Hail — El Paso, Texas

2009-09-16 · near Socorro, El Paso, Texas

Event narrative

The supercell continued southeastward and dropped golfball size hail on El Paso's lower valley area.

Wider weather episode

A back door front pushed southwestward into far west Texas while an upper level low was dropping southward into eastern Arizona. A veering vertical shear profile with sufficient low level moisture and instability led to 2 supercells forming in the El Paso area. These storms were prolific hail producers. The second supercell produced extensive golfball to possibly tennis ball size hail over a large area of commerce. The damage estimate of $150 million makes this easily the most costly hailstorm in the NWS El Paso County Warning Area since records began.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (31.6809, -106.3126)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 197011. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.