Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2010

EF0 tornado, Rockport, Texas, July 1, 2010

This EF0 tornado ran 0.0 miles across Aransas County on July 1, 2010, touching down at 9:20 AM 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.

  1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

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

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

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

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

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

  6. 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.

  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.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
July 1, 2010
Touchdown
9:20 AM CDT (14:20 UTC)
Lifted
9:21 AM CDT (14:21 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.0 miles (0.0 km)
Path width
25 yards (23 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$5,000
County
Aransas County
Touchdown point
28.000, -97.069
Lift-off point
28.000, -97.070
Record number
1007010820-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Hurricane Alex made its final landfall at 9pm, Wednesday June 30th, along the northern Mexican coast around 110 miles south of Brownsville as a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph. Alex was the first Hurricane in June for the Altantic Basin since 1995, and the strongest in the month of June since Hurricane Alma in 1966. Alex was a very large hurricane with tropical storm force winds extending over 200 miles from the center. Although Alex passed over 200 miles south of Corpus Christi, tropical storm force wind gusts were measured as far north as Port O'Connor, George West, and Cotulla. The strongest winds were observed on the barrier island from Port Aransas to Baffin Bay where peak wind gusts exceeded 60 mph.||Overall, the impacts to the Middle Texas coast were minimal. Storm tides peaked just below 4 feet mean sea level at tide stations along the coast producing flooding along area beaches. About a half dozen tornadoes occurred within the outer rain bands from Alex. These tornadoes caused mostly minor tree damage. Radar indicated the possibility of several more tornadoes, however NWS survey teams were unable to locate any additional damage. Heavy rainfall and flooding proved to be the biggest impact. Rainfall totals of 3 to 6 inches with isolated amounts near 10 inches were observed across South Texas. This resulted in flooding of many roads and farm fields from Alice to Sinton.||Less than $10 thousand in damages occurred from the 6 tornadoes. However, nearly $5.5 million in damages resulted from flooding associated with the heavy rainfall, of which $5.25 million was observed in Webb County from flooding along the Rio Grande. Nearly $1 million in crop damage, mostly to grain and sorghum was observed. In addition, flooding resulted in two fatalities.

A tornado briefly touched down near the intersection of 9th Street and Business 35. Windows were blown out of the Kimco Business. This tornado occurred in the outer rainbands of Hurricane Alex.

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

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 Jun 30, 10:43 PM CDT, 10 hours 37 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 30, 10:43 PM CDT, 10 hours 37 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
1043 PM CDT WED JUN 30 2010

.DISCUSSION...PRODUCTS HAVE BEEN UPDATED TO ACCOUNT FOR NEW NHC
GUIDANCE. NO BIG CHANGES AT THIS TIME...DID INCREASE POPS UP TO
THE NORTHEAST BASED ON RADAR TRENDS BUT OVERALL FORECAST IS FINE.
NO NOTABLE CHANGES TO THE MARINE FORECAST.

TROPICAL WARNINGS FOR THE CWFA MAY BE CANCELLED EARLIER THAN SHOWN
AT THIS TIME...MAYBE AS EARLY AS 06Z OR 09/10Z...THAT WILL DEPEND
ON CURRENT TRENDS AND NHC/WFO COORDINATION. JUST A HEADS UP.
HOWEVER...EXPECT THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH TO BE EXTENDED INTO
THURSDAY NIGHT IF NOT FRIDAY AFTERNOON. THAT IS ALL.

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 818 PM CDT WED JUN 30 2010/

DISCUSSION...ZONES AND COASTALS WERE UPDATED FOR THE EXPIRATION
OF THE TORNADO WATCH. RECENT LAPS DATA HAS SHOWN HIGHEST
HELICITIES HAVE SHIFTED MORE TO THE SOUTH SO THE MAIN CONCERN FOR
TROPICAL SPIN UPS AND FUNNELS/BRIEF TORNADOES HAS SHIFTED SOUTH.
COULD NOT RULE OUT A SPIN UP OR TWO OVER OUR AREA...BUT MAIN
THREAT HAS DEFINITELY SHIFTED SOUTH. NO OTHER CHANGES NEEDED AT
THIS TIME.

PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 623 PM CDT WED JUN 30 2010/

DISCUSSION...PLEASE SEE THE AVIATION DISCUSSION BELOW FOR MORE
DETAILS.

AVIATION...CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE ALEX WL MAKE LANDFALL TONIGHT
ALONG THE NORTHERN MEXICAN COAST...AROUND 100 MILES SOUTH OF
BROWNSVILLE. THIS TRACK WL CONTINUE TO DRIVE MULTIPLE OUTER RAIN
BANDS AND SQUALLS INTO SOUTH TX THROUGH THURSDAY. WIDESPREAD MVFR
AND IFR CONDITIONS WL BE THE RESULT THROUGH MOST OF THE TAF FCST PD.
IFR CONDITIONS WL BE MOSTLY WITHIN THE STRONGER RAIN BANDS AND
SQUALLS DUE TO THE LOWER VSBYS FROM THE TORRENTIAL RAIN.

PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 441 PM CDT WED JUN 30 2010/

SHORT TERM (TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT)...HURRICANE ALEX HAS
FINALLY MADE ITS WESTWARD JOG PER THE MODEL CONSENSUS. KCRP/KBRO
RADAR LOOPS INDICATES THAT ALEX WL LKLY MAKE LANDFALL AROUND 01Z
AROUND 100 MILES SOUTH OF BROWNSVILLE ALONG THE MEXICAN COAST. BASED
UPON THIS TRACK...TROPICAL STORM FORCE WIND GUSTS WL CONTINUE TO
IMPACT THE COASTAL WATERS AND SOUTHEAST PORTIONS OF THE COASTAL BEND
TNT. SUSTAINED TS WINDS WL BE MOSTLY CONFINED TO THE SRN HALF OF THE
WATERS AND THE COASTAL AREAS OF NUECES AND KLBERG COUNTIES.  NO
CHANGES TO THE PREVIOUS WARNING CONFIGURATION ARE EXPECTED. THE
OVERALL WIND FIELD WL SLOWLY DECAY AFTER MIDNIGHT AND CONTINUE
THIS TREND THROUGH THURSDAY AS ALEX PUSHES WESTWARD DEEP INTO
MEXICO. THE FLOODING POTENTIAL STILL LOOKS LOW GIVEN THAT THE MAIN
INNER RAIN BANDS AND CORE RAINS WL REMAIN ACROSS NRN MEXICO AND
DEEP SOUTH TX. HOWEVER...WITH PWATS IN THE 2.5 TO 2.8 INCH RANGE
AND CONTINUING OUTER RAIN RANDS AFFECTING THE CWA THROUGH
THURSDAY...HEAVY RAINFALL WL CERTAINLY OCCUR. STORM TOTAL AMOUNTS
WL GENERALLY BE 3 TO 6 INCHES WITH HIGHER AMOUNTS ACROSS THE
SOUTHEAST COASTAL BEND. SO FOR NOW WL KEEP THE CURRENT FFA INTACT.
DEEP TROPICAL MOISTURE WL PERSIST THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT IN THE
WAKE OF ALEX AND SO LKLY/CATEGORICAL POPS WL PERSIST ALONG WITH A
CONTINUING HVY RAINFALL THREAT. THE THICK CLOUD CVR AND RICH
TROPICAL AIRMASS WL KEEP A SMALL DIURNAL RANGE IN TEMPS THROUGH
THE FCST PD.

SPC MESONANALYSIS WAS STILL INDICATING 0-1KM SR HELICITY ABV 300
M2/S2 AND 0-1KM BULK SHEAR AROUND 30 KT ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST PORTION
OF THE CWA.  THESE HIGH SHEAR VALUES ALONG WITH SUFFICIENTLY LOW LCLS
AND JUST ENOUGH LOW LVL INSTABILITY WL HELP TO MAINTAIN THE TORNADO
THREAT ACROSS THIS PORTION OF THE CWA THIS EVENING. THE CURRENT
TORNADO WATCH EXPIRES AT 01Z AND MAY BE EXTENDED FURTHER AS
ADDITIONAL RAIN BANDS AND SQUALLS IMPACT THE WATCH AREA TNT.

MARINE...VERY IMPRESSIVE SEAS AT THE OFFSHORE BUOYS THIS AFTN.  AS
OF 300 PM CDT...BUOYS 42020 AND 42019 WERE REPORTING SEAS OF 22 FT
AND 15 FT RESPECTIVELY. THE WAVEWATCH MODEL HAS BEEN QUITE GOOD WITH
THE FORECAST SEAS AND SEE NO REASON TO DEVIATE BY MUCH FROM ITS
SOLN. WITH THAT SAID...BLV THE SEAS WL RISE BY AT LEAST ANOTHER
2-3 FT THIS EVENING BEFORE SLOWLY FALLING AFTER MIDNIGHT.
SUSTAINED TS WINDS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE SRN HALF OF THE WATERS
WITH TS GUSTS ELSEWHERE THROUGH THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. WINDS AND
SEAS WL THEN DECAY BY EARLY TO MID MORNING ON THURSDAY AND
CONTINUE THAT TREND THROUGH THU NIGHT. THE SWELLS WL OF COURSE
DECAY MUCH SLOWER AS IS TYPICALLY THE CASE GIVEN THE LONG FETCH.
MULTIPLE OUTER RAIN BANDS AND SQUALLS WL IMPACT THE WATERS TNT
ADDING TO THE POTENTIAL FOR TS WIND GUSTS. 50 KT WIND GUSTS WL BE
POSSIBLE ACROSS THE SRN WATERS THIS EVENING. DUE TO THE REASONING
IN THE SHORT TERM SECTION ABOVE...BRIEF WATERPOUTS WL BE POSSIBLE
AT LEAST THROUGH THIS EVENING WITHIN THE STRONGER RAIN BANDS.

LONG TERM (FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY)...ABUNDANT MOISTURE IS
PROGD TO REMAIN IN PLACE ACROSS S TX ON FRIDAY IN THE WAKE OF
ALEX. PWAT'S ARE PROGD TO BE AROUND 2.5 INCHES ON FRIDAY ALONG
WITH NO CIN AND CAPE VALUES AROUND 3000-4000 J/KG PER THE GFS
MODEL. IN THE MID/UPPER LEVELS...HIGH PRESSURE IS PROGD TO BUILD
IN FROM THE NE ON FRIDAY WITH EMBEDDED SHORT WAVES ROUNDING THE
BASE OF THE HIGH JUST NE OF THE CWA. GIVEN THE ABUNDANT MOISTURE
AND INSTABILITY...WILL MAINTAIN LIKELY POPS ACROSS THE CWA ON FRI.
THE MOISTURE DECREASES SLIGHTLY ON SAT...BUT REMAINS FAIRLY DEEP.
CAPE VALUES ARE ALSO PROGD TO BE SLIGHTLY LOWER. CONDITIONS STILL
LOOK CONDUCIVE FOR SCT CONVECTION ACROSS THE ENTIRE CWA ON
SAT...THEREFORE WENT WITH A BROADBRUSHED 40 POP. THESE POPS MAY
NEED SOME FINE TUNING AS SATURDAY APPROACHES. GENERALLY WENT WITH
20-30 POPS SUN THRU TUE DUE TO SUFFICIENT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AND
CONVERGENCE ALONG THE SEABREEZE EACH AFTERNOON. THE HIGH PRESSURE
SHIFTS W AND WEAKNESS ALOFT/TROF DVLPS TO THE E AND S CWA AND NW
GULF...PLACING S TX ON THE UNFAVORABLE W SIDE OF THE WEAK TROF.
THUS...DID NOT WANT TO GO ANY HIGHER THAN 30 PERCENT DESPITE THE
2+ INCH PWATS. FOR MX TEMPS...KEPT THE SLIGHTLY COOLER VALUES ON
FRIDAY DUE TO THE ABUNDANT MOISTURE/RAIN WITH A GRADUAL WARMING
TREND THRU THE WEEKEND INTO NEXT WEEK. GENERALLY WENT WITH
PERSISTENCE FOR MN TEMPS WHICH WILL BE UPPER 70S TO AROUND 80 DUE
TO HIGH DEWPOINTS.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
CORPUS CHRISTI    78  86  77  88  78  / 100 100  80  70  40
VICTORIA          76  87  76  90  77  / 100  90  70  70  50
LAREDO            77  85  78  91  80  / 100 100  90  70  50
ALICE             77  86  77  89  77  / 100 100  80  70  40
ROCKPORT          79  86  80  88  81  / 100  90  70  70  40
COTULLA           75  87  76  90  78  /  80 100  90  70  50
KINGSVILLE        78  86  77  89  77  / 100 100  80  70  40
NAVY CORPUS       80  86  80  88  80  / 100 100  80  70  40

&&

.CRP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
TX...TROPICAL STORM WARNING FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: ARANSAS...
     CALHOUN...KLEBERG...NUECES...REFUGIO...SAN PATRICIO.

     TROPICAL STORM WIND WARNING UNTIL 1 PM CDT THURSDAY FOR THE
     FOLLOWING ZONES: ARANSAS...CALHOUN...DUVAL...JIM WELLS...
     KLEBERG...NUECES...REFUGIO...SAN PATRICIO.

     FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON FOR THE FOLLOWING
     ZONES: ARANSAS...BEE...CALHOUN...DUVAL...GOLIAD...JIM
     WELLS...KLEBERG...LA SALLE...LIVE OAK...MCMULLEN...NUECES...
     REFUGIO...SAN PATRICIO...VICTORIA...WEBB.

GM...TROPICAL STORM WARNING FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: 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.

&&

GW/86...SHORT TERM
AK/84...LONG TERM

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 1, 8:42 AM CDT, 38 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Local storm report, Jul 1, 9:06 AM CDT, 14 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

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

2.3 hours before the tornado, 40 km from the path. July 1, 2010.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 2010-07-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 3628 joules per kilogram, CIN 0, lifted condensation level 483 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 2010-07-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 140 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 27 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
3628 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Surface CAPE
3798 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
483 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
140 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
172 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
6.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Rockport/Aransas Co (RKP), 10 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
00:00 UTC

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Corpus Christi radar (KCRP), 50 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 14:18 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.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2010 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of July 1, 2010

1 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 16:10 PM CDTEF0Kleberg, TX0.125

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.