Hail, Wind Slam Zapata County; More Rain for the Rio Grande Valley Follows November 22 2014

Radar of supercell storm that dropped large hail and produce wind damage in Zapata (city) before moving across the Zapata and Jim Hogg County ranchlands November 22, 2014.
Hail, Wind Rake Zapata; More Rain Falls on Rio Grande Valley Rough Weather Strikes (Again) on November 22 (2014)
Quarter to ping–pong ball sized hail covers ground in Zapata, TX, during late afternoon of November 22, 2014. Photo credit: KIII ABC Channel 3, Corpus Christi (via social media). Exactly one year on from another notable weather event, the atmosphere on November 22, 2014, did not disappoint. A potent upper level disturbance tracked from southern California into Chihuahua State, Mexico, from the 21st through early on the 22nd, before slicing through South and Central Texas prior to weakening over East Texas by daybreak on the 23rd. Unstable air (shown in some part by this sounding issued around noon on the 22nd) that lifted along the Sierra Madre kicked off individual supercell thunderstorms in the lee of the mountains west of the Rio Grande Plains after 3 PM; these cells scooted east at 35 mph, and one would slam through Zapata County between 515 and 6 PM. Hail up to golfball size and estimated winds of 65 to 70 mph (damage photo at right) occurred with this particular storm. Steering pattern at around 18,000 feet (500 mb) across the U.S. between 6 PM November 21 and 6 AM November 23, showing vigorous upper level disturbance (Low) that impacted Texas and the Deep South U.S. November 22 and 23.	The Zapata storm gradually weakened as it moved into the Jim Hogg County ranchlands. Though weakening, an estimated 2 to 3 inches of rain fell in central Jim Hogg, nearly twice the average of November in just a couple of hours! The upper level disturbance and boundaries from earlier storms aided the development of clusters of thunderstorms farther east, including much of the Rio Grande Valley, between 7 and 9 PM. A squall line began to develop as the activity first reached the coast just before 9 PM, and a wind gust to 56 mph was reported along the Laguna Madre in Kenedy County just after 830 PM. The line extended south to near Port Mansfield, and would soon solidify over the Gulf waters as it raced along between 9 PM and 11 PM. Additional storm clusters developed behind the initial push, with some producing wind gusts near 40 mph, as well as nearly 2 inches of rain in Harlingen. The Valley may have pulled a "Houdini" once again in avoiding significant severe weather in the form of damaging winds and/or hail. The atmospheric profile at 6 PM November 22 indicated just enough stability to quash the potential for a notable event. The stability was provided by just enough air that warmed up and dried out around 5000 feet after descending east of the Sierra Madre, "capping" the ability of surface air to rise and explode into much more dangerous thunderstorms. Lack of solar heating may have helped as well. As the upper level disturbance headed toward East Texas, rain quickly ended and skies cleared. Widespread dense fog formed across Deep South Texas before daybreak and resulted in difficult driving conditions for early risers and churchgoers on the 23rd. Photo of uprooted trees that caused some home and fence damage in Zapata between 515 and 530 PM on November 22, 2014.
Measured and estimated rainfall, November 22, 2014, across the Rio Grande Valley and Deep South Texas. PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 1107 AM CST MON NOV 24 2014 ..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON... ..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE.... ..REMARKS.. 0520 PM TSTM WND DMG ZAPATA 26.89N 99.26W 11/22/2014 ZAPATA TX LAW ENFORCEMENT ROOF DAMAGE TO A HOUSE NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF 5TH AND HIDALGO IN ZAPATA. 0520 PM TSTM WND DMG ZAPATA 26.89N 99.26W 11/22/2014 ZAPATA TX LAW ENFORCEMENT ZAPATA COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE REPORTS NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN IN THE TOWN OF ZAPATA. 0520 PM TSTM WND DMG ZAPATA 26.89N 99.26W 11/22/2014 ZAPATA TX EMERGENCY MNGR EMERGENCY MANAGER REPORTS A FEW OLDER HOUSES HAD ROOFS PARTIALLY REMOVED SEVERAL METAL BUILDINGS TRAILERS HAD ROOFS TOTALLY REMOVED...A CHAIN LINK FENCE WAS BLOWN DOWN...NUMEROUS TREES AND POWERLINES WERE BLOWN DOWN THROUGH THE CITY AND A LARGE OBJECT BLEW OFF OF A CONSTRUCTION SITE AT THE COURTHOUSE AND DAMAGED NEARBY OBJECTS. HAIL TO AROUND PING PONG BALL SIZE WAS ALSO DOCUMENTED. WIND SPEEDS ESTIMATED AT 65-70 MPH. 0522 PM HAIL ZAPATA 26.89N 99.26W 11/22/2014 E1.00 INCH ZAPATA TX LAW ENFORCEMENT 0522 PM TSTM WND GST ZAPATA 26.89N 99.26W 11/22/2014 E60 MPH ZAPATA TX LAW ENFORCEMENT 0836 PM MARINE TSTM WIND 18 N PORT MANSFIELD 26.81N 97.48W 11/22/2014 M57 MPH GMZ135 TX UNKNOWN WIND GUST OF 49 KNOTS REPORT BY THE TCOON SITE AT RINCON DEL SAN JOSE AT 836 PM. 1000 PM MARINE TSTM WIND 52 ENE PORT MANSFIELD 26.92N 96.70W 11/22/2014 M45 MPH GMZ175 TX BUOY BUOY020 REPORTED A WIND GUST TO 39 KNOTS AT 10 PM.