Severe Weather update for Gulf Coast.
Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 1:33 am

Tornado:

Hail:

Wind:

...THERE IS A SLGT RISK OF SVR TSTMS ACROSS PARTS OF SERN TX TO THE
NORTH CENTRAL GULF COAST...
...SYNOPSIS...
00Z GFS/NAM ARE TRENDING A LITTLE FARTHER TO THE SOUTH WITH THE
OVERALL TRACK OF THE SHORT WAVE TROUGH EXPECTED TO DIG SEWD ALONG
THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY TODAY REACHING SRN TX BY 00Z...BEFORE MOVING
NEWD TOWARD LA TONIGHT. SURFACE CYCLOGENESIS IS EXPECTED ACROSS
CENTRAL/SOUTH CENTRAL TX AS HEIGHT FALLS SPREAD ACROSS THIS REGION.
THIS LOW WILL THEN TRACK TOWARD THE LOWER MS VALLEY THIS EVENING/
OVERNIGHT AS THE SHORT WAVE TROUGH EJECTS NEWD. A WARM FRONT/
COASTAL BOUNDARY EXTENDING EWD FROM THE SURFACE LOW IS EXPECTED TO
MOVE INLAND ALONG THE MID/UPPER TX COAST BY THIS AFTERNOON...BUT MAY
NOT MOVE INLAND ACROSS SRN LA UNTIL AFTER 00Z.
FAST FLOW REGIME WILL PERSIST ACROSS THE NRN STATES WITH ANOTHER
PACIFIC TROUGH ACCOMPANIED BY STRONG LARGE SCALE ASCENT AND COLD
TEMPERATURES ALOFT MOVING OVER THE PAC NW COAST TOWARD 12Z THURSDAY.
...SERN TX TO THE NORTH CENTRAL GULF COAST...
INCREASING SLY LOW-LEVEL FLOW ACROSS THE WRN GULF THIS FORECAST
PERIOD IN RESPONSE TO HEIGHT FALLS WILL ALLOW MODIFIED GULF MOISTURE
TO RETURN NWD. LOWER 60S SURFACE DEWPOINTS ARE EXPECTED INLAND
ACROSS ERN TX TO THE LOWER MS VALLEY...WITH MID 60S ALONG THE COAST.
00Z SOUNDINGS INDICATED AN ELEVATED MIXED LAYER/STEEP MID LEVEL
LAPSE RATE ENVIRONMENT HAS ALREADY SPREAD EWD ACROSS TX TO THE LOWER
MS VALLEY. FURTHER STEEPENING OF THESE LAPSE RATES IS EXPECTED ATOP
THE RETURN OF LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE...WHICH SHOULD MAINTAIN THE CAP
UNTIL EITHER SUFFICIENT BOUNDARY LAYER MODIFICATION AND/OR THE
ARRIVAL OF STRONG ASCENT CAN WEAKEN THE CAP FOR TSTM INITIATION.
SOME SURFACE HEATING COMBINED WITH MOISTURE ADVECTION MAY PROVE
SUFFICIENT TO WEAKEN THE CAP BY EARLY AFTERNOON WITH MLCAPE EXPECTED
TO RANGE FROM 800-1200 J/KG. THIS COMBINED WITH INCREASING DEEP
LAYER SHEAR WILL LIKELY SUPPORT SURFACE BASED STORMS FROM THE
MID/UPPER TX COAST INLAND WITHIN THE WARM SECTOR AND ALSO ELEVATED
STORMS NORTH OF THE BOUNDARY...POTENTIALLY AS FAR EAST AS WRN LA.
STORM CLUSTERS AND SUPERCELLS WILL LIKELY BE THE INITIAL STORM MODES
WITH THE EXPECTED TSTMS. THE STEEP LAPSE RATES AND STRONG SHEAR
SUGGEST HAIL WILL BE MORE LIKELY WITH THE INITIAL ACTIVITY ACROSS
CENTRAL/ERN TX. DAMAGING WINDS SHOULD BE MORE LIKELY THIS
EVENING/TONIGHT...AS MODELS SUGGEST A QUASI-LINEAR MCS DEVELOPING
AND MOVING EWD ALONG THE GULF COAST REGION FROM THE UPPER TX COAST
TO POTENTIALLY THE WRN FL PANHANDLE BY 12Z THURSDAY. ISOLATED
TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE FROM THE UPPER TX COAST/SERN TX EWD
ACROSS SRN LA AS THE COASTAL BOUNDARY MOVES INLAND LATER THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING...PROVIDING A FOCUS FOR ENHANCED LOW-LEVEL
SHEAR.
..PETERS.. 02/01/2006