Thunderstorm Wind in Webb County, Texas

A NWS storm survey team observed the most severe damage at the Laredo International Airport and homes and businesses surrounding the airport. $750,000 in damage was done to city owned buildings at the airport. An estimated $2 million in damage was done to privately owned buildings and hangars on airport grounds. Twenty five aircraft were damaged, most in hangars which failed. A parked Boeing 737 was blown off a runway and through a chain linked fence. An American Eagle plane suffered punctures when a jet way was flipped over into it. The main terminal building suffered minor roof damage. Runways were closed until the next morning so crews could survey them for damage. Thirty two homes, mobile home and apartments sustained major damage along the path of the storm in Laredo. A total of $3.5 million in damage was done to buildings and facilities belonging to the City of Laredo. Twenty five thousand homes were left without power that night. Power officials reported 40 electrical poles snapped in half.

An outflow boundary from earlier thunderstorms over the Texas Hill country moved south into the Rio Grande Plains early in the evening. Strong level convergence ahead of this outflow boundary combined with a moderately unstable airmass already in place to produce scattered strong thunderstorms over northern Webb county. The southern portion of an upper level storm system interacted with the storms helping the southern most storm to become predominant and a severe HP supercell. Quarter size hail was reported at this time over northern Webb county. The storm continued to gain strength as it moved south-southeast toward the city of Laredo. The storm moved into the North side of Laredo producing wind gusts to 70 mph. The storm continued on a southeast path across the Northeast side of Laredo then turned south moving over the Laredo International Airport. The storm continued south through the east side of the city along Loop 20. The storm finally weakened as it moved into extreme southwestern Webb county. An NWS Storm Survey concluded damage occured from straight line winds. The survey crew estimated the highest winds of 85 to 95 mph roughly centered 1 mile around the Laredo International Airport. 70 to 80 mph winds were estimated 4 miles north and south of the airport. The total damage path was approzimately 10 miles long with a width of 3 to 4 miles. No fatalities or injuries were reported.