F0 tornado, Padre Ranger Stn, Texas, April 6, 2004

1. F040 to 72 mphthis tornado

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. F173 to 112 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. F2113 to 157 mph

   Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

4. F3158 to 206 mph

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. F4207 to 260 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. F5261 to 318 mph

   Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

7. Unrated

   The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Rating

F0

Date

April 6, 2004

Touchdown

10:41 AM CDT (15:41 UTC)

Path length

0.5 miles (0.8 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Kleberg County

Touchdown point

27.520, -97.370

Lift-off point

27.520, -97.370

Record number

866

A strong upper level disturbance moved out of Northern Mexico and into to South Texas during the morning of the 6th. Low level winds ahead of the system backed to the east as winds increased in the mid levels resulting in strong deep layer shear. Several supercell thunderstorms developed inland over the Coastal Bend. An HP supercell moved from near Beeville into south-central Goliad county and through northern Refugio, southern Victoria and Calhoun counties. NWS radar estimated a wide swath of 2-3 inches of rainfall across this area, with localized amounts of 3 to 4 inches, producing flash flooding. In addition, this storm produced three F0 tornadoes along it's path through Southern Victoria and Calhoun counties. Additional rotating storms across Kleberg and Nueces county produced flash flooding in Nueces county as well as one confirmed F0 tornado along the coast in Northeast Kleberg county.

Video shot by public showed tornado over open country on the King Ranch in extreme northeast Kleberg county. Tornado crossed northeast into the Laguna Madre as a waterspout and dissipated.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

14 minutes of warning. NWS CRP issued a tornado warning for this county at 15:27 UTC, 14 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 16:15 UTC.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 12:59 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

NWS Corpus Christi, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Apr 6, 10:05 AM CDT, 36 minutes earlier.

SOUTH TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
1005 AM CDT TUE APR 6 2004

.UPDATE...ETA/GFS SUGGEST THAT MUCH OF THE UPPER ENERGY WILL MOVE
EAST OF THE CWFA BY 00Z WED. MESO-ALPHA BOUNDARY...GENERATED BY
CONVECTION OVR THE HILL COUNTRY...EXPECTED TO MAINTAIN FFA AT LEAST
THROUGH 2PM OVER THE NRN CWFA...ALTHOUGH THE GREATEST CHANCE WL BE
OVER THE NERN SECTIONS OWING TO PW CONSIDERATIONS. TORNADO WATCH
STILL VALID OVR THE ERN CWFA OWING TO THE SFC BNDRY/VERTICAL SHEAR.
WL INCREASE POPS OVER THE SERN PORTIONS. ALTHOUGH WIND SPEED WILL
REMAIN IN THE SCEC CATEGORY...WL MAINTAIN SCA OVR THE OFFSHORE
WATERS OWING TO EXPECT SEAS IN THE 6-7 FT RANGE.

&&

.CRP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 19Z
                                   TXZ229>234-245>247
                                   TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 18Z
                                   TXZ231>234-243>247
                                   SCA FOR OFFSHORE WATERS.

87/SHORT-TERM

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
810 AM CDT TUE APR 6 2004

GMZ230-235-250-255-270-275-TXZ229>234-239>247-071100-
ARANSAS-BAYS AND WATERWAYS FROM BAFFIN BAY TO PORT ARANSAS-
BAYS AND WATERWAYS FROM PORT ARANSAS TO PORT OCONNOR-BEE-CALHOUN-
COASTAL WATERS BAFFIN BAY TO PORT ARANSAS OUT 20 NM-
COASTAL WATERS PORT ARANSAS TO MATAGORDA SHIP CHANNEL OUT 20 NM-
DUVAL-GOLIAD-JIM WELLS-KLEBERG-LASALLE-LIVE OAK-MCMULLEN-NUECES-
REFUGIO-SAN PATRICIO-VICTORIA-
WATERS BAFFIN BAY TO PORT ARANSAS 20 TO 60 NM-
WATERS PORT ARANSAS TO MATAGORDA SHIP CHANNEL 20 TO 60 NM-WEBB-
810 AM CDT TUE APR 6 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE
EASTWARD ACROSS SOUTH TEXAS TODAY. A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT
UNTIL 100 PM CDT FOR THE COUNTIES OF ARANSAS...BEE...CALHOUN...
GOLIAD...LIVE OAK...NUECES...REFUGIO...SAN PATRICIO AND VICTORIA.
IN ADDITION...LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN IS POSSIBLE WITH THESE
THUNDERSTORMS. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 200 PM CDT
THIS AFTERNOON FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH TEXAS NORTH OF AN ENCINAL TO
TYNAN TO ROCKPORT LINE. RAIN AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES COULD OCCUR
WITH SOME OF THESE STORMS. A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT TODAY
FOR THE OFFSHORE WATERS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ALONG THE SEABREEZE DURING THE
AFTERNOON HOURS ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY.  OTHERWISE...NO HAZARDOUS
WEATHER IS EXPECTED.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED LATER TODAY.

TMT/TR/WC

In the hours before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
800 AM CDT TUE APR 6 2004

TXZ231>234-243>247-061800-
ARANSAS-BEE-CALHOUN-GOLIAD-LIVE OAK-NUECES-REFUGIO-SAN PATRICIO-
VICTORIA-
800 AM CDT TUE APR 6 2004

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH VALID UNTIL
100 PM CDT TUESDAY AFTERNOON. THE WATCH INCLUDES THE COUNTIES OF
ARANSAS...BEE...CALHOUN...GOLIAD...LIVE OAK...NUECES...REFUGIO...SAN
PATRICIO AND VICTORIA. SOME CITIES INCLUDED IN THE WATCH ARE ARANSAS
PASS...BEEVILLE...CORPUS CHRISTI...GEORGE WEST...GOLIAD...
INGLESIDE...MATHIS...PORT ARANSAS...PORT LAVACA...PORT OCONNOR...
PORTLAND...REFUGIO...ROBSTOWN...ROCKPORT...SEADRIFT...SINTON...
SKIDMORE...THREE RIVERS AND VICTORIA.

A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES TO OCCUR
IN OR NEAR THE WATCH AREA. IF TORNADOES DO IN FACT DEVELOP OR ARE
SPOTTED...THEN A TORNADO WARNING WILL BE ISSUED.

EMERGENCY MANAGERS AND SPOTTER GROUPS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR POSSIBLE
ACTIVATION. RESIDENTS ACROSS SOUTH TEXAS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AND BE
READY TO QUICKLY ACT IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR AREA. IF
SEVERE WEATHER THREATENS YOUR AREA...THEN MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM
AND LAY DOWN ON THE FLOOR. IF CAUGHT OUTSIDE...LAY FLAT DOWN ON THE
GROUND...PREFERABLY IN A DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT. NEVER TRY TO OUTRUN
SEVERE WEATHER.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS OR
POSSIBLE WARNINGS REGARDING THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION.

FOR THE LATEST WEATHER FORECASTS AND WARNINGS...CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT
HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/CRP

TE

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

The Corpus Christi radar (KCRP), 32 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 15:42 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2004 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

7 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.