Power Outage in Bushland, TX

Thunderstorm Wind. A power line was reported down.

May 01, 2022

A strong upper level system moved through the combined Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles starting on the 21st and ending on the 22nd. This system brought precipitation in the form of rain and snow, and high winds. Winds were anywhere from 20 to 45 mph sustained, with gusts up to 64 mph. The night of the 21st, temperatures dropped to around 30 to 34 degrees Fahrenheit. Many areas stayed just above freezing with snow being very wet and heavy, which made it hard to be blown around by the wind but the snow stuck in tree branches and power lines leading to some damage and power outages mainly along portions of I-40 and along Highway 60 from Amarillo northeastward. There was a small corridor just south of the Canadian River Valley where 6 to 9 inches of snow fell by the morning of the 22nd.

March 21, 2022

A potent storm system raced across Colorado and Kansas through the day, causing strong to extreme southwest to west winds across the area, but especially across the northern Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles. By mid-morning, winds were already gusting to well over 60 mph across the northwest half of the Panhandles. Wind gusts were measured at 70 to 90 mph by observation sites during the peak of the wind event which occurred between 11 am and 3 pm. Sustained winds ranged from 40 to 50 mph during this period and some site briefly measured sustained winds close to 60 mph. These winds led to damage to trees, powerlines, and roofs in areas where strongest winds occurred. In addition, there were several reports of semi trucks being overturned over in the area. Blowing dust caused widespread visibilities of 1 to 3 miles and there were reports of localized visibilities of less than a 1/4 mile that led to several additional major accidents in the area, which led to road closures. The combination of high winds, ongoing drought, and very dry conditions also led to 6 or more wildfires across the area which was on the southern end of a significant wildfire outbreak that extended well into Kansas. Three of the fires in the Panhandles were classified as significant wildfires as they raced uncontrolled across the landscape. The Parker Creek Fire (7000 acres as of Dec 16th) started in northwest Oldham county, briefly threatened the city of Channing in southeast Hartley County and crossed into southwest Moore County before being contained with the help of agricultural barriers. The Cobb fire (7,987 acres as of Dec 16) started in Texas County and raced east threatening Guymon, prompting evacuations and the issuance of Fire Warnings for the west side of the city before being controlled. The North 207 Fire (15,000 acres as of Dec 16th) started along Highway 207 in northern Carson County between Borger and Panhandle. This fire raced east, moved across a canyon area, and threatened Skellytown, prompting evacuations and the issuance of Fire Warnings. This fire finally slowed its progress near the Pampa Airport and Wayside as winds subsided in the evening.

December 15, 2021

A vigorous low pressure system crossed the plains during the overnight hours ushering a strong front through the area. The combination of rapidly deepening low to the east and high pressure surging into the area in its wake led to a prolonged period of severe winds across the area. Sustained winds reached 40 to 50 mph and some areas saw gusts of 60 mph or more. Some isolated damage and power outages occurred due to the winds.

October 27, 2021

A weak upper level disturbance moved along the northern side of an upper level ridge centered across the Desert Southwest generating thunderstorms over the mountains of Colorado and New Mexico. These storms slowly moved east into the Panhandles and encountered an environment with weak to moderate wind shear but extreme instability and high moisture which allowed these storms to thrive and increase in severity and organization as they tracked east. The main impact from the storms were from damaging winds as they crossed out of New Mexico and Colorado into the Panhandles, but some hail was also reported. The most significant damage occurred with a storm that strongly bowed as it moved southeast across Cimarron County Oklahoma. This storm produced wind speeds likely around 90 mph in some locations based on damage and were measured just shy of 80 mph near Boise City, OK at a mesonet site. The storm produced widespread wind damage from Kenton to Boise city and southeast to Griggs, OK. Widespread damage to trees and powerlines occurred and isolated significant roof damage occurred as well, including the Boise City High School auditorium, which lost part of it's roof completely. Fifty-five power poles were reported damaged across Cimarron County with around 1600 customers without power during the peak outage after the storms. Power was out until well into the afternoon hours on Sunday for some locations. This storm continued to grow upscale and eventually merged across the northwestern Texas Panhandle with another broken line of storms that had crossed the New Mexico border near I-40, also producing severe wind gusts as they entered the Texas Panhandle. This storm complex tracked east-southeast and continued to produce severe wind gusts and heavy rainfall, especially across the northern and central Texas Panhandle. The storm complex finally weakened early Sunday morning as instability decreased.

June 13, 2021