A local resident at an apartment complex located south of the area where a possible tornado was sighted Monday night snapped a photo of the weather event. Although no confirmation of a tornado was able to be found by local officials, Brownwood News sent the photo to the National Weather Service for an opinion. Photo contributed.
After the tornado sirens sounded Monday night around 9:00pm, many residents took shelter. A resident of the 377 Villas Apartments took a picture of the cloud that was reported to contain a tornado on the ground near McCoy’s and the Food Plaza near the hospital. Another resident was driving through the event and reported that the road was darkened with flying dirt/debris and the winds were whipping power lines around.”
Officials at the National Weather Service in San Angelo stated that they had seen the photo and that the area of interest was far away and dark, making it difficult to analyze; however, Steve Lyons, the meteorologist in charge of the NWS in San Angelo gave the following opinion:
“Unfortunately the area of interest is sort of far away and the image dark (for obvious reasons). However upon close inspection my office forecasters and I believe that this is NOT a tornado, but rather a rain shaft extending from the clouds to the ground,” said Steve Lyons. “Very often around here (due to dry air near the ground) a rain shaft will narrow as it falls to the ground because some rain on its edges evaporates…the greatest time for evaporation is near the ground hence the portion that is typically narrowest. This often gives the fair-weather weatherman an indication that he/she is looking at a tornado…we do not think this is a tornado nor did our radar provide any hint that there was one in the area.”
Radar did not indicate the required elements to issue a Severe Thunderstorm Warning Monday night.
According to NWS of San Angelo, the following requirements are used to determine Severe Thunderstorm Watches and Warnings:
- A severe thunderstorm warning is issued when winds will reach 58mph and/or the hail size is one inch or greater. A severe thunderstorm warning also means the storm is imminent and you need to take action now.
- A severe thunderstorm watch means conditions are favorable and you need to be checking the sky, TV, radio or internet for any warnings. This watch also means that conditions are favorable for high winds (above 58mph) and hail (one inch or greater).
Original article: A strong thunderstorm moved through Brown County Monday night bringing with it high winds, rain, and reports of possible tornados in the area after 9pm.
Brownwood activated tornado sirens as the storm was bearing down on the area after two reports of possible tornados were made by area residents. The first report was near Brownwood Regional Airport and called into emergency dispatch by a local resident, and the second report said that a tornado was on the ground off of Hwy 377 S between the Food Plaza and McCoy’s. The second report came from a Guardian EMS employee which prompted the activation of the emergency sirens in Brownwood.
According to Brownwood Fire Marshal Buddy Preston, who was part of the group of emergency responders looking to confirm the sighting, no evidence of a tornado could be found in the immediate area of Hwy 377 near McCoy’s.
“We couldn’t find any evidence, not even debris,” said Preston. “The most we found was limbs that had fallen. Nothing at McCoy’s showed any evidence of a tornado, their signs were not damaged and none of the outside materials were disturbed.”
Brown County Emergency Management Coordinator Brent Bush was notified of the possible sightings and moved to get confirmation.
“As soon as the report of the tornado came into dispatch and I was notified, I called the National Weather Service,” said Bush. “The National Weather Service took a look at the radar and stated that the storm was not showing anything strong enough to produce a tornado. In fact, they said we should expect a little wind and rain and that’s what we got. Wind damage, a few limbs and a couple of trees blew down from splitting and falling over was the most of our damage.”
Emergency responders went to both reported locations, but did not find any damage in either area.
Since the National Weather Service did not issue a warning on the storm, the county’s weather alert system DeltAlert did not activate and make phone calls to those registered.
Straight line winds did cause some minor damage and some power outages around the area. BigCountryHomepage.com reported that wind gusts of 55 mph were registered at the airport, and Oncor reported several power outages with almost 200 customers without power in Brown County shortly after the storm passed through. Several trees were reported down as well as sparking power lines and transformers as the storm moved through the area.
According to Bush, the local sirens were activated as a precaution before the reported tornado could be confirmed.
“It’s better to do it when you don’t need it than not,” said Bush. “We never were in danger in Brown County according to the National Weather Service. They are the experts who know when to issue alerts and when not to.”
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