An upper level disturbance moving across South Texas, combined with a very moist and unstable atmosphere produced strong to severe thunderstorms across South Texas on Tuesday, May 31st. The strongest storms crossed Kleberg County and produced 3 tornadoes, very strong winds, large hail and torrential rainfall.
The first two tornadoes occurred nearly simultaneously as a supercell moving from the west merged with another cell from the south. One tornado occurred from roughly US-77 to Business US-77 just north of General Cavazos Blvd. This tornado damaged baseball fields near H M King High school and traveled westward to cause significant damage at the Casa Del Rey Apartments and homes along Otis Drive. At Casa Del Rey apartments, numerous windows were broken and shingles were blown off roofs. A portion of a roof was blown off a home on Otis drive and numerous large trees and power poles were snapped.
About the same time, a second tornado occurred about a mile south, traveling west to east. This tornado first touched down near Dick Kleberg Park where bleachers were tossed 300 yards and the roof was blown off a metal building. This tornado tracked east and southeastward for 2.28 miles, snapping numerous trees and utility poles.
This is a radar loop of the Kingsville tornadoes. Click for larger loop. Velocity signatures with these tornadoes were very weak and difficult to decipher.
A third tornado occurred 45 minutes later as these same cells continued to interact and move very slowly. While no damage was found from this tornado due to its inacessible location, there are photos of this short-lived tornado southeast of Ricardo.
The photo below was taken from about 8 miles southeast of the storm with a great unobstructed view. Photo courtesy Harley Schwartz.
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| Ricardo Tornado Radar Image | Photo of Ricardo Tornado (far right) |
Satellite Loop |
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| KCRP SKEWT - 12Z 05/31 | KCRP SKEWT - 00Z 06/01 |
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| Surface - 12Z 05/31 | Surface - 00Z 06/01 |
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.KINGSVILLE TORNADO 1...
Rating: EF-1
Estimated peak wind: 110 mph
Path Length (statute): 0.9 miles
Path width (maximum): 200 yards
Fatalities: 0
Injuries: 0
State date: May 31 2016
Start time: 630 PM CDT
Start location: Kingsville / Kleberg / TX
Start lat/lon: 27.4919 / -97.8512
End date: May 31 2016
End time: 635 PM CDT
End location: Kingsville / Kleberg / TX
End_lat/lon: 27.4969 / -97.8646
Survey summary: An EF-1 tornado touched down at the intersection
of Brahma Blvd and E General Cavazos Blvd and traveled northwest
crossing Business 77 near Otis Ave before lifting. Windows were
broken and shingles were blown off the roof of an appartment
complex. Vehicle windows were smashed, a portion of a roof was
blown off a home and numerous large trees and powerpoles were
snapped.
.Kingsville Tornado 2...
Rating: EF-1
Estimated peak wind: 110 mph
Path Length (statute): 2.28 miles
Path width (maximum): 400 yards
Fatalities: 0
Injuries: 0
State date: May 31 2016
Start time: 0631 PM CDT
Start location: Kingsville / Kleberg / TX
Start lat/lon: 27.4750 / -97.8666
End date: May 31 2016
End time: 0637 PM CDT
End location: Kingsville / Kleberg / TX
End_lat/lon: 27.4664 / -97.8316
Survey summary: An EF-1 tornado touched down in Dick Kleberg Park and
travelled 2.28 miles crossing Highway 77 and FM 1717. Numerous large
trees and utility poles were snapped, bleachers at the park were tossed
300 yards, and a portion of the roof from a metal building was blown off.
.Ricardo Tornado...
Rating: EF-0
Estimated peak wind: 70 mph
Path Length (statute): 0.4 miles
Path width (maximum): 30 yards
Fatalities: 0
Injuries: 0
State date: May 31 2016
Start time: 0715 PM CDT
Start location: 3 SW Ricardo / Kleberg / TX
Start lat/lon: 27.3794/ -97.8829
End date: May 31 2016
End time: 0721 PM CDT
End location: 3 SW Ricardo / Kleberg / TX
End_lat/lon: 27.3797 / -97.8763
Survey summary: A weak EF-0 Tornado briefly touched down in an open field.
The tornado was photographed by a trained spotter. No visible damage was
observed by NWS Storm survey team. The location of the tornado was estimated
by radar.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
621 PM CDT WED JUN 01 2016
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0730 PM TSTM WND DMG KINGSVILLE 27.51N 97.86W
05/31/2016 KLEBERG TX NWS STORM SURVEY
NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM IDENTIFIED TWO DAMAGE PATHS IN THE
CITY OF KINGSVILLE. THE FIRST WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE
DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS OF 70-90 MPH WHICH IMPACTED
THE SOUTH CENTRAL PART OF TOWN BETWEEN E CAESAR AVE AND
GENERAL CAVAZOS BLVD AROUND 730PM. HUNDREDS OF LARGE
LIMBS WERE SNAPPED AND IN SOME CASES WHOLE TREES WERE
UPROOTED. A PORTION OF THE ROOF OF A HOME WAS BLOWN OFF.
WINDOWS WERE BROKEN AT AN APARTMENT. ALL DEBRIS WAS
FACING A WESTERLY DIRECTION.
0700 AM HEAVY RAIN 6 SSE KINGSVILLE 27.43N 97.82W
06/01/2016 M8.55 INCH KLEBERG TX COCORAHS
NEARLY ALL FELL WITHIN A FEW HOURS TUESDAY EVENING.
0355 PM HAIL 12 S TILDEN 28.29N 98.58W
05/31/2016 E1.00 INCH MCMULLEN TX LAW ENFORCEMENT
QUARTER SIZE HAIL REPORTED WEST OF HWY 16 NEAR THE NUECES
RIVER
0510 PM HEAVY RAIN 1 NE COTULLA 28.45N 99.22W
05/31/2016 M2.28 INCH LA SALLE TX COCORAHS
2.28 INCHES FELL IN 40 MINUTES.
0533 PM TORNADO CHOKE CANYON 28.51N 98.32W
05/31/2016 LIVE OAK TX TRAINED SPOTTER
WATERSPOUT OVER CHOKE CANYON LAKE MOVED ONSHORE
0543 PM HAIL KINGSVILLE 27.51N 97.86W
05/31/2016 E0.75 INCH KLEBERG TX TRAINED SPOTTER
NEAR TAMU KINGSVILLE
0615 PM FUNNEL CLOUD PETTUS 28.62N 97.80W
05/31/2016 BEE TX EMERGENCY MNGR
TWO FUNNEL CLOUDS REPORTED BY EM NEAR PETTUS.
0617 PM HAIL KINGSVILLE 27.51N 97.86W
05/31/2016 E1.00 INCH KLEBERG TX TRAINED SPOTTER
0639 PM HAIL 15 W BEEVILLE 28.41N 98.00W
05/31/2016 E0.25 INCH LIVE OAK TX LAW ENFORCEMENT
0639 PM HAIL RICARDO 27.42N 97.85W
05/31/2016 E1.00 INCH KLEBERG TX PUBLIC
SOCIAL MEDIA VIDEO SUBMITTED OF HAIL FALLING IN RICARDO.
0640 PM HAIL 6 SSE KINGSVILLE 27.43N 97.82W
05/31/2016 E0.88 INCH KLEBERG TX COCORAHS
0642 PM HAIL RICARDO 27.42N 97.85W
05/31/2016 E2.00 INCH KLEBERG TX PUBLIC
PICTURE SUBMITTED OF LARGE HAIL THAT FELL NEAR RICARDO.
0654 PM TSTM WND GST ALICE 27.76N 98.07W
05/31/2016 M54.00 MPH JIM WELLS TX ASOS
0706 PM FLASH FLOOD KINGSVILLE 27.51N 97.86W
05/31/2016 KLEBERG TX TRAINED SPOTTER
VEHICLES FLOODED NEAR TAMU KINGSVILLE AND NEAR AVENUE G.
WATER APPROACHING HOMES AND PORCHES.
0707 PM HAIL RICARDO 27.42N 97.85W
05/31/2016 E2.75 INCH KLEBERG TX PUBLIC
PICTURES OF BASEBALL SIZE HAIL RECEIVED IN REAL TIME.
0707 PM FUNNEL CLOUD RICARDO 27.42N 97.85W
05/31/2016 KLEBERG TX PUBLIC
IMAGES SUBMITTED OF FUNNEL CLOUD NEAR RICARDO.
0740 PM HEAVY RAIN BENAVIDES 27.60N 98.41W
05/31/2016 M2.24 INCH DUVAL TX TRAINED SPOTTER
2.24 INCHES IN 30 MINUTES.
0743 PM TSTM WND GST KINGSVILLE 27.51N 97.86W
05/31/2016 M51.00 MPH KLEBERG TX ASOS
0744 PM HAIL KINGSVILLE 27.51N 97.86W
05/31/2016 E1.00 INCH KLEBERG TX PUBLIC
0801 PM HEAVY RAIN 3 N MINERAL 28.59N 97.90W
05/31/2016 M3.51 INCH BEE TX TRAINED SPOTTER
STORM TOTAL SO FAR.
0825 PM FLASH FLOOD PREMONT 27.36N 98.12W
05/31/2016 JIM WELLS TX PUBLIC
WATER UP TO HOMES IN PREMONT.
0906 PM HEAVY RAIN 2 W KINGSVILLE NAVAL AI 27.50N 97.85W
05/31/2016 M6.10 INCH KLEBERG TX COCORAHS
WATER FLOWING INTO HOUSE WITH ADDITIONAL HOMES FLOODED IN
NEIGHBORHOOD.
1236 AM NON-TSTM WND GST PADRE BALLI PARK 27.59N 97.22W
06/01/2016 M62.00 MPH NUECES TX MESONET
WIND GUST 54 KT MEASURED AT BOB HALL PIER
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