Thunderstorm Wind in Crosby County, Texas

A rapidly intensifying thunderstorm produced an intense downburst that struck the west half of the city of Ralls before continuing south for about one mile south of Ralls. In addition to disrupting power to 2400 people in the area for much of the night and inflicting various degrees of damage to many homes and buildings, three large cotton compress buildings on the west side of town were completely destroyed with debris strewn up to 1/4 mile south of Highway 82. The extent of debris required the closure of the 4-lane highway for nearly one hour until debris could be cleared for passage. A nearby power sub-station belonging to Excel was heavily damaged and a total of 42 power poles were downed. Radar and debris patterns observed from the NWS storm survey revealed a classic downburst signature with destructive wind gusts determined to be as high as 90 mph, with sustained speeds likely ranging between 50 and 70 mph for roughly two minutes.

A swath of destructive winds in the rear flank downdraft of a supercell exited Floyd County and engulfed much of northern Crosby County for at least 45 minutes. The slow movement of the supercell and its eventual collapse near Crosbyton prolonged the duration and intensity of these winds. Wind gusts in Crosbyton were measured as high as 77 mph resulting in scattered minor structural damage. Several tree limbs were broken and a few trees were completely snapped or uprooted. Multiple power outages resulted from snapped power poles throughout portions of northern Crosby County. These fierce winds also created a dangerous haboob that produced near zero visibility in blowing dust for several minutes. An unknown quantity of young grain crops in the area were damaged or destroyed after being sand blasted by wind and dust.

A complex of convection produced widespread strong to severe winds over the central and southern South Plains region of west Texas during the afternoon hours of the 22nd. The public initially reported thunderstorm wind gusts that were estimated to exceed 60 MPH in rural portions of northeastern Crosby County at 14:18 CST. By 14:23 CST, local law enforcement officials had reported that numerous utility poles and wires had been blown down along Farm to Market Road 651, and that electricity outages were widespread in the vicinity of Ralls and Crosbyton. Severe thunderstorm winds were observed to continue eastward over northern Crosby County during the next twenty minutes. At 14:45 CST the West Texas Mesonet site near Ralls recorded a gust up to 61 MPH. No additional damage was reported.