San Angelo, Texas, Storms Cause Major Damage; NWS Office Has Communications Problem

Severe weather hammered the San Angelo, Texas, area Wednesday night, spawning at least one tornado, damaging buildings and leaving nearly half the population without power.

A supercell thunderstorm raked through the north and east sides of the city of almost 100,000 Wednesday night, said weather.com meteorologist Jon Erdman. Damaging winds from the supercell's rear-flank downdraft, with a measured gust to 73 mph at a Weather Underground station, led to some structural damage and widespread power outages.

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As the storm closed in on San Angelo, the city's National Weather Service office began experiencing communications problems. Many meteorologists reported a radar outage in the area, and NWS San Angelo had to turn its duties over. NWS Midland shouldered the responsibility of issuing watches and warnings during the event.

website: http://www.weather.com/safety/thunderstorms/san-angelo-texas-storms-20140612