Thunderstorm Wind in Fisher County, Texas

The National Weather Service conducted a storm survey after a strong supercell thunderstorm moved southeast across Fisher

County, with a swath of very strong winds that pushed through the

northern and central portions of the county. Three broken steel

transmission poles were observed northeast of Rotan, a roof of a

degraded carport was blown off in Rotan, a couple small barns or

outbuildings were heavily damaged east of Roby and in Sylvester,

tree damage was widespread, and broken wood power poles were

observed as well. The estimated peak wind speed was 100 mph and

the distance of the wind damage was around 18 miles.

The combination of a strong upper level area of low pressure and a cold front resulted in numerous severe thunderstorms across the Big Country during the late afternoon and night time hours. Also, extreme surface instability and strong wind shear helped produce supercell thunderstorms and significant severe weather. The severe storms produced very large hail and intense damaging winds including significant wind damage at the KTXS television studio in Abilene, Texas and a swath of damaging winds from a downburst in Fisher County. The strongest wind speeds ranged from 85 to 100 mph with some of these severe storms.