A potent upper level storm system moved across South Texas early Sunday morning, January 9, 2011, producing strong damaging winds, large hail, and at least one long track tornado. Widespread wind damage was observed across the Coastal Bend as the storms moved quickly through the region. Approximately 30,000 customers lost power as a result of the storms. This marks the first time a tornado has been recorded in South Texas in the month of January, dating back to 1950.
A cold front moved through South Texas on Saturday morning, January 8, 2011 and was situated over Deep South Texas Saturday afternoon, with temperatures generally in the 50s area-wide. However as the storm system approached, a surface low pressure area formed along the frontal boundary, which helped to draw warm and humid conditions northward into the Coastal Bend. As the upper level storm system moved through the region, very strong wind shear developed and combined with an unstable atmosphere to produce a line of severe thunderstorms. A tornadic thunderstorm developed near the proximity of the surface low and retreating warm front, which persisted for over 20 miles travelling from just southeast of Alice to near Calallen. Damaging straight line winds affected most of the Coastal Bend and extended well into the Gulf of Mexico east of Rockport.
The line of thunderstorms first moved through the Cotulla and Laredo areas around 115 AM CST, producing heavy rainfall, and wind gusts to 35 to 40 mph. The line of storms strengthened between 200 and 300 AM CST as it moved east into McMullen, Duval, and Live Oak Counties, producing wind gusts between 40 and 50 mph.
The southern end of the line of thunderstorms became severe as it moved through central Jim Wells County between 315 and 330 AM CST. Radar indicated a bowing to the line of storms near Alice, an indication of severe winds. A wind gust to 67 mph occurred at the Alice International Airport. Just Southeast of Alice, Doppler radar indicated a tornado forming around 325 AM CST. From this point in Jim Wells county through northwest Nueces and southern San Patricio Counties, doppler radar continued to show very strong signs of rotation. This rotation can be easily seen in this image.
A National Weather Service (NWS) storm survey team determined a tornado touched down roughly 4 miles southeast of Alice International Airport and continued northeast for 20.5 miles, traveling through the northwest side of Robstown and ending near Five Points in Calallen. Along this track, the tornado was strongest from the west-southwest side of Robstown to its end point near Calallen, where wind speeds of up to 100 mph (an EF-1 Tornado) and a width of 150-200 yards were estimated. Damage to high voltage power lines, poles, large trees, and signs were observed along the path length. In addition, two large sheds, a barn and a tractor were destroyed southwest of Robstown. On the northwest side of Robstown, numerous trees were snapped and several homes had damage to shingles and wooden roofing. Debris in the form of tin, wood, and sports equipment were strewn across Robstown High School. This was the first tornado on record in South Texas during the month of January.
Just southeast of the tornado, in the rear flank downdraft of the storm, straight-line winds of 69 mph were recorded at the Corpus Christi International Airport along with marble (1/2") sized hail.
From Calallen through Portland and Rockport, doppler radar indicated a broad, yet strong rotation between 4 and 430 AM CST. A NWS storm survey concluded straight-line winds between 70 and 80 mph occurred along this path. Sporadic tree and power line damage was observed along this path. In addition, three mobile homes were completely destroyed in Portland, and several more damaged. A few trees were also uprooted in Rockport and one home sustained roof damage. A path length of damage of nearly 65 miles was observed from the starting point of the tornado in Jim Wells County to the end of the straight-line wind damage in Rockport.
Further north, doppler radar indicated another bowing segment in the line across southern Victoria and Calhoun Counties between 430 and 500 AM CST. The Seadrift TCOON site recorded a wind gust of 70 mph. A NWS storm survey team concluded straight line wind speeds of around 70 mph occurred from rural southeastern Victoria County to Seadrift. Telephone poles and one parking light pole were blown down. In addition, an awning was torn off and blown into boats at the marina in Seadrift.
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Click the placemarkers for additional information. The red line depicts the tornado track while the orange line depicts the core of the strongest straight-line winds. The green marker depicts the EF-1 Tornado track while the blue marker depicts EF-0 damage. |
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| KCRP Radar Reflectivity loop beginning at 132 AM CST on 01/09/11 and ending at 543 AM CST on 01/09/11. | KCRP Radar Reflectivy loop highlighting the thunderstorm with the strongest rotation. |
| 3-Dimensional KCRP Radar depiction of the tornado that tracked from southeast of Alice to Calallen. |
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| Infrared Satellite loop beginning at 515 PM CST on 01/08/11 and ending at 915 AM CST on 01/09/11. | Water Vapor Satellite loop beginning at 645 PM CST on 01/08/11 and ending at 1031 AM CST on 01/09/11. |
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| Banquete | Robstown |
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| Portland | Rockport |
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| Placedo | Miscellaneous Locations |
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Peak Wind Gusts and the Tornado Track. |
| Storm Total Rainfall for this event. |
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0325 AM TORNADO 7 ESE ALICE 27.71N 97.97W
01/09/2011 F1 JIM WELLS TX NWS STORM SURVEY
A NWS STORM SURVEY CONCLUDED A LONG TRACK TORNADO
OCCURRED ACROSS JIM WELLS AND NUECES COUNTIES. THE
TORNADO BEGAN ROUGHLY 4 MILES SOUTHEAST OF ALICE AIRPORT
AND ENDED 2 MILES NORTH OF ROBSTOWN. SPORADIC EF-0 DAMAGE
WAS OBSERVED FROM THE START POINT TO ROUGHLY 8 MILES
WEST-SOUTHWEST OF ROBSTOWN. EF-1 DAMAGE WITH WINDS
ESTIMATED AT 100 MPH WAS OBSERVED FROM WEST-SOUTHWEST OF
ROBSTOWN TO THE END POINT. THE TORNADO HAD A PATH LENGTH
OF ALMOST 21 MILES AND A MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH OF 150-200
YARDS.
0330 AM TSTM WND GST ALICE 27.76N 98.07W
01/09/2011 M67.00 MPH JIM WELLS TX ASOS
0345 AM TSTM WND DMG 1 W ROBSTOWN 27.80N 97.68W
01/09/2011 NUECES TX NWS STORM SURVEY
WEST SIDE OF ROBSTOWN...TREES AND POWERLINES DOWN. SHEET
METAL WRAPPED AROUND POWER POLES. SHINGLE AND WOODEN ROOF
DAMAGE TO HOMES. ROOF TORN OFF ROBSTOWN HIGH SCHOOL GYM
AND AIR CONDOTIONING UNITS DAMAGED. DAMAGE RESULT OF
TORNADO.
0345 AM TSTM WND DMG 2 W ROBSTOWN 27.80N 97.69W
01/09/2011 NUECES TX NWS EMPLOYEE
NWS EMPLOYEE REPORTED TREES AND POWERLINES DOWN ON THE
WEST SIDE OF ROBSTOWN. SHEET METAL WAS WRAPPED AROUND
POWER POLES.
0350 AM TSTM WND DMG 13 WNW CORPUS CHRISTI 27.78N 97.49W
01/09/2011 NUECES TX NWS EMPLOYEE
SEMI TRUCK FLIPPED NEAR THE 5 POINTS WALMART IN CALALLEN.
STREET SIGNS DOWN. SHOPPING CARTS BLOWN ONTO HIGHWAY.
0353 AM TSTM WND GST DRISCOLL 27.67N 97.75W
01/09/2011 E60.00 MPH NUECES TX TRAINED SPOTTER
TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTED EST 60 MPH WINDS
0353 AM HAIL DRISCOLL 27.67N 97.75W
01/09/2011 E1.00 INCH NUECES TX TRAINED SPOTTER
QUARTER SIZED HAIL WITHIN DRISCOLL. POWER OUTAGES ALSO
BEING REPORTED.
0354 AM MARINE TSTM WIND 7 N CORPUS CHRISTI 27.81N 97.29W
01/09/2011 M50.00 MPH GMZ230 TX MESONET
TCOON - NUECES BAY
0380 AM MARINE TSTM WIND 14 NW CORPUS CHRISTI 27.85N 97.45W
01/09/2011 M53.00 MPH GMZ230 TX MESONET
TCOON - NUECES DELTA
0402 AM HAIL CORPUS CHRISTI 27.71N 97.29W
01/09/2011 E0.50 INCH NUECES TX NWS EMPLOYEE
MARBLE SIZED HAIL AT THE CORPUS CHRISTI AIRPORT.
0402 AM TSTM WND GST CORPUS CHRISTI 27.71N 97.29W
01/09/2011 M69.00 MPH NUECES TX ASOS
ASOS AT CORPUS CHRISTI AIRPORT REPORTING 69 MPH WINDS.
0405 AM TSTM WND GST CORPUS CHRISTI 27.71N 97.29W
01/09/2011 M45.00 MPH NUECES TX ASOS
CABANISS FIELD
0407 AM TSTM WND GST KINGSVILLE 27.51N 97.86W
01/09/2011 M40.00 MPH KLEBERG TX ASOS
KINGSVILLE NAS
0410 AM TSTM WND DMG 5 NW PORTLAND 27.93N 97.38W
01/09/2011 SAN PATRICIO TX PUBLIC
NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM OBSERVED TREE...SIGN...FENCE AND
POWER LINE DAMAGE IN AND NORTHWEST OF PORTLAND. 3 MOBILE
HOMES COMPLETELY DESTROYED AND SEVERAL OTHER DAMAGED.
SHINGLE DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED ON SEVERAL HOMES. A BARN WAS
DESTOYED AS WELL. WINDS WERE ESTIMATED AT 80 MPH.
0416 AM TSTM WND GST CORPUS CHRISTI 27.71N 97.29W
01/09/2011 M59.00 MPH NUECES TX NWS EMPLOYEE
59 MPH WIND MEASURED IN CORPUS CHRISTI ALONG SOUTH PADRE
ISLAND DRIVE.
0418 AM MARINE TSTM WIND 2 E CORPUS CHRISTI 27.71N 97.26W
01/09/2011 M60.00 MPH GMZ230 TX MESONET
CORPUS CHRISTI MARINA
0418 AM MARINE TSTM WIND 1 W INGLESIDE 27.87N 97.22W
01/09/2011 M52.00 MPH SAN PATRICIO TX MESONET
TCOON
0418 AM MARINE TSTM WIND 4 NNE ROCKPORT 28.09N 97.03W
01/09/2011 M48.00 MPH ARANSAS TX MESONET
TCOON - COPANO EAST
0419 AM TSTM WND GST CORPUS CHRISTI 27.71N 97.29W
01/09/2011 M45.00 MPH NUECES TX ASOS
CORPUS CHRISTI NAS
0419 AM TSTM WND GST CORPUS CHRISTI 27.71N 97.29W
01/09/2011 M45.00 MPH NUECES TX ASOS
WALDRON FIELD
0424 AM HAIL 1 NW ARANSAS PASS 27.90N 97.15W
01/09/2011 E1.00 INCH SAN PATRICIO TX TRAINED SPOTTER
0424 AM MARINE TSTM WIND 1 NW PORT ARANSAS 28.49N 98.09W
01/09/2011 M58.00 MPH LIVE OAK TX MESONET
TCOON - FERRY LANDING
0430 AM TSTM WND DMG ROCKPORT 28.04N 97.05W
01/09/2011 ARANSAS TX TRAINED SPOTTER
ROOF DAMAGE TO ONE HOME IN ROCKPORT. A FEW TREES WERE
UPROOTED AS WELL. WINDS ESTIMATED AT 75 MPH.
0436 AM TSTM WND GST ROCKPORT 28.04N 97.05W
01/09/2011 M54.00 MPH ARANSAS TX ASOS
0440 AM TSTM WND DMG BLOOMINGTON 28.63N 96.88W
01/09/2011 VICTORIA TX NEWSPAPER
CARPORT ROOF BLOWN OFF OF A HOME. ROOF PARTIALLY CAVED IN
AND WINDOWS BLOWN OUT OF ANOTHER HOME. A POWER POLE WAS
ALSO BLOWN DOWN. A SHED WAS BLOWN INTO A NEABY HOUSE AND
STREET. WINDS OF 70 MPH ESTIMATED BY STORM SURVEY TEAM.
0440 AM TSTM WND DMG PLACEDO 28.67N 96.83W
01/09/2011 VICTORIA TX DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
PORTION OF ROOF BLOWN OFF HOUSE AND BARN ON HIGHWAY 87
JUST SOUTH OF FM 616. WINDS OF 70 MPH ESTIMATED BY STORM
SURVEY TEAM.
0440 AM TSTM WND DMG 4 E PLACEDO 28.67N 96.77W
01/09/2011 VICTORIA TX DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
GUARDRAIL DAMAGE TO PLACEDO BRIDGE. POWER LINES DOWN IN
THE AREA AND STREET SIGNS DOWN.
0440 AM TSTM WND DMG 2 S VICTORIA 28.80N 96.98W
01/09/2011 VICTORIA TX DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
CAR BLOWN INTO DITCH ON HIGHWAY 87 ONE MILE NORTH OF 447.
0442 AM MARINE TSTM WIND 1 SE ROCKPORT 28.03N 97.04W
01/09/2011 M51.00 MPH ARANSAS TX MESONET
ROCKPORT TCOON
0442 AM MARINE TSTM WIND 1 E PORT OCONNOR 28.44N 96.38W
01/09/2011 M51.00 MPH GMZ330 TX MESONET
TCOON
0445 AM TSTM WND DMG VICTORIA 28.82N 96.98W
01/09/2011 VICTORIA TX LAW ENFORCEMENT
POWER POLE BLOWN ONTO TRAILOR HOME AT 13000 BLOCK OF
HIGHWAY 87 NORTH.
0448 AM TSTM WND GST VICTORIA 28.82N 96.98W
01/09/2011 M48.00 MPH VICTORIA TX ASOS
0448 AM MARINE TSTM WIND 2 W SEADRIFT 28.03N 98.55W
01/09/2011 M70.00 MPH DUVAL TX MESONET
TCOON
0448 AM TSTM WND DMG SEADRIFT 28.38N 96.69W
01/09/2011 CALHOUN TX NWS STORM SURVEY
A LARGE LIGHT POLE WAS SNAPPED AT A BASEBALL FIELD NEAR
MAIN STREET AND HOUSTON AVENUE. AN AWNING WAS BLOWN OFF
OF A BUSINESS AND INTO BOATS AT THE MARINA IN SEADRIFT. A
NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM ESTIMATED WIND SPEEDS OF 70
MPH...WHICH WAS ALSO RECORDED BY A NEARBY TCOON SITE.
0454 AM MARINE TSTM WIND 13 SE CORPUS CHRISTI 27.57N 97.14W
01/09/2011 M51.00 MPH GMZ250 TX MESONET
TCOON - SOUTH BIRD ISLAND
0454 AM MARINE TSTM WIND 16 SE CORPUS CHRISTI 27.54N 97.11W
01/09/2011 M55.00 MPH GMZ250 TX MESONET
BOB HALL PIER
0500 AM TSTM WND DMG PORT LAVACA 28.61N 96.62W
01/09/2011 CALHOUN TX CO-OP OBSERVER
FEW ASPHALT SHINGLES BLOWN OFF RESIDENCE.
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