Storm Report for Temple, Bell County, Texas
for Friday, May 12, 2000
The first hint of the possibility of severe weather came early Friday
morning when the NWS in Fort Worth issued a Hazardous Weather Outlook which
put most of north Central Texas in a slight risk area during the afternoon
and evening.
The lower level of the atmosphere was very moist with a dewpoint at my
weather station of 80 degrees at 3:30 p.m. The mid levels of the atmosphere
were capped but a cold front was moving in from the NW and the NWS advised
that if this cap was broken that storms could go severe very quick. Which
they did!!!
A Severe Thunderstorm Watch was issued for Bell and surround counties at
4:35 p.m. A thunderstorm formed in Hill County (50 miles NW) around 5 p.m.
and quickly became severe and then tornadic about 5:30 p.m.. All three
local TV stations were interrupting regular programming to bring
information on the storm. Also around 5:30 p.m., a line of storms began
developing along the cold front about 50 miles to the west in San Saba
county. All of the storms were moving SE at the time. At 5:48, the severe
thunderstorm watch that had been issued earlier was replaced by a Tornado
Watch.
I left the house around 6:20 p.m. to attempt to pick up these storms as
they moved into the area. At the time, I wasn't worried about the tornadic
storm to the NW figuring that it would pass north of us. Then I heard over
amateur radio that the storm had made a right turn and was now moving south
toward Bell County.
At this time, an eerie thought entered my mind. The last time before today
I had recorded an 80 degree dewpoint was May 27, 1997, the day of the
Jarrell tornado. And like the day of the Jarrell tornado, today's storm had
developed in the same general area as they had that day and had taken a
similar right hand turn as they did that day, moving south just west of IH
35. With this in mind and approaching darkness, I was taking extra
precaution.
My first lookout point was the Cablevision parking lot at the corner of
31st and Adams Avenue, which has a fairly good view to the northwest.
Mammatus was being observed directly overhead at about 6:50 p.m.
The storm seem to slow down about this time so I decided to move west with
a plan to take up position along Texas Highway 317 somewhere south of
Moody, Texas. I headed west of on Airport Road and as I was about to
approach the Temple airport, a spotter about 15 miles north on Hwy 317
reported the storm coming right down Hwy 317. I stopped at the airport and
observed for a few minutes. The time was about 7:20 p.m. and there was
nothing out of the unusual...dark clouds to the NW and the occasional
lightning.
I then preceding on west to Hwy 317 then head south toward Belton taking up
a position in the north Belton Industrial Park. At 7:35 p.m., a Tornado
Warning was issued for Bell County. Doppler radar was indicating a possible
tornado 4 miles north of Killeen, which would be about 15 miles west of my
location. Spotters in that area were reporting rotation but I could see
nothing from my vantage point.
I then moved to start looking for shelter and headed east to my brothers
house, located about 4 miles east of Belton. I arrived there shortly before
8 p.m. At 7:59 p.m., the NWS issued a second Tornado Warning. Doppler radar
and storm spotters indicated a funnel cloud near Killeen, now about 20
miles to my west.
The storm over Killeen was somewhat elevated and was being back lit by the
setting sun. Although I was a good distance away, I could pick up some
lowering and rotation in the clouds but nothing that I saw came close to
being a funnel cloud.
A wall cloud was now visible to my NW and it too had some brief lowering.
Around 8:10 p.m., the civil defense sirens in Temple went off but it is
unknown if they were intentionally set off or accidentally set of by the
weather itself. Several weeks ago, the sirens went off during a severe
storm that was due to lightning. Spotters in the area were not reporting
any funnel clouds of any kind and I did not see any either.
The storm hit my location around 8:20 p.m. bringing some brief gusty NW
winds (PWG my weather station - 30 mph) and rain but no hail. The lightning
with this storm was surprising lacking. The turbulence in the atmosphere
was highlighted by some magnificent cloud formations just ahead of the
storm front but unfortunately it was too dark to take any photos. A steady
rain continued until 9 p.m. and temperatures dropped to near 70 degrees
with frontal passage. Rain from this event total .71"
There were some reports of pea-sized hail in the Temple area and some down
power lines and tree limbs. Also dime to quarter sized hail was reported in
Belton along with golfball size in Killeen.
NWS statements regarding this storm can be seen at
http://www.vvm.com/~rprcin/nws512.htm
Ronnie
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