Southwest Texas
A few cities include: Fort Stockton, Midland and San Angelo.
Local tornado season: Peaks between May and early June.
Terrain: Rolling hills, some plains, mountains to the west.
Road network: Manageable, but sparse in areas.
Radar coverage: Good until you approach the mountains.
Southwest Texas may not be known for tornado outbreaks, but plenty of picturesque tornadoes have been witnessed in the area. Fort Stockton has its own special charm in the storm chase community. Intense supercells routinely form within a short drive from the city during the spring season.
Assuming there is enough moisture in place, it is common for dry, cool air aloft coming off of the mountains to result in very steep lapse rates here. With strong surface heating, the result is a large amount of available instability (CAPE) for intense thunderstorms. As a result, large to very large hail is generally the most common hazard.
Tornadoes do sometimes occur, particularly if low-level winds are backed to southeasterly/easterly against the mountains. Strong outflow winds can be another hazard, as hot surface temperatures can lead to large temperature/dew-point spreads. On occasion, a dust storm or haboob can develop. This occurs when strong surface winds interact with the often dusty, barren terrain.
Terrain
Southwest Texas covers the southwestern corner of what’s typically considered chaseable terrain in the central United States. Rolling hills and some relatively flat lands are common in this area, but as you go farther west, you’ll eventually reach the Davis Mountains. When it comes to sight distance, as long as you’re not near the mountains, you can usually see storms far in the distance.
Although the region is classified as the southern High Plains, ranches and oil fields span the area more so than farmland, as it can appear desert-like. Once closer to San Angelo, the terrain becomes hilly and there is more vegetation as well.
Road network
The road network in Southwest Texas is a mixed bag. While it’s not a perfect grid, there are several paved roads that tend to follow diagonal paths. This is common trait throughout much of Texas. This can, in many cases, actually shorten the driving distance from point A to point B. On such roads, you will not need to take several 90-degree turns to get to your destination.
Interstate-10 is the main freeway in Southwest Texas. With a speed limit that averages 80 MPH, driving across I-10 goes by quick. Storm chasing south of I-10 can be quite difficult and few chasers will venture into the area. US-90 parallels I-10 to the south, near the border with Mexico and chasing there is even more difficult.
Farther north, I-20 extends in a northeasterly direction from its interchange with I-10. It brings you toward the Midland-Odessa area. Here, the road network gets increasingly favorable for storm chasing, as more paved roads are available.
Radar coverage
KMAF is the main radar site that covers Southwest Texas. Coverage degrades south and west of Fort Stockton. Due to road networks and climatology, not many chases will bring you into those areas anyway. KSJT covers the San Angelo area and there is overlap between the two radars in some areas, giving multiple radar options if chasing between Midland and San Angelo.
Overall, because of the usually manageable road network, good radar coverage and tendency for intense supercells, much of Southwest Texas is cooperative for storm chasing. Tornadoes may not often occur, but when they do, they are can very photogenic.