Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2010
EF0 tornado, Lamar, Texas, June 30, 2010
This EF0 tornado ran 0.6 miles across Aransas County on June 30, 2010, touching down at 9:41 PM CDT and reaching 30 yards wide. It killed nobody.
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
- June 30, 2010
- Touchdown
- 9:41 PM CDT (02:41 UTC)
- Lifted
- 9:42 PM CDT (02:42 UTC)
- On the ground
- 1 minutes
- Path length
- 0.6 miles (0.9 km)
- Path width
- 30 yards (27 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Aransas County
- Touchdown point
- 28.138, -96.979
- Lift-off point
- 28.134, -96.987
- Record number
- 1006302041-01
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 NWS Storm Survey confirmed a tornado touched down just outside of Goose Island State Park and moved southwest into the park. Medium to large tree limbs were snapped along a roughly 1/2 mile track. Winds were estimated to be 65 mph. 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, 8:18 PM CDT, 1 hour 23 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 30, 8:18 PM CDT, 1 hour 23 minutes before
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</html>Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 30, 5:49 AM CDT, 15 hours 52 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX 549 AM CDT WED JUN 30 2010 GMZ230-235-250-255-270-275-TXZ242>247-011100- 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-KLEBERG-NUECES-SAN PATRICIO-ARANSAS-REFUGIO-CALHOUN- 549 AM CDT WED JUN 30 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH TEXAS AND THE MIDDLE TEXAS COASTAL WATERS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A TROPICAL STORM WARNING AND TROPICAL STORM WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT UNTIL THURSDAY EVENING. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE COUNTIES OF KLEBERG...NUECES...SAN PATRICIO...ARANSAS... REFUGIO AND CALHOUN THROUGH THURSDAY. PERIODS OF SHOWERS...THUNDERSTORMS AND SQUALLS WILL PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAINFALL AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH AT TIMES. ISOLATED TORNADOES OR WATERSPOUTS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE...ALONG WITH FLOODING WHERE HEAVY RAINFALL WILL REMAIN PERSISTENT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY ISOLATED TROPICAL FUNNELS OR BRIEF TORNADOES OR WATERSPOUTS WILL BE POSSIBLE THROUGH THURSDAY. WIDESPREAD RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 4 TO 6 INCHES ARE EXPECTED WITH ISOLATED TOTALS OF 10 TO 15 INCHES THROUGH THIS WEEKEND. THE LATEST FORECAST FROM THE HURRICANE CENTER EXPECTS ALEX TO INTENSIFY INTO A CATEGORY 2 HURRICANE AND MOVE INTO NORTHERN MEXICO EARLY THURSDAY MORNING...AND THEN WEAKEN AS IT MOVES INLAND. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE END OF THIS WEEK. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HURRICANE ALEX PLEASE VISIT THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER WEBSITE AT WWW.HURRICANES.GOV. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED...HOWEVER EMERGENCY MANAGERS AND SPOTTERS SHOULD REMAIN INFORMED ON THE LATEST FORECASTS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER. ALSO..REPORT ANY FLOODING OR FUNNEL CLOUDS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. TXZ240-241-011100- DUVAL-JIM WELLS- 549 AM CDT WED JUN 30 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR DUVAL AND JIM WELLS COUNTIES OF SOUTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A TROPICAL STORM WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT UNTIL THURSDAY AFTERNOON. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT THROUGH THURSDAY. PERIODS OF SHOWERS...THUNDERSTORMS AND SQUALLS WILL PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAINFALL AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH AT TIMES. ISOLATED TORNADOES OR WATERSPOUTS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE...ALONG WITH FLOODING WHERE HEAVY RAINFALL WILL REMAIN PERSISTENT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY ISOLATED TROPICAL FUNNELS OR BRIEF TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE THROUGH THURSDAY. WIDESPREAD RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 4 TO 6 INCHES ARE EXPECTED WITH ISOLATED TOTALS OF 10 TO 15 INCHES THROUGH THIS WEEKEND. THE LATEST FORECAST FROM THE HURRICANE CENTER EXPECTS ALEX TO INTENSIFY INTO A CATEGORY 2 HURRICANE AND MOVE INTO NORTHERN MEXICO EARLY THURSDAY MORNING...AND THEN WEAKEN AS IT MOVES INLAND. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE END OF THIS WEEK. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HURRICANE ALEX PLEASE VISIT THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER WEBSITE AT WWW.HURRICANES.GOV. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED...HOWEVER EMERGENCY MANAGERS AND SPOTTERS SHOULD REMAIN INFORMED ON THE LATEST FORECASTS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER. ALSO..REPORT ANY FLOODING OR FUNNEL CLOUDS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. TXZ229>234-239-011100- LA SALLE-MCMULLEN-LIVE OAK-BEE-GOLIAD-VICTORIA-WEBB- 549 AM CDT WED JUN 30 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT THROUGH THURSDAY. PERIODS OF SHOWERS...THUNDERSTORMS AND SQUALLS WILL PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAINFALL AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH AT TIMES. ISOLATED TORNADOES OR WATERSPOUTS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE...ALONG WITH FLOODING WHERE HEAVY RAINFALL WILL REMAIN PERSISTENT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY ISOLATED TROPICAL FUNNELS OR BRIEF TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE THROUGH THURSDAY. THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAINFALL WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE WEEKEND. WIDESPREAD RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 4 TO 6 INCHES ARE EXPECTED WITH ISOLATED TOTALS OF 10 TO 15 INCHES THROUGH THIS WEEKEND. THE LATEST FORECAST FROM THE HURRICANE CENTER EXPECTS ALEX TO INTENSIFY INTO A CATEGORY 2 HURRICANE AND MOVE INTO NORTHERN MEXICO EARLY THURSDAY MORNING...AND THEN WEAKEN AS IT MOVES INLAND. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE END OF THIS WEEK. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HURRICANE ALEX PLEASE VISIT THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER WEBSITE AT WWW.HURRICANES.GOV. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED...HOWEVER EMERGENCY MANAGERS AND SPOTTERS SHOULD REMAIN INFORMED ON THE LATEST FORECASTS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AND NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER. ALSO..REPORT ANY FLOODING OR FUNNEL CLOUDS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. GW/AK
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), 00:00Z
2.7 hours before the tornado, 57 km from the path. July 1, 2010.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1766 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- 0 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 3241 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 444 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 19 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 30 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 77 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 102 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.2 K/km
Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), 12:00Z
9.3 hours after it, 57 km from the path. July 1, 2010.
- 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
The surface observations
Rockport/Aransas Co (RKP), 9 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00 UTC |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Corpus Christi radar (KCRP), 65 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:41 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 June 30, 2010
7 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 30 | 2:05 AM CDT | EF0 | Matagorda, TX | 0.0 | 5 | |||
| June 30 | 10:10 AM CDT | EF0 | Cameron, TX | 0.1 | 20 | $4,000 | ||
| June 30 | 10:35 AM CDT | EF0 | Cameron, TX | 0.4 | 40 | $10,000 | ||
| June 30 | 11:46 AM CDT | EF0 | Refugio, TX | 7.1 | 30 | |||
| June 30 | 12:16 PM CDT | EF0 | Willacy, TX | 0.8 | 20 | |||
| June 30 | 2:30 PM CDT | EF0 | Nueces, TX | 0.1 | 30 | |||
| June 30 | 3:10 PM CDT | EF0 | Refugio, TX | 0.1 | 30 |
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.