A fast-moving line of severe thunderstorms swept South Texas’s coastal counties in the early morning hours Wednesday, triggering three active National Weather Service warnings and placing 13 counties under Severe Thunderstorm Watch 245 through 8 a.m. CDT.
The storm line stretched from 8 miles north of Blanconia to 6 miles east of Port Aransas and extended southeast to about 15 miles beyond Malaquite Beach, according to radar data from the National Weather Service. The system was tracking east at 40 mph — a pace that compresses warning lead times and leaves little margin for residents to seek shelter. Primary hazards include wind gusts to 70 mph and nickel-size hail.
All thirteen counties under Watch 245 lie within South Texas: Aransas, Bee, Calhoun, Duval, Goliad, Jim Wells, Kleberg, Live Oak, McMullen, Nueces, Refugio, San Patricio, and Victoria. The watch also covers adjacent coastal waters — Baffin Bay and Upper Laguna Madre, Corpus Christi and Nueces Bays, Copano, Aransas, and Redfish Bays, San Antonio, Mesquite, and Espiritu Santo Bays, and coastal waters from Baffin Bay to the Matagorda Ship Channel out 20 nautical miles.
The 70 mph wind hazard is sufficient to cause considerable tree damage, per National Weather Service guidance. Nickel-size hail adds risk to vehicles and exposed property throughout the coastal bend. Continuous cloud-to-ground lightning is occurring with the line, presenting an immediate danger to anyone outdoors or on the water.
The National Weather Service directs residents in affected areas to move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building immediately. Mariners and offshore workers within the watch area should seek safe harbor — the watch covers coastal waters 20 nautical miles out, encompassing commercial and recreational corridors along the Texas Gulf Coast.
Corpus Christi, situated in Nueces County, lies directly within the active warning zone. Victoria to the northeast falls under the watch perimeter.
Watch 245 was originally set to expire at 6 a.m. CDT before the National Weather Service extended it to 8 a.m. as the threat persisted. Residents and mariners along the South Texas coastal bend should monitor updated NWS guidance through the morning as the system pushes east toward open water.