Thunderstorm Wind — Tom Green, Texas

2017-06-23 · near Carlsbad, Tom Green, Texas

Event narrative

Afternoon highs reached well above 100 degrees across a large part of West Central Texas. San Angelo measured 109 degrees. A cold front moving south across the region triggered thunderstorms. Several of these storms produced damaging thunderstorm winds. A line of storms formed just north of San Angelo and quickly began producing damaging downbursts winds across San Angelo and the Concho Valley.

A National Weather Service Damage Survey team found evidence of downburst thunderstorm winds of 75 to 85 mph with some gusts to around 95 mph between Grape Creek and the San Angelo State Park. The downburst winds extended across San Angelo and was approximately 35 miles long and about 20 miles wide. At 7:44 PM CDT the damaging winds began near Grape Creek and snapped or fell about 24 power poles. These damaged poles were located near the baptist church on the south side of Grape Creek and they continued southeast along U.S. Highway 87. At 7:45 PM CDT, the West Texas Mesonet located just south of Grape Creek measured a 69 mph wind gust. By 7:54 PM CDT, these winds reached Mathis Field where the NWS San Angelo ASOS measured 78 mph. There was widespread roof damage across San Angelo. Lots of shingles and metal roofs were blown off, some windows were broken in homes, businesses and vehicles, a few garage doors were blown out, and many utility poles and power lines also were also blown down. Lots of trees were uprooted and large trunks were broken. A couple of hotels in downtown San Angelo, Shannon Hospital, and several apartment buildings lost some of their roofs. An apartment complex off of North Bryant near the Walmart lost a lot of roofing material. One of the walls on the north side of this apartment complex lost its brick veneer as it collapsed when the roof was slightly lifted. The ASOS at Mathis Field in San Angelo measured its last severe sustained wind of 58 mph at 8:16 PM CDT, along with a wind gust of 77 mph.

Wider weather episode

A cold front interacted with a very hot and unstable airmass across the region during the late afternoon and evening. This combination resulted in powerful thunderstorm downburst winds resulting in widespread damage and thunderstorm wind gusts in excess of 80 mph across San Angelo. Heavy rain also resulted in some street flooding across San Angelo.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (31.6045, -100.6375)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 706061. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.