Thunderstorm Wind — Nueces, Texas

2010-06-02 · near (ngp)nas Corpus Chri, Nueces, Texas

Event narrative

An NWS storm survey team concluded 80-90 mph winds occurred on NAS Corpus Christi, producing damage consistent with straight-line winds. 4 recreational vehicles were flipped and several others moved. 6 people were injured, with one of them receiving critical injuries. Also, debris from a boast barn was blown into the Laguna Madre, and actual boats tossed into a nearby parking lot. The survey team also observed numerous trees damaged or uprooted through NAS Corpus Christi. In addition, one hangar door was blown off its tracks. Finally, the team observed tree and sign damage in Flour Bluff, as well as a car port and roof of a nearby apartment complex damaged.

Wider weather episode

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.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (27.6893, -97.2582)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 247809. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.