Thunderstorm Wind in Hall County, Texas

For approximately 15 minutes, a barrage of northerly winds of 60 mph to as great as 120 mph inflicted heavy damage in the city of Turkey, located in far southwest Hall County. NWS Lubbock meteorologists conducted a ground and aerial damage survey at Turkey the following afternoon. All available evidence including radar, damage patterns, eyewitness accounts, and most notably a 15-minute duration of high winds indicated that a series of wet microbursts moved from north to south across Turkey. Several homes and businesses suffered damage, most notably the Turkey Compress which was totally destroyed. At least two homes suffered major damage and were deemed uninhabitable. Numerous large trees and power poles were snapped, building and car windows broken, garage doors collapsed, and other extensive damage occurred to car ports and canopies. Power in the city was not restored until nearly 12 hours later. Despite a large amount of airborne debris that affected the city, no fatalities or injuries occurred. Peak wind speeds were estimated to be in the 100-120 mph range based on the degree of damage. It is important to note that the most severely damaged structures were particularly old and not well maintained, including one home built in 1927. Homes that suffered roof damage or even broken windows also sustained extensive water damage from torrential rains that followed the series of microbursts.

Two rounds of strong and severe thunderstorms moved southeast across the southern Texas Panhandle this evening. The first round consisted of a discrete supercell thunderstorm that moved from northern Briscoe County to southwest Hall County. Although this storm exhibited strong rotation with a likelihood of very large hail at times, no ground truth of severe weather was obtained. Immediately on the heels of this supercell, a large line of storms spread southward accompanied by a series of destructive microbursts in far southwest Hall County. Multiple homes, buildings and trees in Turkey sustained moderate to substantial damage from straight line winds determined as high as 120 mph. Following the damaging winds, torrential rains measured as great as 3.06 inches in Turkey led to flash flooding and brief closures area streets and roads.