tornados in san antonio

[satx_pilot]

Very rare for San Antonio. Mark Langford recorded this back in 1992.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV8xc8QMnpc

[Ernie.e]

Was pretty cool reading some of the info from previous tornadoes that have hit the San Antonio area and just like the past two hailstorms that just hit in one month, you cannot underestimate the weather in San Antonio....... yes for the most part it is very quiet here compared to North Texas where it's a lot more frequent to see a Tornado... but I'm afraid we are due anytime soon for that random tornado that can hit the city of San Antonio just depends where you are at too because a tornado is small compared to a Hurricane, much smaller but if you're in the path of one it all depends on the strength of the tornado and the direction it's heading... because it can only effect a certain area and leave damage while the other area is completely fine.

In fact i believe a pretty big one hit about 40 miles south of San Antonio four years ago, was a F3 but regardless very strong tornado.. and that could've been within the city if the Supercell would've been to the north....
so it's all depending on time and location... and path.... scary.. lol
So let's say if you're comparing San Antonio to Los Angeles, then yes San Antonio can and does have a chance of getting a tornado over any city on the West Coast for example..........

[Paka]

Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

According to these statistics, there have been NO fatalities by tornados in Bexar county or surrounding areas. I would be MUCH more concerned with Flash Flooding if I was one to be overly concerned about the weather threats (other than damage to our cars and roofs/homes by hail).

[unintentionallyfunny]

Originally Posted by Ernie.e

Was pretty cool reading some of the info from previous tornadoes that have hit the San Antonio area and just like the past two hailstorms that just hit in one month, you cannot underestimate the weather in San Antonio....... yes for the most part it is very quiet here compared to North Texas where it's a lot more frequent to see a Tornado... but I'm afraid we are due anytime soon for that random tornado that can hit the city of San Antonio just depends where you are at too because a tornado is small compared to a Hurricane, much smaller but if you're in the path of one it all depends on the strength of the tornado and the direction it's heading... because it can only effect a certain area and leave damage while the other area is completely fine.

In fact i believe a pretty big one hit about 40 miles south of San Antonio four years ago, was a F3 but regardless very strong tornado.. and that could've been within the city if the Supercell would've been to the north....
so it's all depending on time and location... and path.... scary.. lol
So let's say if you're comparing San Antonio to Los Angeles, then yes San Antonio can and does have a chance of getting a tornado over any city on the West Coast for example..........

Oh please stop with the false fear mongering. You think we're due for a tornado because what exactly? Hail storms?

Give me a break.

Second, there's a reason the strongest tornado to hit the city or county is an F1. The weakest on the scale. That reason mainly being the geographic location of San Antonio in conjunction with the hill country.

Anyway, the odds that SA gets hit by a tornado are very very low. Even lower are the odds anything stronger than an F1 were to hit.

[Paka]

I have NO scientific explanation for this, nor anything I can find on the internet supporting this claim (and we all KNOW if it is on the internet it is GOSPEL...lol), but growing up in SA I heard from more than one source and on more than one occasion that the reason SA is spared severe tornado activity is because it is situated on the SA river.....seems that there are those that belive that a river or large body of water INHIBITS severe tornado activity.

Yes, I am old....and I have no idea if there are others out there that heard this grown up here, but thought would pass it along since the ONLY tornado accounts that I could find (and posted above) seems to support that fact. NO fatalities in SA.

[LastStraw]

Originally Posted by Paka

. . . . growing up in SA I heard from more than one source and on more than one occasion that the reason SA is spared severe tornado activity is because it is situated on the SA river.....seems that there are those that belive that a river or large body of water INHIBITS severe tornado activity.

Not true !!!
Having lived in North Alabama (Huntsville) I can tell you for sure that is a false myth.
Tornados hit in that area almost every Spring and Fall. The area has been called "Tornado Alley" and the Tennessee River is right there and it is a much bigger river than the San Antonio River.
I was living there (approximately 10 miles from the Tennessee River) when an F4 Tornado struck in November 1989. The area was devastated beyond belief.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huntsv...labama_Tornado
Yes, I know ... this is the San Antonio Forum and that was Alabama,.. but I am referring to the myth about a River inhibiting Tornado activity!!


.

[huckster]

I don't know about tornado scarcity locally because of geography, however....The regions bordering the southern edges of the Edwards Escarpment are very flood prone. Heavy gulf moist air will collide with cold air over the Balcones escarpment and can stall and produce prodigious, copious amounts of rainfall locally. We are famous for it. We are the flash flood alley. Steep hillsides and heavy rain does this.
The tiny city of Dhanis, tx out west of here is renowned for 22 inches of rainfall in a few hours, New Braunfles is also in the record books because of the flood that tore through Landa park in 1972 when 16 inches of rain fell over the Guadalupe River between Canyon Lake Dam and New Braunfels. Lots of damage, houses washed away and debris was even lodged high up in trees so bad was the flooding.
San Antonio is renowned for the downtown flooding of early twentieth century 1921(?)(twenty eight fatalities) and for the flooding of 1998.
These floods are amongst the worst rainwater floods on record in the history of the country and the D'hanis rainfall is some of the heaviest rainfall on record of any place on earth. Dhanis recieved 22 inches in 24 hours and on a ranch just outside of D'Hanis is was determined that 24 inches of rain fell in three hours.

Originally Posted by unintentionallyfunny

Oh please stop with the false fear mongering. You think we're due for a tornado because what exactly? Hail storms?

Give me a break.

Second, there's a reason the strongest tornado to hit the city or county is an F1. The weakest on the scale. That reason mainly being the geographic location of San Antonio in conjunction with the hill country.

Anyway, the odds that SA gets hit by a tornado are very very low. Even lower are the odds anything stronger than an F1 were to hit.

[Clnconcpts]

I have a few friends that live up in the Dallas metro area, Frisco and McKenney . I asked both about their tornado activities , when we were considering that area and San Antonio. They both said , they've had the high wind s and close calls, but both mentioned the the tornadoes gravitate towards the 3 lakes that are due West of them .the lakes are on the north west side