Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2007
EF0 tornado, Port Aransas, Texas, September 29, 2007
This EF0 tornado ran 0.2 miles across Nueces County on September 29, 2007, touching down at 12:40 PM CDT and reaching 25 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $5,000 of property damage.
The rating scale
Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.
EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
EF2111 to 135 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.
EF3136 to 165 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
EF5over 200 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.
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.
The record
- Rating
- EF0
- Date
- September 29, 2007
- Touchdown
- 12:40 PM CDT (17:40 UTC)
- Lifted
- 12:41 PM CDT (17:41 UTC)
- On the ground
- 1 minutes
- Path length
- 0.2 miles (0.3 km)
- Path width
- 25 yards (23 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $5,000
- County
- Nueces County
- Touchdown point
- 27.842, -97.056
- Lift-off point
- 27.842, -97.059
- Record number
- 0709291140-01
What the Weather Service recorded
Hurricane Lorenzo made landfall across the east-central coast of Mexico early on Septemeber 28th and dissipated rapidly that day. However, a surface trough was left behind that extended northeast across the northwest Gulf of Mexico. This trough moved northwest into the Coastal Bend during the morning hours of September 29th. As the surface trough moved inland, a weak west-east oriented upper level jet passed across the northern Gulf of Mexico. The combination of these features provided numerous showers and thunderstorms across the Coastal Bend of the 29th.||Around mid-morning a band of storms between San Antonio Bay and Port O'Connor created and outflow boundary. This boundary provided a focus for additional thunderstorms as it drifted back towards the coast, as well as created a localized area of wind shear. As these storms reached Port Aransas and Aransas Pass they began generating waterspouts across the bays and nearshore Gulf of Mexico waters. Two of these waterspouts moved inland as a tornado causing damage in Aransas Pass, and very minor in Port Aransas.
A weak waterspout moved onshore at Port Aransas as a tornado. The weak tornado produced minor damage before dissipating. Minor damage was reported to a few roofs of residents. Patio furniture and debris was scattered across yards and streets.|
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.
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 forecast that day
The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 16:27 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.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, 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 tornado touched down at Sep 29, 11:56 AM CDT, 44 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 29, 11:56 AM CDT, 44 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX 1156 AM CDT SAT SEP 29 2007 .UPDATE...UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE ASSOC W/ THE RRQ OF A 40-60 KT H250 JET ACROSS S TX AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS SEEMED TO REALLY ENHANCE TSTM ACTIVITY ALONG THE COAST AND OFFSHORE THIS MORNING. ISOLATED RAINFALL AMOUNTS AS HIGH AS 1 TO 3 INCHES HA ALREADY OCCURRED ACRS THE COASTAL BEND THIS MORNING. HEAVY TSTMS IN CRP AREA HAVE SEEMED TO WORK OVER THE ATMOSPHERE AND OUTFLOWS HAVE CREATED SFC DIVERGENCE IN THESE AREAS...LEAVING FOCUS NOW FURTHER UP THE COAST TOWARD RKP AND PORT OCONNOR AND OFFSHORE. STILL EXPECT ADDITIONAL TSTM DEVELOPMENT LATER TODAY OUT WEST AS THIS AREA RECEIVES SOME SUNSHINE AND HEATING WHICH WILL INCREASE INSTABILITY. COASTAL BEND MAY SEE ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT LATER AS WELL ONCE ATMOSPHERE RELOADS AND AS ADDITIONAL STORMS OVER THE GULF WATERS MOVE INLAND. OVERALL CURRENT FORECAST IN GOOD SHAPE. WINDS ARE ALL OVER THE MAP DUE TO CONVECTION IN THE AREA...BUT WONT CHASE THE OBS. POP FORECAST GENERALLY OK...BUT DECIDED TO LOWER TO LIKELY OUT WEST AS CATEGORICAL POPS SEEMS A BIT MUCH THERE. GIVEN RAIN AND CLOUDS IN THE AREA...LOWERED TEMPS A BIT...ESP ACROSS THE COASTAL BEND WHERE HIGHS MAY STRUGGLE TO REACH THE MID 80S. WATER LEVELS HAVE COME DOWN WITH LOW TIDE AND CANCELED THE COASTAL FOOD ADVISORY. WINDS TURNING SE IS NOT FAVORABLE FOR WATER PILING ALONG OUR COAST...SO WATER LEVELS SHOULD NOT BE MORE ABOVE NORMAL THAN LAST NIGHT. THAT BEING SAID...WATER WILL STILL LIKELY COVER MUCH OF THE BEACH AT HIGH TIDE THIS EVENING...BUT DONT THINK IT WILL REACH THE DUNES AND THEREFORE NO ADVISORY IS REQUIRED. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 434 AM CDT SAT SEP 29 2007/ SHORT TERM (TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY)...THE INVERTED SURFACE TROUGH AXIS LOCATED OVER THE COASTAL WATERS OF THE LOWER AND MIDDLE TEXAS COASTS WILL SLOWLY MOVE INLAND TODAY. LOW LEVEL COASTAL CONVERGENCE CONTINUES TO INCREASE ACCORDING TO MSAS EARLY THIS MORNING. 00Z BRO SOUNDING SHOWED 2.3 INCHES PRECIPITABLE WATER AND LATEST GOES SOUNDER IMAGE SHOWS THIS MOISTURE MOVING NORTHWEST INTO THE COASTAL BEND. CONVECTION HAS STEADILY BEEN INCREASING OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF HOURS. WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS A WEAK UPPER LEVEL SHORT WAVE TROUGH MOVING ACROSS CENTRAL TEXAS WITH A 25H JET STREAK LOCATED OVER THE UPPER TEXAS COAST. RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION OF THIS JET STREAK WILL BE LOCATED OVER THE COASTAL BEND INTO EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. GFS/NAM SHOW STRONG OMEGA FIELD OVER SOUTH TEXAS FROM EARLY THIS MORNING INTO THE AFTERNOON HOURS. MOS GUIDANCE IS GIVING CATEGORICAL POPS FOR MOST OF SOUTH TEXAS TODAY EXCEPT FOR THE MID-COAST REGION AND DO NOT SEE A REASON FOR DISPUTE. MODERATE EAST-NORTHEAST FLOW OVERNIGHT ALONG WITH ASTRONOMICALLY HIGH TIDES HAVE LED TO WATER LEVELS BEING AROUND A FOOT ABOVE THE EXPECTED LEVELS. WITH HIGH TIDE THIS MORNING...WILL GO AHEAD AN ISSUE A COASTAL FLOOD ADVISORY FOR THE MORNING HOURS. MARGINAL EVENT EXPECTED AND WILL HAVE EXPIRATION TIME OF 18Z WITH LOW TIDES OCCURRING AT PORT ARANSAS AT 11 AM AND PORT OCONNOR IN THE EARLY AFTERNOON. SOUTHEASTERLY LOW LEVEL FLOW WILL CONTINUE TO ADVECT MOISTURE INTO SOUTH TEXAS REGION TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY. EXPECT RAIN CHANCES WILL AGAIN FOCUS NEAR THE COAST LATE TONIGHT INTO EARLY SUNDAY MORNING AS COASTAL CONVERGENCE ZONE SETS UP AGAIN. SCATTERED SHOWERS/T-STORMS WILL MOVE INLAND ON SUNDAY. AVIATION...DEEP TROPICAL MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE INTO SOUTH TEXAS AREA TODAY. AREAS OF MVFR CEILINGS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP OVER THE SOUTHERN COASTAL BEND INTO THE BRUSH COUNTRY THIS MORNING. NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL PERSIST FOR MOST OF THE DAY...LEADING TO MVFR VSBYS. IFR VSBYS WILL OCCUR IN THE HEAVIER DOWNPOURS. EXPECT SOUTHEASTERLY LOW LEVEL FLOW TONIGHT AND MVFR CEILINGS WILL DEVELOP OVER THE INLAND COASTAL PLAINS AND MOVE INLAND BY DAYBREAK. SCATTERED SHOWERS/T-STORMS WILL FORM AGAIN ALONG THE COAST AND LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE INCREASES. MARINE...WINDS HAVE DIMINISHED SLIGHTLY FROM LAST NIGHT AS THE PRESSURE GRADIENT DECREASES SOME BETWEEN THE HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE TO THE NORTH AND THE TROUGH AXIS MOVING INTO THE LOWER AND MID TEXAS COAST. KEPT SCEC CONDITIONS OVER THE GULF WATERS THIS MORNING WITH WINDS EXPECTED TO LOWER TO AROUND 15 KNOTS IN THE AFTERNOON AS THE TROUGH AXIS MOVES INLAND. NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR OVER THE MARINE ZONES TODAY WITH A SLOW DIMINISHING TREND IN THE EVENING HOURS. MORE SCATTERED SHOWER/T-STORM ACTIVITY WILL DEVELOP OVERNIGHT/SUNDAY MORNING. LONG TERM (SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY)...PLENTIFUL MOISTURE/INSTABILITY LINGERS SUNDAY NIGHT/MONDAY(GFS EXHIBITING IT/S CHARACTERISTIC BIAS OF DRYING THE COLUMN TOO FAST) WITH NOCTURNAL WIND SPEED CONVERGENCE/SEA BREEZE BOUNDARY CONTRIBUTING TO MOSTLY CHANCE POPS. MID-LEVEL RIDGING/SYNOPTIC-SCALE SUBSIDENCE TAKES HOLD THE REMAINDER OF THE PERIOD WITH PWATS DECREASING APPRECIABLY. HOWEVER...BOUNDARY LAYER MOISTURE MAY STILL BE SUFFICIENT BUT MODELS DISAGREE TEMPORALLY AS COASTAL CONVERGENCE/SEA BREEZE FRONT SERVE AS FORCING MECHANISMS. WILL MAINTAIN CONTINUITY FROM PREVIOUS GRIDS AND SHOW JUST SLIGHT CHANCE POPS. TEMPERATURES WILL STAY AT OR ABOVE CLIMATOLOGICAL NORMS. WINDS WILL OCCASIONALLY REACH SCEC CRITERIA ACROSS THE NEARSHORE/OFFSHORE WATERS THROUGH THE PERIOD. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... CORPUS CHRISTI 84 76 88 77 90 / 90 50 40 20 40 VICTORIA 84 73 89 74 90 / 70 40 40 20 30 LAREDO 90 76 93 78 93 / 70 40 40 40 40 ALICE 85 74 90 75 91 / 80 40 40 20 50 ROCKPORT 83 78 88 79 90 / 80 50 40 30 30 COTULLA 88 74 90 75 92 / 70 40 40 40 40 KINGSVILLE 84 75 89 76 91 / 90 50 40 20 40 NAVY CORPUS 84 78 87 80 89 / 90 50 40 30 30 && .CRP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...NONE. GM...NONE. && MJG
Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 29, 11:17 AM CDT, 1 hour 23 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX 1117 AM CDT SAT SEP 29 2007 GMZ230-235-250-255-270-275-TXZ229>234-239>247-301200- BAYS AND WATERWAYS FROM BAFFIN BAY TO PORT ARANSAS- BAYS AND WATERWAYS FROM PORT ARANSAS TO PORT OCONNOR- COASTAL WATERS BAFFIN BAY TO PORT ARANSAS OUT 20 NM- COASTAL WATERS PORT ARANSAS TO MATAGORDA SHIP CHANNEL OUT 20 NM- WATERS BAFFIN BAY TO PORT ARANSAS 20 TO 60 NM- WATERS PORT ARANSAS TO MATAGORDA SHIP CHANNEL 20 TO 60 NM- LA SALLE-MCMULLEN-LIVE OAK-BEE-GOLIAD-VICTORIA-WEBB-DUVAL- JIM WELLS-KLEBERG-NUECES-SAN PATRICIO-ARANSAS-REFUGIO-CALHOUN- 1117 AM CDT SAT SEP 29 2007 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH TEXAS AND THE MIDDLE TEXAS COASTAL WATERS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT DEEP TROPICAL MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE INTO THE COASTAL BEND AND BRUSH COUNTRY THIS AFTERNOON. THIS IN COMBINATION WITH A WEAK UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL PRODUCE NUMEROUS TO WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE SOUTH TEXAS REGION AND NEARBY COASTAL WATERS TODAY. HEAVY RAIN WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THE STRONGER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. LOCALIZED RAIN AMOUNTS COULD BE AS HIGH AS 2 TO 3 INCHES MAINLY NEAR THE COASTAL BEND AND COASTAL PLAINS AREAS. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DECREASE IN INTENSITY AND COVERAGE TONIGHT BUT SCATTERED ACTIVITY IS STILL EXPECTED ESPECIALLY ALONG THE COAST OVERNIGHT. AN ISOLATED WEAK WATERSPOUT COULD ALSO OCCUR WITH ANY OF THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE BAYS AND NEARSHORE WATERS TODAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED OVER THE ENTIRE AREA SUNDAY AND MONDAY AS COPIOUS MOISTURE PERSISTS. HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS. ONLY ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THEREAFTER AS MOISTURE DECREASES AND HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS ALOFT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. MJG
The air that afternoon
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.
Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), 12:00Z
5.7 hours before the tornado, 30 km from the path. September 29, 2007.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1445 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -11 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 1814 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 665 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 15 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 15 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 77 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 62 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.6 K/km
Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), 00:00Z
6.3 hours after it, 30 km from the path. September 30, 2007.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 566 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -165 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 1096 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 835 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 7 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 17 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -74 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -34 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.0 K/km
The surface observations
Port Aransas/Mustang Beach Airport (RAS), 5 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15:45 UTC | 180° 8 kt | 1017.3 | ||||
| 16:05 UTC | 170° 6 kt | 1017.6 | VCTS | |||
| 16:25 UTC | 220° 4 kt | 1017.6 | VCTS | |||
| 16:45 UTC | 220° 4 kt | 1017.6 | VCTS -RA | |||
| 17:05 UTC | 0° 0 kt | 1017.9 | TS | |||
| 17:25 UTC | 300° 4 kt | 1017.9 | VCTS | |||
| 17:45 UTC | 300° 4 kt | 1017.9 | TS | |||
| 19:05 UTC | 190° 12 kt | 1017.6 | +TSRA | |||
| 19:25 UTC | 170° 14 kt | 28 | 1017.6 | +TSRA |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Corpus Christi radar (KCRP), 45 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 17:42 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.
What was reported nearby
Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17:40 UTC | TORNADO | Port Aransas | Nueces, TX | POSSIBLE TORNADO. MINOR DAMAGE TO ROOFS AND RAILING ON BALCONIES OF SEVERAL HOMES WITH PATIO FURNITURE AND DEBRIS THROWN INTO STREETS. POSSIBLY ASSOCIATE WITH A WATER SPOUT THAT MOVED ASHORE. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2007 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of September 29, 2007
1 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 29 | 12:30 PM CDT | EF1 | San Patricio, TX | 1.2 | 100 | $250,000 |
What this means
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.
Sources
NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.