Very strong winds behind a cold front caused winds of 30-63 MPH across South Texas. A Wind Advisory was in effect across all of South Texas through the mid-afternoon on January 12th.
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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.
Very strong winds behind a cold front caused winds of 30-63 MPH across South Texas. A Wind Advisory was in effect across all of South Texas through the mid-afternoon on January 12th. A portion of the Advisory was upgraded to a High Wind Warning for a few coastal counties by the late morning after inland Nueces County measured wind gusts in excess of 60 mph.
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 Jan 12, 5:35 AM CST, 5 hours 20 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Corpus Christi TX
535 AM CST Fri Jan 12 2024
...New AVIATION...
.SHORT TERM...
(Today through Saturday)
Issued at 400 AM CST Fri Jan 12 2024
Cold front is pushing through the area early this morning and will
reach the coast by 4-5AM. Winds have been gusting 30-40 mph
behind the front, but looking upstream still seeing the potential
for gusts of 40 to 50 mph for the rest of the overnight and
through the morning hours. Probs of gusts greater than 50 mph
still quite high for Webb and LaSalle counties, especially between
4 and 7am. Will maintain all warning/advisory products as is.
High pressure will quickly settle in this afternoon and allow
winds to weaken quickly by mid-afternoon. High temperatures today
will be cooler, but still into the lower to mid 60s for most of
the area. The Victoria Crossroads may top out in the upper 50s.
We'll have mainly clear skies this afternoon.
Under clear skies with light winds, low temperatures tonight fall
into the 30s for most of the area, except near the coast and along
the Rio Grande where low 40s are expected. Saturday should be a
pleasant day and a good chance to prep for the upcoming cold
weather (see long term discussion). High temperatures in the 60s
to lower 70s with light to moderate southerly winds and mostly clear
skies.
&&
.LONG TERM...
(Saturday night through next Thursday)
Issued at 400 AM CST Fri Jan 12 2024
Key Messages:
- Low chance (15-25%) of freezing drizzle across the northern Brush
Country into the Victoria Crossroads Sunday night into Monday morning
- Hard Freeze (less than 25 degrees) with near or record breaking
minimum temperatures likely Monday night and Tuesday night
- Dangerous Wind Chill values 0-15 degrees late Monday night into
Tuesday morning and late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning
The strongest cold front of the season will swing across the area
late Saturday night into Sunday morning ushering in a much colder
Arctic airmass. Temperatures in the wake of the front will be the
coldest air we've seen since before Christmas 2022. Highs Sunday
will be well below average in the 40s before dropping further Monday
with highs in the 30s and 40s. The coldest day is slated for Tuesday
when max temperatures struggle to reach 40 degrees. A warming trend
will begin Wednesday with max temperatures in the 60s by Thursday.
Overnight temperatures will flirt with the freezing level Sunday
night and fall well below freezing Monday and Tuesday night with a
high chance of lows below 25 degrees. Dangerously cold wind chill
values are expected Monday night through Tuesday morning then again
Tuesday evening through Wednesday morning with most areas
expecting wind chill values between 10 and 20 degrees, and
locations across the northern Coastal Plains and Victoria
Crossroads dropping into the single digit wind chill value. With
the aforementioned cold air, there is a high chance of hard freeze
conditions (less than 25 degrees) Monday night and Tuesday night.
With the cold temperatures and even colder wind chill, pipes and
vegetation should be protected and pets should be brought indoors.
Now on to the fun part - precipitation. There is a low 15-25%
chance of precipitation Sunday night through Monday afternoon with
PWAT values around 0.8-1.10" placing us in the 50-75th percentile
compared to climatology. The challenge in the forecast lies in
the precipitation type Sunday night through Monday morning. With
the probability of colder air filtering into the region earlier,
the chance for frozen precipitation has also increased. This is a
classic low confidence, high impact event. Confidence is low on
just how cold the temperatures will be Sunday night into Monday
which affects what precipitation to expect, but the impacts can be
significant as frozen precipitation could occur during the Monday
morning commute. As of right now, have not only maintained the
mention frozen precipitation (freezing drizzle/ freezing rain),
but have also expanded the coverage further west to include the
northern Brush Country. If temperatures are a degree or two colder
than forecast, frozen precipitation will be more likely where as
if temperatures are a degree or two warmer, then liquid
precipitation will be more likely. Some models show a 0% of
freezing rain for the aforementioned time period while others show
a 30-40% chance of freezing rain. We will continue to closely
monitor this as small changes in the temperatures forecast can
lead to significant adjustments to the rest of the forecast.
&&
.AVIATION...
(12Z TAFS)
Issued at 518 AM CST Fri Jan 12 2024
Wind speeds vary greatly across the area at issuance time this
morning, but expect all sites to develop a strong northwesterly
wind during the morning hours. Winds above the surface are noted
up to 50kt on morning KCRP sounding. This should be about the
peak, and expect these winds to come down through the morning.
Otherwise expect VFR conditions. Stratus this morning around 4kft
will push out leaving mainly clear skies.
&&
.MARINE...
Issued at 400 AM CST Fri Jan 12 2024
A cold front moves through the region this morning and will bring
gale force northwest winds behind it lasting into the early
afternoon. Small craft advisory conditions will persist through
the evening before weakening. Very rough seas are expected today.
Onshore flow will return by Saturday morning and continue through
the overnight hours before becoming southeast just before sunrise.
Winds increase to strong levels by mid-morning Sunday. Winds will
briefly decrease to moderate levels late Sunday afternoon through
Sunday night before strengthening once again to stronger levels
Monday behind our second cold front with Gale force winds likely
Monday night through Tuesday morning. Isolated to scattered
showers are expected Sunday night through through Monday night
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Corpus Christi 63 40 69 47 / 0 0 0 0
Victoria 59 35 67 36 / 0 0 0 0
Laredo 65 40 71 44 / 0 0 0 0
Alice 64 37 71 41 / 0 0 0 0
Rockport 64 44 65 44 / 0 0 0 0
Cotulla 65 36 71 39 / 0 0 0 0
Kingsville 63 37 70 45 / 0 0 0 0
Navy Corpus 64 47 66 51 / 0 0 0 0
&&
.CRP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
TX...Red Flag Warning until 3 PM CST this afternoon for TXZ229>234-
239>247-342>347-442-443-447.
High Wind Warning until 8 AM CST this morning for TXZ229-239.
Wind Advisory until 3 PM CST this afternoon for TXZ229-239.
Wind Advisory until 3 PM CST this afternoon for TXZ230>234-
240>247-342>347-442-443-447.
GM...Small Craft Advisory until 6 AM CST early this morning for
GMZ231-232-236-237-250-255-270-275.
Gale Warning until 4 PM CST this afternoon for GMZ231-232-236-
237-250-255-270-275.
&&
SHORT TERM...PH
LONG TERM....JCP
AVIATION...PH/83The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Severe non-thunderstorm wind gust of 63 mph was measured at the KCRP ASOS at 11:00 AM CST. A Wind Advisory was in effect at the time of the observation, which was upgraded to a High Wind Warning following the event.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, January 2024
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: 1159376.