Power Outage in Levelland, TX

A cyclic tornadic supercell produced several tornadoes over a period of approximately two hours. An NWS storm survey revealed that this supercell produced nine separate tornadoes. This tornado was the ninth and final tornado. The NWS storm survey team discovered several locations along Farm to Market Road 303 with wooden power poles snapped at the base and two pump jacks overturned. Maximum winds were estimated at 120 mph. The instantaneous width and center of the tornado was estimated from TTU-Kal radar data.

A cyclic tornadic supercell produced several tornadoes over a period of approximately two hours. An NWS storm survey revealed that this supercell produced nine separate tornadoes. This tornado was the ninth and final tornado. The NWS storm survey team discovered several locations along Farm to Market Road 303 with wooden power poles snapped at the base and two pump jacks overturned. Maximum winds were estimated at 120 mph. The instantaneous width and center of the tornado was estimated from TTU-Kal radar data.

At 1705 CST, a Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet site four miles south of Levelland measured a wind gust to 58 mph. About 14 minutes later, the Hockley County Sheriff's department reported several instances of wind damage in town, including downed power lines and two metal roofs ripped off structures.

A significant downburst with winds estimated as high as 110 mph struck the northern half of the city of Levelland causing widespread damage to buildings, trees, utility poles, and even rolling two cars from the road. An NWS damage survey team determined the most intense winds were focused about 2.5 miles east of downtown Levelland. It was in this area that a pole barn's metal support beams were ripped from their anchors and a car along State Highway 114 was blown off the road and flipped over. The driver of the car was shaken, but not injured. Damage elsewhere was consistent with winds of 70 to 90 mph and was comprised of peeled back roofs on some buildings and mobile homes, some street signs bent flat to the ground, many large trees snapped at their base, and even a trampoline wrapped around a power pole. Three industrial buildings sustained substantial damage. Sections of streets were so cluttered with structural debris that front-end loaders were required to clear a safe path for travel. One man was injured as the awning he was grilling under collapsed and dragged him a short distance. Approximately 40 power poles were damaged leading to some residents being without power for 11 hours.

The Levelland fire department estimated wind gusts to 70 mph. A few power lines were downed in the area.

Downburst winds were measured up to 76 mph on two occasions by a Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet located four miles south of Levelland. Similar wind gusts damaged a porch and roof of a mobile home near Levelland. Also, one power pole was toppled on the south side of Levelland.

Downburst winds were measured up to 76 mph on two occasions by a Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet located four miles south of Levelland. Similar wind gusts damaged a porch and roof of a mobile home near Levelland. Also, one power pole was toppled on the south side of Levelland.

A storm spotter reported a downed power pole on Highway 114.

Local emergency management officials reported power poles blown down on the west side of Levelland as a thunderstorm moved through. A mobile home under development was also knocked down by strong winds nearby.

A supercell thunderstorm spawned an EF-2 tornado in far southwest Hockley County resulting in damage to oil field equipment, outbuildings, power poles, and storage tanks. Although the parent storm moved very slowly east throughout the tornado's life, a strong rear flank downdraft and occluding mesocyclone caused the tornado to veer sharply northward early in its life. This tornado began about 4 miles west-northwest of Sundown and moved northward for just over 5 miles in length before ending about 4.2 miles southeast of Whiteface. Photos and video from a storm chaser captured the evolution of this tornado. The tornado began as a compact debris cloud that became weak and diffuse just minutes before a narrow, fully condensed tornado emerged within wrapping rain curtains. At this point, a satellite funnel was observed along the periphery of the tornado, but this funnel is not believed to have become tornadic. After being largely obscured in rain for nearly five minutes, the tornado re-emerged as a fully condensed cone shape just before crossing FM Road 1585 and finally dissipating north of the road. The end time of the tornado was approximated from NWS Lubbock radar data. A NWS storm survey discovered scattered damage throughout portions of the tornado's track - the most intense of which was rated EF-2 over the southern portion of its path. Specifically, in excess of one dozen power poles were snapped at their base and a free-standing metal tower at a well site was bent. In a surrounding field, a wide swath of mesquite trees with branches of 1 to 3 inches in diameter were sheared off. This damage suggested maximum wind speeds were likely around 115 mph. Farther north at the abandoned Oxy facility located on FM 1585 west of Sampson Post Road, a large portion of a metal roof was removed and a nearby metal building was shifted off its foundation. Also, a large tree on the property was uprooted. This portion of damage was rated EF-0. North of the Oxy facility, EF-0 damage was noted to two fiberglass tank batteries with the top of one completely removed. The NWS in Lubbock would like to thank Hockley County emergency management for assisting with this storm survey.

Off-duty NWS employees estimated winds around 50 knots in the rear flank downdraft of a supercell. These winds snapped a power pole 2E Levelland along Highway 114.

Three power poles were knocked over northeast of the intersection of Highway 385 and FM 41.

Thunderstorm winds snapped four wooden utility poles west of Levelland along Texas Highway 114. The resultant downed power lines sparked a large wind-driven grassland wildfire.

Local law enforcement officials and the public reported wind gusts to 60 mph across Hockley county. The swath of winds downed several power poles from west of Levelland along Texas Highway 114 to Whitharral. Additionally, a 300 pound diesel fuel tank also was blown over just east of the Hockley and Cochran county line along Texas Highway 114.

Newspaper articles indicated that local law enforcement officials and the public witnessed a tornado just west of Levelland around 22:00 CST. Radar imagery depicted strong evidence of a tornado at the time of the sightings. Fire department officials reported downed power lines in the area of the tornado's path.

A severe thunderstorm produced a swath of damaging winds, accompanied by large hail, from the Levelland vicinity to near Ropesville. A meteorologist initially estimated winds gusting up to 60 mph west of Levelland along Texas Highway 114 at 20:23 CST. By 20:30 CST, the Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet site south of Levelland recorded a peak gust of 74 mph. The winds downed numerous power lines and utility poles. A roof was blown off of an apartment complex in Levelland, where a storm chaser measured a peak gust of 63 mph. No injuries occurred, but the American Red Cross assisted several families that became homeless due to the damage at the Lone Star Town Homes. All four families, a total of seventeen people, required assistance. In addition, a local AM radio station sustained damage. A Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet meteorologist later estimated winds up to 65 mph near Ropesville.

Damaging winds downed power lines near Levelland during the morning hours of the 15th. The downed lines sparked a dangerous wind-driven wildfire that scorched a path one half mile wide and five miles in length through the landscape south of the city. The 1,300 acre fire destroyed a trailer home. One resident was evacuated from the area and suffered smoke inhalation related injuries. Two firefighters additionally received minor injuries while battling the blaze.

Strong to severe westerly winds and blowing dust again affected the South Plains region of west Texas on the 15th. The winds combined with ongoing drought conditions and a period of record heat to result in an extremely high fire danger and at least two large fires. Winds on the 15th were generally sustained in the 25 to 35 MPH range, but two severe wind gusts up to 60 MPH were measured by the West Texas Mesonet. Damaging winds downed power lines in Hockley County. A Buffalo Springs home and a nearby vehicle were destroyed by a raging wind blown fire when an outdoor cooker was damaged by the winds in Lubbock County. No injuries were reported. Measured severe wind gusts follow:Brownfield (Terry County).....60 MPHSlaton (Lubbock County)........59 MPH

Measured by the Texas Tech/West Texas mesonet station. Several power lines and large trees downed.

Stong thunderstorm wind gusts downed power lines.

Strong thunderstorm winds blew down trees and power lines. Wind-driven heavy rain and hail also damaged crops.

Strong thunderstorm winds snapped power poles just west of town.

Strong thunderstorm wind blew down trees and power lines.

A powerful storm system dropped out of the southern Rockies on the 24th. This system strengthened over northern Chihuahua on the 25th, then ejected northeastward across the Permian Basin and into North Texas on the 26th. The bulk of the precipitation in the morning of the 25th was focused across the Permian Basin though steady rain did edge northward into the southern South Plains and Rolling Plains. The rain mixed with sleet and snow at times across parts of the Caprock as temperatures hovered in the middle 30s. The precipitation did fully change to snow at times across the western and southwestern South Plains, where light accumulations occurred.||Total snow accumulations from National Weather Service cooperative weather observers:||2.0 inches at Levelland (Hockley County),|1.5 inches at Plains (Yoakum County), and|1.0 inch at Denver City (Yoakum County).

A strong upper level low moved from northern New Mexico across the Texas Panhandle during the day of the tenth. Strong daytime heating and deep mixing tapped into a low-level jet associated with the passing system. The winds were further enhanced along and immediately behind a Pacific cold front that raced from west to east across the South Plains through the mid to late afternoon hours. The peak wind gusts at most locations occurred immediately behind the Pacific front, when several sites recorded gusts in excess of 58 mph. Although the most intense gusts didn't last long, they did loft copious amounts of dust. Near Morton (Cochran County) a large tree was blown over which brought down several power lines. North of a stationary front, and closer to where the center of the mid-upper level system emerged, scattered showers and isolated storms developed during the afternoon. One more intense storm did provide brief heavy rain as it moved by just north of Muleshoe bringing wind gusts to 60 mph.||Peak high wind gusts from the Texas Tech University West Texas mesonet are below:||73 mph at Amherst (Lamb County), 65 mph at O'Donnell (Lynn County), 64 mph at Graham (Garza County), 62 mph at Brownfield (Terry County), 61 mph at Sundown (Cochran County), 60 mph at Levelland (Hockley County), and 58 mph at Anton (Hockley County).

Deep tropical moisture streaming overhead from remnants of eastern Pacific tropical system Bud fueled isolated to scattered thunderstorms from eastern New Mexico into the South Plains on the afternoon of the 16th. Very warm near surface temperatures allowed a few of these thunderstorms to produce severe wind gusts. One such storm produced damage in the city of Levelland (Hockley County) which downed power lines and ripped metal roofs off two structures.

After the morning complex of storms and associated flash flooding northeast of the South Plains, an outflow boundary from these storms surged west onto the Caprock ahead of strong easterly winds and widespread blowing dust. This dust became thick enough to reduce visibilities occasionally below 1/4 mile in some areas. By mid-afternoon, a lone supercell storm developed along this boundary in southeast Cochran County and later produced a 20-minute EF-2 tornado in southwest Hockley County. Although this tornado remained over mostly undeveloped land, some oil field equipment, metal buildings, and power poles were heavily damaged or destroyed. The parent supercell also produced very large hail slightly larger than three inches in diameter that damaged some homes and vehicles. Farther west, scattered storms exited east-central New Mexico and produced a few instances of sub-severe wind gusts in Parmer and Bailey Counties along with marginally severe hail near Muleshoe. As these storms continued east and moved into more stable air behind the outflow boundary, they quickly weakened but still managed to generate locally heavy rainfall.

Despite marginal moisture characterized by dewpoints in the low 40s, ample wind shear and weak instability in upslope flow gave rise to scattered thunderstorms in far eastern New Mexico early this evening. One of these storms matured into a supercell that tracked from Portales, NM southeast to east of Morton and near Levelland early this night. The only severe weather from this storm occurred in the form of quarter size hail and downburst winds as it transitioned into a linear multicell near Levelland. Additionally, power outages were reported near and around Levelland.

High based weak showers developed over the western South Plains during the evening hours of the 18th. These showers produced isolated severe wind gusts in Hockley and Floyd Counties. These high winds also sparked numerous wildfires across the region.||The first wildfire began on the 18th two miles southwest of Whiteface (Cochran County). Nearly 100 homes were threatened and evacuated in Whiteface and 2200 acres burned before being contained early on the 19th. A second wildfire on the 18th was started by downburst winds near Floydada (Floyd County). Strong winds downed a power line in a residential neighborhood causing two homes to be totally destroyed by a fire.||Lightning started two fires in Stonewall County early on the 19th which combined to burn 2000 acres. A wildfire in Lamb County started in the median along U.S. Highway 84 which prompted a closure of the highway near FM 1072 for two hours on the 19th. The wildfire burned a total of 350 acres.

In the wake of early morning showers and thunderstorms over the southeastern South Plains and Rolling Plains, a fast moving storm system translated over the west Texas region during the daytime hours of the 24th. The passage of this system brought an onset of warm and dry downslope winds. Sustained westerly winds in the 30 mph range with a few gusts near 50 mph were sufficient to down a power line near Wellman (Terry County) at approximately 15:00 CST. The line sparked a wildfire in grasslands that burned nearly 300 acres before it was extinguished around 18:00 CST. ||Another wildfire ignited near Anton around 18:30 CST when farm equipment overheated. The fire burned intermittently until 14:00 CST on the 25th. Approximately 650 acres were charred by the fire. ||Neither fire resulted in significant damages nor injuries.

Strong southwesterly winds promoted warm and dry weather and an ongoing drought to produce favorable conditions for wind-driven wildfires during the afternoon hours of the 5th. Sustained wind speeds between 35 and 40 mph with gusts near 50 mph downed a power line near an oil well pump jack, and sparked the spread of a grassland wildfire. Five area fire departments battled the blaze for nearly seven hours as it charred 2,000 acres and damaged some oil field equipment and utility poles and lines. No injuries were reported. Total damages were estimated near $100,000.