Storm Report for Temple, Bell County, Texas
for Friday, April 7, 2000
All Times CDT
A very interesting start to the weekend in Central Texas as a severe
thunderstorm passed through the area around 7 p.m., Friday, April 7.
A strong cold front was approaching the area during the day on Friday but
any severe weather was expected to be over East Texas. The main concern for
the Central Texas area was strong NW winds to 40 mph after frontal passage.
I left work in the NW side of Belton about 4:30 p.m. and was surprised to
look to the north and find thunderheads on the north to northwest horizon.
The developing towers were small but were building to classic anvils with
back building to northwest.
These towers continued to build and move south during the early evening and
at 6:15 p.m., the NWS issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for a storm
moving into NW Bell County from Bell County. This warning was in effect
until 7 p.m.
The storm seemed to split into two storms as it approached the Temple area.
I took up a location in the Cablevision parking lot on Adams Avenue just
west of 31st Street which provided a view of the west and northwest
horizons.
The portion of the storm that split and moved SE seemed to pass over the
northeast portion of Temple with numerous cloud to ground lightning
strikes. One of these strikes did extensive damage to a large oak tree at a
residence on Main Street in far north Temple.
The storm that was causing the most concern was the one that split and went
to the west of Temple. This was a small storm but was developing into a
mesocyclone with definite rotation and barber-pole characteristics to the
storm cloud and rain and hail shaft to the right of the storm. At 6:45
p.m., golfball hail was being reported in Moffat, about 10 miles NW of
Temple.
At 6.56 p.m., the NWS issued a second Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Bell
County effective until 8 p.m. for this thunderstorm located near Morgan's
Point Resort, about 8 miles west about Temple.
The thunderstorm began taking on meso characteristics around 6:35 p.m. and
looked the most impressive around 6:50 p.m. with a developing beaver tail.
A spotter in west Bell County south of the storm began reporting a drop
from the cloud and dust being kicked up but could not confirm a funnel
cloud. I was able to see daylight under the storm from my location and did
not see anything even remotely resembling a funnel cloud. The storm began
losing its meso characteristic just before 7 p.m. but spotters in Harker
Heights, about 20 miles SW of Temple, were still reporting rotation.
Shortly after 7 p.m., a heavy rain began falling at my location blocking my
view of the storm to the west. I then headed south on Interstate 35 to get
back ahead of the storm. I moved ahead of the rain just south of Belton and
was able to spot the storm to the west once more. I continued south on IH
35 to just south of Salado, about 15 miles south of my previous location.
At about 7:20 p.m. I pulled off of the interstate to a safe location with a
good view to the west. By this time the cloud had taken more of a bell
shape with the point to the ground. At this time, spotters to the north of
me near the Bell County Expo in Belton were reporting golfball sized hail.
I decided I wanted to go west to let the storm behind me pass to my east
and move behind the storm to my west, which was proceeding south.
I traveled west on FM 2843 for about 4 miles and thought I was well north
of the west storm but I rain into the hail shaft. I experienced marble with
occasional nickel size hail for about 4 minutes and then it ended. I held
my location continuing to watch the storm to my SW but nothing further
developed from it. After about 10 minutes I headed back east toward IH 35.,
thinking I had given myself enough time for the east storm to pass. But I
ran into brief marble hail just as I reached the interstate. A spotter that
was on IH 35 just south of my location reported cars pulling off under a
overpass, blocking the interstate.
As has happened a couple of times this year, this storm passed through just
before sunset followed by a clearing to the west. This has allowed the
setting sun to shine on the backside of the storm clouds, making for some
beautiful viewing of the departing storm.
Once the sun set and the storm had passed, I headed back north on IH 35. I
came across two traffic accidents that occurred during the storm. The first
one was near the Amity exit about 8 miles south of Belton. There was one
car left in the median minus its hood. The second accident was just south
of the Loop 121 exit near the Belton city limits with one car against the
median embankment.
Storm reports from this storm included 1.75" hail in Moffat at 6:45 p.m.
reported by the Bell County EOC, .75" hail reported at 7:25 p.m. in Belton
by the Belton Police Department, along with a METAR report of .75" hail at
6:55 p.m. at the Temple airport.
Photos from the storm can be viewed at
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=13364&a=4255067
NWS statements regarding this storm can be seen at
http://www.vvm.com/~rprcin/nws0407.htm
Ronnie
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Live Home Weather Station:
http://www.vvm.com/~rprcin/livewx.htm
My Photo Album:
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumList?u=13364
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