Marine Thunderstorm Wind — Coastal Waters From Pt Mansfield To Rio Grande River Tx Out 20nm, Gulf of Mexico

2019-10-21 · near South Padre Island, Coastal Waters From Pt Mansfield To Rio Grande River Tx Out 20nm, Gulf of Mexico

Event narrative

Peak winds of 56 knots (Storm Force) was recorded at the Brazos Santiago monitoring station along the South Padre Island jetty at 142 AM CST (242 AM CDT). Gale to Storm Force gusts were recorded between 136 AM and 206 AM CST (236 and 306 AM CDT), associated with a rapidly developing squall line between Bayview and Boca Chica Beach early on the 21st. No known damage to watercraft was noted, but the near 70 mph gusts produced damage to power poles on South Padre Island during the same time.

Wider weather episode

An upper level disturbance that moved over northeast Mexico with remnant tropical moisture from the eastern Pacific Tropical Storm Priscilla produced a short period of potent thunderstorms that developed in northeast Mexico and moved quickly through Cameron County from the late evening of October 20th into the pre-dawn hours of October 21st. Individual cells raced northward at 30 mph, with wind gusts between 30 and 40 mph, from just before midnight through 3 or 4 AM. An organized stronger cluster developed a little after 2 AM, and peaked in intensity just after 230 AM. Two downburst signatures produced estimated wind gusts of 70 mph or higher on both sides of Laguna Madre, and these cells quickly moved into the nearshore Gulf waters east of South Padre Island. Peak winds reached gale to storm force at observing platforms in southern Laguna Madre and near South Padre Island.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (26.0667, -97.1550)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 864073. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.