Lightning — Cameron, Texas

2020-05-16 · near Port Isabel, Cameron, Texas

$7.0M

Property damage

Event narrative

Lightning strike resulted in a structure fire at Gulfport Condominiums on South Padre Island. The fire was reported around 7 AM CDT. Time of strike was estimated by radar.

Wider weather episode

On May 16th, a shortwave trough moved eastward across Texas providing an opportunity for thunderstorms to develop in a very unstable and moist environment. Several convective boundaries were in play, but the main event revolved around the line of storms that bowed out and produced strong winds and frequent lightning. One early morning lightning strike burned down a large portion of a condominium complex on South Padre Island, leaving several million dollars in damage behind.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (26.0800, -97.1600)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 898021. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.