Heavy storms rumble through the Panhandle
Chris Ramirez and Josh Burton
Heavy thunderstorms rumbled through the Texas Panhandle this afternoon and early evening, prompting residents to seek shelter in restaurants and truck stops from hail and tornado-force winds.
Video
Funnel clouds churned precariously over the Amarillo area just after 4 p.m. and pushed into Armstrong, Donley and Carson counties by nightfall.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or a tornado touching down.
Wind gusts, some as fast as 81 mph, pitched nickel to quarter size hail into car windows and buildings and snapped tree branches all over northeast Amarillo.
Hangar No. 10 at Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport was leveled in the storm, its roof and three walls stripped down by wind.
As many as 1,500 customers in "far northeast Amarillo," near state Highway 136 and Loop 335, were without power, Xcel Energy spokesman Wes Reeves said. Power was restored for most of them by 6:30 p.m.
Electric poles were reported down near Farmers Avenue and Eastern Street, as well as near the William P. Clements Jr. Unit.
Jail officials had to run the center on generator power.
Several flights into and out of the airport were grounded. At least two were diverted to Lubbock temporarily until the storm moved out of the area.
About 40 people took cover inside the Flying J Travel Plaza, on Interstate 40 East, not far from the airport. Customers and truckers huddled in hallways as winds kicked up outside.
"We're getting slammed," said Joe Kindrick, a manager for the truck stop.
In Claude, large, fist-sized hail busted the windshield of a vehicle on Farm-to-Market 1151 and County Road 9. Officials there opened the basement of the Armstrong County Courthouse for truck drivers, residents and vacationers to seek shelter from the storm.
Randy Wright did the same at his business, the Claude Pharmacy on the downtown square.
"They've been sounding the alarms," he said. "It's real turquoise."
The clouds made Tracy Gillis' nervous.
A customer ran into the Crazy Little Cafe, the Claude eatery Gillis has owned the last two years, warning a funnel cloud was forming overhead. Tornado sirens blared as the descending funnel moved southward.
She couldn't help but fear a repeat of last year when two storms in three weeks ripped off awnings and parts of the business' roof.
"I was thinking 'Lord, please not again,'" she said.
Staff writers Karen Smith Welch, Matthew Hutchison, David Pittman, Dan Packard and Brenda Bernet contributed to this report.
The Emergency Operations Center was activated during Thursday's severe storms to address damage and other issues.
Xcel Energy spokesman Wes Reeves reported an estimated 1,500 customers experienced power outages during the storms.
Xcel reported the following electrical line issues:
One power pole down on Whitaker Road a half-mile north of State Highway 136.
Damaged electrical lines at Southeast 10th Avenue and Tudor Street.
Lines down at East Farmers Avenue and South Eastern Street.
Lines down at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice William P. Clements Jr. Unit, 9601 Spur 591.
Lines down on Mirror Street between 15th and 24th avenues.
Low-hanging power lines at Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport.
Numerous residential power outages in east Amarillo.
Other reported damage in the Amarillo:
Tree damage and debris along Airport Boulevard.
Roof damage to homes, tree damage and an overturned mobile home near The intersection of Amarillo Boulevard and Lakeside Drive.
A hangar destroyed by high winds at the airport.
Sources: Xcel Energy, City of Amarillo
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Cruel Blue
Here's another view of the storm we had this afternoon from McCormick Road and the tracks. Amazing coloring due to the mountains of suspended hail and the red earth being sucked up into the storm. Amarillo dodged another bullet!
-Steve Douglass
Green & Mean
Today we had a big bad mean and green severe thunderstorm (complete with tornado warnings) tear through the east side of Amarillo. Although no confirmed tornados were spotted, it did do some damage, especially on the NE side near the airport.
(Click on the photo to enlarge)
I shot this photo from N. Western Street as I was racing to go pick up the daughter and grandkids. They live in a mobile home, and knowing what tornado magnets they are, i decided that it was best if I took them along on the chase.
The kids had fun, we were all a bit scared by the green monster bearing down on us, but all in all it turned out to be much meaner looking than it was - which was a good thing.
All post more pix later.
-Steve
New weather blog you should check out!
You have to visit Steve Miller's weather blog. Great photos, great WX info and be prepared for a rant or two. Click on the title of this post to visit Steve's blog.
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