Thunderstorm Wind in Kenedy County, Texas

The Texas Coastal Oceanic Observation System platform at Rincon del San Jose, within Laguna Madre about one-third north of the Willacy/Kenedy County line, recorded a peak gust to 93 mph (80.86 knots) at 730 PM CDT. This location is used as a proxy to the nearby land mass in Coastal Kenedy County, and based on the intensity of the supercell, it is certain that similar wind gusts occurred at this location. It is possible that the event produced a tornado - but lack of ground truth observations or a survey (in a very remote area accessible only by water craft) as well as the duration of the strong and shifting winds (nearly 20 minutes), as well as no sharply lowered surface pressure, suggest a rear-flank downburst as the strongest winds were from the north/northeast.

A tornadic supercell developed near or along the Kenedy/Kleberg County line during the evening of May 20, 2026. The storm tracked southeastward through Kenedy County before weakening just offshore Kenedy County that evening. A large hail and a very high wind gust (possible tornado) was reported as the supercell moved southeast and crossed Laguna Madre toward the nearshore Gulf waters.