Power Outage in Alice, TX

Numerous power poles were knocked down along FM 665 in Alice with wind damage also being reported to roofs nearby.

Broadcast media reported thunderstorm winds damaging a home and blowing away a storage unit behind the property. Downed powerlines were reported near the property.

Numerous areas of damage were reported near Alice, including power poles down and damage to homes in the Rancho Alegre area.

Numerous broken tree branches were observed around Alice with most damage concentrated along Schley and Rankin Avenues. There were at least four observed downed power lines within this neighborhood as well as damage to a car port and loss of roofing materials at a local bingo hall. Farther east of this location, a 53 MPH wind gust was reported at the Alice airport at 00:54 AM LST.

Freezing rain across the area produced ice accumulations around a tenth of an inch. The prolonged cold spell led to state wide power outages. A 44 year old man from Alice passed away due to hyperthermia on the 16th. Emergency responders had trouble getting to the man due to the icy roads.

Freezing temperatures affected the area from the 13th until 18th. Long duration cold spell led to power outages and issues with water pressure. Damages to homes occurred when frozen pipes burst.

Power poles were blown down and a trailer flipped just east of the intersection of Highways 44 and 359 on the northeast side of Alice.

Power lines and power poles were blown down along County Road 133 off of Highway 44.

Observer reported numerous tree limbs down on his ranch west of Orange Grove. Winds caused power outages also.

Quarter to half dollar sized hail occurred on the south side of Alice. Power was out on the south side of town also.

Quarter to half dollar sized hail occurred on the south side of Alice. Power was out on the south side of town also.

An EF0 tornado touched down in the city of Premont near the intersection of Northwest 3rd Street and South Cora Street. The tornado traveled south and briefly produced EF1 damage near Southeast 5th Street and Southern Bernice Street. Partial roof damage was observed to a few homes, numerous large tree limbs were snapped, and one tree was completely uprooted. The tornado continues south of the Premont city limits and regained EF1 status near the intersection of Highway 281 and East County Road 401. Numerous power poles were snapped at their mid-point and several poles were leaning in a southerly direction.

An EF1 tornado touched down on the southeast side of the city of Alice just south of the intersection of Highway 359 and Stadium Road. The tornado traveled 2.3 miles and lifted just north of the intersection of County Road 1352 and County Road 382. This tornado produced shingle damage to the roof tops of several homes, lifted the roof deck off of several homes, and snapped a dozen power poles at their mid-point. The tornado destroyed a metal building and a portable building, broke overhead doors, blew out the siding of several metal buildings, and downed numerous trees.

A NWS storm survey concluded a tornado started roughly 4 miles southeast of the Alice International Airport and continued northeast into Nueces County. The tornado damaged trees and blew down 2 power poles just south of FM 665.

Trees were uprooted and power poles snapped near Orange Grove. Large tree limbs and power lines were knocked down across the county from Ben Bolt to Orange Grove. There were minor damages to fences, carports, and metal roofs. Power outages affected 2351 customers. Several vehicles were damaged by falling trees. Peak wind gust measured was 54 mph at Alice International Airport. Losses to yield for cotton crop remaining in the field in the county were estimated to be around 1 million dollars.

A strong pacific front produced 40-50 mph winds gusts, relative humidity values of 5-10 percent, and an extremely critical fire danger threat across South Texas on April 2nd. Sparked power lines from the gusty winds started a wildfire in and near the community of Sandia. The wildfire burned around 2000 acres of mostly rural pasture, but did destroy 25 garages, two barns, one abandoned mobile home, and 25 cattle. Several local, state and federal resources responded.

Wind gust to 64 mph measured by ALI ASOS. Several trees were uprooted across the city. The Alamo Lumber Co. in Alice suffered straight-line winds damage, which included a large shed being destroyed along with fence and lumber material being destroyed. Over 2000 Alice customers lost power during the storm.

Power lines blown down on Highway 359 just north of FM 3376.

Trees and power lines down all across Alice.

Several trees and power lines downed by thunderstorm wind.

Hurricane Hanna was the first hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic Basin hurricane season and made landfall on the lower Texas coast north of Port Mansfield on the afternoon of the 25th. Hanna was the first hurricane to make landfall in Texas since Hurricane Harvey. ||Hanna began as a tropical wave, first noted for possible development when it was near Hispaniola on the 19th. The tropical wave moved northwest across Cuba into the central Gulf of Mexico where it became a tropical depression on the morning of the 22nd. Tropical Storm Hanna formed late in the evening on the 23rd as it moved west-northwest over the central Gulf of Mexico. Hanna continued to strengthen and became a hurricane on the morning of the 25th around 100 miles east of the Middle Texas coast. Hurricane Hanna turned to the southwest and made landfall over Kenedy County, between Baffin Bay and Port Mansfield, late in the afternoon on the 25th with a peak intensity of 90 mph and a central pressure of 973 millibars.||Tropical storm force winds occurred along the Middle Texas coast into the eastern portions of the Brush Country from the afternoon of the 25th until the early morning hours of the 26th. Hurricane force gusts occurred over the coastal portion of Kleberg County during the afternoon of the 25th. ||Storm surge from Hanna affected the entire Middle Texas coast from the 25th until the 26th. Storm surge ranged from 1 to 3 feet above ground level for the coastal areas of Aransas, Calhoun, and Refugio Counties. Storm surge ranged from 2.5 to 4.5 feet above ground level for coastal areas of San Patricio, Nueces, and Kleberg Counties. ||The highest surge was at Bob Hall Pier with a reading of 5.48 feet mean higher high water. Storm surge damaged numerous piers and docks in Nueces and Corpus Christi Bays south to Baffin Bay. Storm surge damaged navigation markers in the Corpus Christi Ship Channel. Some parts of the Corpus Christi marina were damaged. Bob Hall Pier sustained significant damage with the t-head parts of the pier being destroyed. Damage from Hurricane Hanna was estimated to be around 54 million dollars.||Minor wind damage occurred across the Coastal Bend as tropical storm force winds caused power outages and minor tree damage. There were three tornadoes over the Coastal Bend associated with the outer bands of Hurricane Hanna. The three tornadoes were weak (EF0). The tornadoes affected the communities of Bonnie View, Pernitas Point, and Lagarto.

A strong pacific front produced 40-50 mph winds gusts, relative humidity values of 5-10 percent, and an extremely critical fire danger threat across South Texas on April 2nd. Sparked power lines from the gusty winds started a wildfire in and near the community of Sandia. The wildfire burned around 2000 acres of mostly rural pasture, but did destroy 25 garages, two barns, one abandoned mobile home, and 25 cattle. Several local, state and federal resources responded.

On Thursday, October 27, 2005, a weak surface boundary extending from near Uvalde to Cotulla to Kingsville, separated warm moist air over the Rio Grande plains from drier and slightly cooler air across southeast Texas. In addition, the base of an upper level trough moved across south-central Texas Thursday afternoon. This feature provided some large scale lift and ushered colder mid and upper level air across the region, which destabilized the atmosphere as surface temperatures rose into the upper 70s and low 80s. The surface high pressure center to the northeast provided a moderate easterly flow near the surface which quickly turned southeast to south above the surface. In addition, modest westerlies existed in the mid and upper levels of the atmosphere. This vertical wind shear together with the modestly unstable atmosphere provided an environment favorable for rotating thunderstorms. During the afternoon scattered thunderstorms began to develop in the warm, unstable airmass across the Rio Grande Plains and deep south Texas. A few thunderstorms, which developed along the weak surface boundary, gained strength and became severe as they moved southeast along the boundary. The event began as a strong storm developed near Zavala/Frio Counties in the western hill country. This storm quickly became severe as it crossed into La Salle County, gaining supercell characteristics as it traveled along the surface boundary across La Salle and southwest McMullen counties. Reports of dime to penny size hail and 60 mph wind gusts were received by storm spotters just south of Dilley in northern La Salle County. No storm reports were received in McMullen County, likely because of the lack of population and roadways through the area where the severe storm tracked. The storm tracked through southwestern McMullen and northern Duval Counties, maintaining its strength while exhibiting strong convergence in the middle portions of the storm (MARC signature) at times. Another storm pulsed up across north-central Jim Wells County before weakening southeast of Alice. Outflow from this storm, as well as moderate to strong east to northeast flow across the Coastal Bend and southeast Rio Grande Plains, may have contributed to an enhanced area of wind shear across Duval County. As the La Salle/McMullen supercell thunderstorm moved into this area across Duval County, the thunderstorm circulation steadily deepened and strengthened. Doppler radar showed and a reflectivity notch developing right along the above mentioned boundary associated with the increased storm rotation. A Tornado Vortex Signature developed near this notch prompting a tornado warning. Prior to the tornado warning, severe thunderstorm warnings were present through the life of this storm due to strong hail signatures and severe straight line wind indications seen on doppler radar. A NWS storm survey team toured Duval and Jim Wells counties and concluded the damage was largely a result of straight line winds from a long track supercell thunderstorm. However, it cannot be ruled out that an isolated tornado was embedded in the storm. Wind speeds were estimated to range from 80 to 100 mph which is equivalent to an F1 tornado on the Fujita damage scale. The damage swath, which was approximately 4 to 5 miles in width and over 40 miles in length, stretched from just east of Freer to near Premont. Broken windows and roof shingle damage on all properties was observed on the northwest side, which indicated straight line wind damage and the wind blowing from the northwest to the southeast. American Electric Power (AEP) crews on the scene reported that roughly 100 power poles were knocked down across Duval and Jim Well counties. The NWS team assessed that all poles were blown in the downwind direction to the southeast. Visible damage began near Highway 44 and FM 3196, where roughly half a dozen power poles were split in half. The damage continued in the community of Rosita in which houses experienced minor damage. Hail was also reported up to 4 inches in depth. Indications that flash flooding occurred on Rosita Creek was observed.The storm appeared to strengthen as it approached the northeast side of Benavides and the town of San Jose. Two mobile homes were destroyed and tree limbs were broken with all damage lying in a southeast direction. Fifteen homes were damaged in San Jose with window and roof damage on the northwest side, which again indicates the wind blew from the northwest to the southeast. Just southeast of San Jose, near the intersection of FM 2295 and FM 1329 and extending south all the way to Rios, tree limbs and power poles were broken and lying in a southeast direction. An empty grain silo was also destroyed and a newly framed home was blown off its foundation. In extreme southwest Jim Wells county near the intersection of county road 428 and 716, a large empty grain silo was destroyed and lying in the middle of the roadway. Power poles were knocked down, 5 homes were damaged, and 1 garage was completely destroyed. Again all the visible damage was lying in a southeast direction. Eye witness reports indicate that nickel to quarter sized hail covered the ground up 4 to 6 inches deep along the entire storm track.