Thunderstorm Wind in Wheeler County, Texas

A combination of a storm survey, eyewitness reports, and radar data indicated that damage from a severe storm across western Wheeler County was caused by a strong rear-flank downdraft on the backside of a powerful supercell. The path of the most significant damage was approximately one mile wide. The most severe damage occurred in an RV park, where 16 unanchored travel trailers were rolled and destroyed. The south end of the trailer park was downstream from open areas, which likely contributed to higher wind speeds and greater damage in that specific section of

the park. One injury was reported, but most residents had either evacuated to a shelter or were not home at the time. An overturned pickup truck at the site was likely pushed over by adjacent rolling trailers. Other damage included snapped power poles, numerous broken large tree limbs, and a few uprooted trees. Several homes and businesses sustained significant roof damage, including metal buildings that were compromised after their overhead doors failed. Most well-constructed or newer

structures sustained only minor damage or remained unscathed. Peak wind speeds are estimated to have been near 100 mph. The swath of this damage was about four miles long and about 1800 yards wide.

High pressure over New Mexico helped trigger new storms off the higher terrain. These storms then moved to the south and east into the combined Panhandles. With favorable instability and wind shear, these storms became strong to severe with the main hazards being large hail and damaging winds. There were some supercells that did produce tornadoes across portions of the eastern combined Panhandles as well as high end wind damage from straight line winds. Given sufficient moisture in place, slow moving storms or storms that moved over the same locations, a few communities in the eastern combined Panhandles did receive heavy rainfall that resulted in flash flooding.