EF2 tornado, Rockport, Texas, June 2, 2010

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF2

Date

June 2, 2010

Touchdown

11:34 PM CDT (04:34 UTC)

Lifted

11:44 PM CDT (04:44 UTC)

On the ground

10 minutes

Path length

3.8 miles (6.0 km)

Path width

500 yards (457 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$250,000

County

Aransas County

Touchdown point

28.050, -97.125

Lift-off point

28.000, -97.101

Record number

1006022234-01

During the late afternoon on June 2, 2010, thunderstorms developed over central Texas and the Sierra Madre of Mexico. A very unstable air mass was present over South Texas (CAPE values from 4500 to 5500 J/kg). At 7 pm CDT, the first line of thunderstorms entered the Rio Grande Valley and produced hail up to the size of nickels, localized flooding and strong winds. The second line of thunderstorms extended across much of Central Texas and began accelerating and tracking southward from Tilden to Goliad by late in the evening. The two lines of thunderstorms merged around Tilden and Choke Canyon Reservoir near 1000 pm CDT causing intensification to the convective complex of storms. This was evident by severe storms over Live Oak and Bee counties with increased reflectivity and cloud to ground lightning between 1030 and 1100 pm CDT. At the same time, the northern|line of thunderstorms continued through the Victoria Crossroads area and slowly weakened.||The strongest portion of the solid line of thunderstorms continued southeastward into the central Coastal Bend. Reports of trees down and power outages increased from along I-37 to Corpus Christi from the most intense portion of the line of thunderstorms. WSR-88D detected small areas of rotation over Aransas, San Patricio and Nueces Counties between 1100 and midnight CDT when tornado warnings were issued. Wind gusts of 60 mph were common from automated weather stations as the storms slammed the lower Coastal Bend. Power outages from the wind were significant by midnight and there were many reports of trees and power lines down, and rescue operations for recreational trailers that were tipped over on the base of Navy Corpus Christi and a flipped 18-wheeler. In this area, automated sensors measured wind as high as 80 mph. The lightning was intense and continuous|at times, which caused additional damage to a few structures. The line of thunderstorms produced widespread 1 to 2 inches of rain across South Texas with locally higher amounts. Total cloud to ground lightning strikes observed by|the National Lightning Detection Network were near 38,000 from 800 pm to 200 am CDT. In Nueces County up to 31,000 residence had interruption to their power according to AEP.

An NWS survey team concluded a tornado touched down 4 miles west of Rockport. The tornado was on the ground for roughly 3.75 miles, traveling southeast and ending near Bypass 35 and 16th streets. The maximum wind speed was estimated at 120 mph, an EF-2, and had a maximum width of almost 3/10 of a mile. Several homes were damaged, an RV flipped, and 4 boats damaged. A home weather station recorded a peak wind gust to 103 mph before failing. Over 20 large tension poles were snapped completely off along Hwy 1069. Hundreds of trees and tree limbs were snapped. Vehicles at a salvage yard were moved several yards, and a garage was completely destroyed. An 18 wheeler was flipped over along Bypass 35.

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

23 minutes of warning. NWS CRP issued a tornado warning for this county at 04:11 UTC, 23 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 04:45 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 01:02 UTC and running to 05:59 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 00:57 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.

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.

Rockport/Aransas Co (RKP), 9 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Corpus Christi radar (KCRP), 47 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 04:33 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 2010 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.