURTHER SOUTH...BRINGING BETTER CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT...WITH MODELS HINTING AT MCS DEVELOPMENT...THIS EVENING THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING. WITH INCREASING BULK SHEAR OVER THE AREA DUE TO THE STRENGTHENING JET OVERHEAD...THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY OF A FEW STORMS BECOMING STRONG TO SEVERE LATE TONIGHT THROUGH EARLY WEDNESDAY... PARTICULARLY OVER THE BRUSH COUNTRY. THE MAIN THREAT WOULD BE DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. IN ADDITION...WITH INCREASED MOISTURE OVER THE CWA...PWATS RANGING FROM 1.4-1.7...RAINFALL AMOUNTS MAY REACH 1-2 INCHES...WITH ISOLATED HIGHER AMOUNTS. THE BULK OF THE STORMS SHOULD THEN GRADUALLY MOVE OFFSHORE THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING. OVERALL...KEPT A COOLING TREND WITH THE EXPECTED CHANGE IN AIRMASS...AS WELL AS INCREASED CLOUD COVERAGE. LONG TERM (WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY)...THE FORECAST PERIOD WILL START WITH A LULL IN GOOD RAIN CHANCES AS REGION WILL BE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF SHORT WAVE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE AND NEGATIVE 85H THETA-E ADVECTION FROM THE NORTHEAST. BUT MOISTURE AXIS WILL REMAIN ALONG THE RIO GRANDE AND ENERGY FROM APPROACHING UPPER LOW WILL LEAD TO A CHANCE FOR STORMS OVER NORTHEAST MEXICO TO ADVANCE EASTWARD ACROSS THE RIO GRANDE. THE UPPER LOW SOUTHWEST OF THE BIG BEND THURSDAY MORNING WILL SLOWLY MOVE NORTHEAST INTO THE PERMIAN BASIN FRIDAY MORNING AND NORTH TEXAS SATURDAY MORNING. MID LEVEL HEIGHT FALLS OVER NORTHERN MEXICO INTO THE EDWARDS PLATEAU THURSDAY INTO THURSDAY NIGHT WILL LEAD TO AN INCREASE IN THE SOUTHEAST 85H FLOW TO 20-30 KNOTS OVER SOUTH TEXAS INTO THE RIO GRANDE THURSDAY INTO THURSDAY NIGHT. THIS WILL ADVECT DEEP MOISTURE BACK INTO SOUTH TEXAS WITH SREF SHOWING PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES 1.6 INCHES ALONG THE COAST...BUT 00Z GFS SHOWS PWAT VALUES AROUND 2 INCHES BY THURSDAY NIGHT OVER THE COASTAL PLAINS. THIS WOULD BE 2 STANDARD DEVIATIONS ABOVE NORMAL. MODELS SHOW STRONGLY DIVERGENT FLOW ALOFT IN LEFT EXIT REGION OF 80 KNOT 25H JET STREAK COMING ACROSS NORTHERN MEXICO. FEEL SCENARIO IS COMING TOGETHER FOR HEAVY RAINFALL EPISODE FOR THURSDAY NIGHT AND MENTIONED LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE IN THE FORECAST. HEAVY RAIN THREAT WILL MOVE TOWARD THE COAST AND COASTAL WATERS FOR FRIDAY. WILL SHOW GRADUAL DECREASE IN RAIN CHANCES FROM FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL BE COOLER THAN NORMAL FOR THE PERIOD WITH HIGHS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY ALONG THE COAST AND IN THE MID-COAST REGION IN THE UPPER 70S. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... CORPUS CHRISTI 88 70 85 68 81 / 20 30 40 20 40 VICTORIA 86 67 82 65 80 / 40 50 30 20 40 LAREDO 93 71 87 69 85 / 40 60 50 40 60 ALICE 89 70 85 66 82 / 20 40 50 30 50 ROCKPORT 83 71 83 69 80 / 20 30 40 20 40 COTULLA 88 67 84 66 80 / 50 60 30 30 60 KINGSVILLE 90 71 87 67 82 / 20 40 50 20 50 NAVY CORPUS 86 73 85 71 80 / 20 30 50 20 40 && .CRP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...NONE. GM...NONE. && CB/85...AVIATION
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX 559 AM CDT TUE MAY 8 2012 TXZ229>234-239>247-091100- LA SALLE-MCMULLEN-LIVE OAK-BEE-GOLIAD-VICTORIA-WEBB-DUVAL- JIM WELLS-KLEBERG-NUECES-SAN PATRICIO-ARANSAS-REFUGIO-CALHOUN- 559 AM CDT TUE MAY 8 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH TEXAS AND THE MIDDLE TEXAS COASTAL WATERS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE TODAY... PARTICULARLY OVER NORTHERN PORTIONS OF SOUTH TEXAS...FROM LAREDO TO ROCKPORT. SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS WILL THEN BE POSSIBLE LATE TONIGHT ACROSS SOUTH TEXAS. SOME STORMS MAY BECOME STRONG TO SEVERE TONIGHT...ESPECIALLY OVER THE BRUSH COUNTRY...WITH STRONG WINDS AND LARGE HAIL BEING THE MAIN THREAT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY AS A COLD FRONT MOVES INTO THE AREA. A STRONG UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE OUT OF SOUTHWEST TEXAS THURSDAY NIGHT PROVIDING A ROUND OF SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS FROM THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY ACROSS SOUTH TEXAS. THERE IS A POSSIBILITY OF LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL THURSDAY NIGHT INTO FRIDAY. RAIN AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 3 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH ISOLATED AMOUNTS UP TO 5 INCHES POSSIBLE MAINLY OVER THE BRUSH COUNTRY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED TONIGHT. GMZ230-235-250-255-270-275-091100- BAYS AND WATERWAYS FROM BAFFIN BAY TO PORT ARANSAS- BAYS AND WATERWAYS FROM PORT ARANSAS TO PORT O'CONNOR- COASTAL WATERS FROM BAFFIN BAY TO PORT ARANSAS OUT 20 NM- COASTAL WATERS FROM PORT ARANSAS TO MATAGORDA SHIP CHANNEL OUT 20 NM-WATERS FROM BAFFIN BAY TO PORT ARANSAS FROM 20 TO 60 NM- WATERS FROM PORT ARANSAS TO MATAGORDA SHIP CHANNEL FROM 20 TO 60 NM- 559 AM CDT TUE MAY 8 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH TEXAS AND THE MIDDLE TEXAS COASTAL WATERS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE LATE TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. CB/TMT
The Corpus Christi radar (KCRP), 15 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 13:15 UTC.
3 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 1 tornado, 1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
Video taken by the public showed a weak waterspout over Corpus Christi Bay moving inland near Ocean Drive and Robert Drive as a weak EF-0 tornado. The tornado quickly dissipated. No damage was observed.
A NWS survey concluded that a downburst of straight-line winds occurred over the southern portion of the city of Orange Grove near the intersection of Highway 359 and County Road 374. The winds were estimated to be up to 80 mph. The damage path was 1 mile long and a half of a mile wide. Several large power poles were snapped in half. The roof was peeled off of two mobile homes. The roof was damaged on a two story home with a large porch overhang. There were numerous large trees and branches down across the area also.
A television antenna 20 feet tall and well secured was blown down.
Public reported penny sized hail covered the ground along Farm to Market Road 3088 northwest of Bluntzer.
Trees were blown down at the Westlake Subdivision.
Observer received 2.25 inches of rain in a span of 25 minutes near Bluntzer.
Quarter sized hail occurred near Wood River Drive in Calallen.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Texas, 2012Warnings in Texas, May 2012
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: 385435, 385415, 385410, 385399, 385413, 385414, 385409.