Thunderstorm Wind — Cameron, Texas

2023-05-09 · near Port Isabel, Cameron, Texas

Event narrative

An NWS Storm Survey was conducted on South Padre Island and found several areas of damage along South Padre Island. The survey found a couple of downed fences in the Isla Blanca area on the southern side of the island along with a couple of flipped recreational vehicles (RVs) that were exposed to the wind but only anchored by unfastened scissor jacks. The flipped RVs were initially reported by a member of the public shortly after the storms moved offshore. Winds here were measured at the Brazos Santiago (BZST2) Texas Coastal Ocean Observing Network site (TCOON) to be near 84 mph. A little farther north along the island, the metal roof at Longboards was peeled back along with a canvas type material that was blown onto the second story balcony of an older apartment complex along W Palm Street. Some of the most extensive damage was witnessed at the El Castile Condo at the corner of W Polaris Dr and Laguna Blvd, which lost its roof and roof decking and exposed at least two dozen units to the elements during the storm. Lastly, the South Padre Island Convention Center's Main Exposition hall lost a significant portion of its roof along with a snapped ash tree nearby, suggesting wind speeds remaining near 85 to 90 mph. Additionally, South Padre Island Police Department reported multiple powerlines down across the island immediately after the event.

Note: times listed are based on the survey results. All severe criteria (58 mph or greater wind gusts) occurred between 148 and 206 AM based on reports from various platforms in the area.

Wider weather episode

A cluster of thunderstorms in northern Mexico began to bow out south of Hidalgo County and the Rio Grande River and headed for the southern half of Cameron County. As the storms raced through, they produced several minutes of 60 mph gusts or higher at the Brownsville-South Padre International Airport. As the cluster of storms formed into an MCS closer to the coast in northeastern Mexico, it sent a surge of wind across extreme southeastern Cameron County, including Boca Chica Beach, Port Isabel, and South Padre Island. It is here where the worst of the damage occurred with several buildings losing all or part of their roofs and a couple of flipped RVs at Isla Blanca. The strongest wind gust was measured near the Coast Guard Station on South Padre Island at 77 knots, or 89 mph.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (26.0697, -97.1576)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1087711. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.