The first half of December 1929 was remarkably warm across North Texas, most days featuring highs in the 60s and 70s. However, the mild weather came to an abrupt end on December 17 when an arctic front blew through the region. Within 24 hours, temperatures had fallen some 40 degrees. The mercury struggled to top the freezing mark on December 18 despite abundant sunshine. In the Panhandle, where temperatures were plunging to near 0°F, a strong storm system was invading. By the morning of December 19, 1 to 2 inches of snow had fallen across portions of the Panhandle. The system dug slowly southeastward. Snow began falling in western portions of North Texas during the afternoon hours of December 20. By daybreak on December 21, several inches of snow had fallen across Central Texas from Junction to Lampasas, northeastward to Palestine and Athens. Clifton and Hillsboro had already accumulated 16 inches of snow by daylight that morning. The heavy snow continued through much of the day, before tapering off during the late afternoon and evening hours. By late evening on December 21, the snow was confined to far East Texas.
Monthly Weather Review, March 1930
The storm lasted barely 24 hours, but the storm totals were nothing short of extraordinary. A swath of snowfall in excess of 12 inches was 2 to 3 counties wide. Along the axis of maximum depth, totals exceeded 24 inches, on par with the heaviest snowfalls in Texas history. Clifton recorded 24 inches of snow in just 24 hours. Nearby Hillsboro tallied 26 inches. Where the snowfall was greatest, temperatures plummeted into the single digits. After 13 inches of snow had fallen, Waco recorded its fifth coldest temperature on record, 2°F. Clifton fell to 0°F. In Dallas/Fort Worth, where only a dusting of snow was recorded during the event., temperatures quickly rebounded, reaching 70°F on Christmas Day.
The Hillsboro Mirror, December 21, 1929
The above photo was taken in Vaughan, about 5 miles west of Abbott in Hill County. Southwest of Hillsboro, Vaughan falls near the axis of maximum snowfall.
Thanks to the McIlroy family for sharing this photo.
The list of locations that have received record May snowfall from a storm that brought up to 2 feet of over the central Rockies continues to grow over portions of the Plains and Upper Midwest.
The storm will continue to drop accumulating snow through Friday morning and reaching even more unlikely locations over the Plains, Midwest and the South before it is all said and done.
Omaha, Neb., Mason City, Iowa, and Rochester, Minn., are but only several cities that have been clobbered by their biggest May snowfall on record. In many cases in the major cities in the Plains, those records date back to the 1800s.
While snow is not unheard of away from the Rockies and northern tier states during May, it is the amount of snow and the extent of that snow that is so unusual. Snowstorms during May in the Midwest are typically highly localized.
Minneapolis/St. Paul managed to avoid the heaviest snow from this storm. However, areas less than 50 miles to the southeast of the Twin Cities received between 6 and 12 inches of snow Wednesday night into Thursday. As much as 18 inches fell on part of southeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin.
The Omaha, Neb., area picked up between 3 and 6 inches of snow. A general swath of 3 to 10 inches of snow has fallen over much of western Iowa.
Des Moines, Iowa, and Kansas City, Mo., will take a turn at accumulating snow through early Friday.
In some cases the snow fell on locations that were in the 80s only a couple of days earlier, including Denver and Amarillo, Texas. Cold air was driving southward in the wake of the storm and threatens to bring yet another freeze to part of the southern winter wheat belt.
The bulk of the snowfall accumulations were occurring during the night time and early morning hours. During the daylight, much of the snow was melting as it was falling.
As the storm continues to spin slowly to the east there is even a chance of wet snowflakes being seen as far south as the Ozark Mountains in Missouri and Arkansas before the week ends. Some folks northern Alabama, northern Mississippi and the southern Appalachians may spy snowflakes by early next week.
Snow is not forecast to reach Chicago and St. Louis, but flooding rain is possible in parts of these metro areas.
Prior to any snowflakes in the Deep South, the storm will cause an area of rain to enhance part of the Mississippi Valley into the weekend. Small streams and tributaries to Old Man River may experience another round of flooding.
Downpours could put a damper on activities in Louisville for Derby Day. There is a chance of muddy track conditions if downpours manage to swing through right before the Kentucky Derby.
May Plains Snowstorms: A Historical Perspective
There have been some snowstorms in May in the region, but they are rare. 1907 sticks out as a benchmark year for a number of locations. However, multiple years during the mid-1940s also brought snow events to the region for several years in a row.
According to National Weather Service records for May, until this storm in 2013, there has never been more than 2.0 inches of snow in Omaha, Neb. On May 9, 1945, 2.0 inches of snow fell. There have been two snowfalls on May 3 over the years in Omaha. One was 1.3 inches in 1907 and another was 1.0 inch in 1967.
The heaviest May snowfall on record for Des Moines, Iowa, was during 1907, when 1.2 inches fell on the third day of the month. There has been measurable (0.1 of an inch or more) snow as late at May 15, which was set the same year.
About 100 miles north of Des Moines, along I-35, in Mason City, Iowa, there has been 4 inches of snow as late as May 28 in the year 1947. That storm continued into the next day and brought a grand total of 4.5 inches.
Meanwhile, the Minneapolis-St. Paul area has received measurable snow as late as May 15, during 1907. On May 11, 1946, a storm brought 2.8 inches of snow. On May 1, 1935, 3.0 inches of snow fell on the area.
In Kansas City, Mo., the 1907 storm brought 1.7 inches of snow on May 3.
Records for the area date back into the late 1800s.
In Eau Claire, Wis., records only date back to 1949. The only measurable snowfall during May since then was 0.7 of an inch on the ninth day of the month in 1960.
Snowstorm Moving to Northeast After Halting Texas Travel
A winter storm that dropped 17 inches (43 centimeters) of snow in Amarillo, Texas, closed airports and shut highways will move across the Great Plains toward Chicago and possibly Boston.
The storm is expected to head northeast, bringing heavy snow to Kansas and Missouri overnight and as much as 8 inches to Chicago starting tomorrow, said David Roth, a weather forecaster with the U.S. Hydrometeorological Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.
The heavy snow, the Plains’s second major storm in a week, may help the region that has been struggling with one of the worst droughts since the 1930s, Roth said.
“This snowpack is going to be great for them because it is going to help the winter wheat,” Roth said. “Ultimately, this will be a very good thing for the Great Plains even if it is a significant nuisance right now.”
Wheat slid to an eight-month low in Chicago today on speculation that the snow will help ease the dryness. Cattle futures climbed on concern that the system will disrupt the movement of animals and supplies.
The storm shut down Interstate 40 and several secondary roads through the Texas Panhandle, according to the state Transportation Department’s website. A blizzard warning stretches from eastern New Mexico through Texas and into Oklahoma and Kansas.
Survival Kits
“Falling and blowing snow with strong winds and poor visibilities are likely,” the National Weather Service said. “Do not travel. If you must, have a winter survival kit with you.”
Storm warnings, watches and advisories reach into Illinois, including Chicago, and Michigan, Indiana and Ohio.
Amarillo and Lubbock international airports shut. High winds spawned by the system caused delays of almost 2.5 hours at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration reported.
As of 4 p.m. Eastern time, 304 flights were canceled across the U.S., with 106 of them into or out of Dallas-Fort Worth, according to FlightAware, a Houston-based airline tracking company.
Roth said while the storm’s energy pushes snow through the Great Lakes and into Ontario, a secondary system will develop in North Carolina and move up the East Coast, bringing rain toWashington, Philadelphia and New York later this week. There may be “measurable snow” in Boston in three days, he said.
Amarillo, Texas hit by 2nd Biggest 24-hour Snowstorm on Record/Wichita Update
Amarillo, Texas picked up 19.0" of snow on February 24-25, its 2nd greatest 24-hour snowfall on record and 3rd greatest single-storm snowfall. Just last week Wichita, Kansas also received its 2nd greatest snow on record when 14.2” fell on February 20-21. The storm that blew over the Texas Panhandle last night and this morning (with wind gusts as high as 77 mph) is now bringing heavy snow to Wichita, Kansas.
Blizzard conditions raged in and around Amarillo, Texas this morning (February 25) depositing 19.0” of snow with drifts of 4-6’. Photo by Michael Schumacher, The Amarillo Globe News.
UPDATE FEBRUARY 26: Wichita received 6.8" of snowfall on February 25-26. This was enough to make this February the single snowiest month in Wichita records (which go back to 1888). Wichita’s previous snowiest month was 20.5” that fell during February 1913. Just last week Wichita received 14.2" of snow on February 18-19 which ranked as the city's 2nd greatest single snowstorm on record. Wichita’s all-time record for a single snowstorm was that of January 17-18, 1962 when 15.0” fell. Its 24-hour record (which still stands) is 13.5” on March 15-16, 1970. During last week’s storm the peak snowfall amount reported in Kansas was 22” at Russell. This was well short of the Kansas state record for a single snowstorm of 37.0” set at Olathe on March 23-24, 1912. The state 24-hour snowfall record is 30.0” at Pratt on March 28, 2009.
Texas and Amarillo Snowfall Records
Snow accumulations in the Texas Panhandle as of 7:00 p.m., February 25th. As can be seen the heaviest snowfall has been confined to a narrow path so far, with Amarillo in the bulls eye for the heaviest accumulation. The grand total for Amarillo has been determined to be 19.0". This figure was measured at the official NWS site at the airport east of the city itself. Downtown Amarillo reports indicate just about 12-14" fell there. Apparently a convective band with lightning and thunder set up just east of town with snow rates of 2-3"/hour and thus resulted with the near record official snow total. The use of airports, usually distant from the cities they represent, as 'official' NWS sites is a real problem. For instance, why is O'Hare Airport in Des Plaines, Illinois now the 'official' Chicago weather site even though it is not in Chicago and, given the micro-climates that Lake Michigan present not representative of the weather that the actual city of Chicago itself experiences. Map from NWS-Amarillo web site.
The storm in 2009 also set the Texas state record for the greatest 24-hour snowfall when 25.0” fell at Follett on March 27-28. An amazing but fairly localized heavy snowfall struck a portion of the Texas Panhandle on February 1-6, 1956 depositing a total of 61” of snow on Vega (located about 35 miles west of Amarillo) over six days (NOTE: this figure is disputed and has also been published as ‘just’ 43”). However, the snow settled and melted during the course of the storm and the greatest depth observed at Vega during the storm was 33”, a figure also matched at Hale Center about 50 miles south of Vega. These remain the Texas state records for ‘single greatest snowstorm’ and ‘greatest snow depth’. Plainview, near Hale Center, picked up 24.0” in one 24-hour period (February 3-4, 1956) during this remarkable storm, the Texas state record for such until the great snow of 2009. Amazing as this storm in 1956 was, the excessive snowfall amounts were confined to a narrow corridor west of Amarillo. Amarillo received 14” during the storm and Dalhart (50 miles due north of Vega) a paltry 3”.
For many years (until 2009) Plainview, Texas held the state record for greatest 24-hour snowfall when 24” accumulated there on February 3-4, 1956. Certainly enough for children to construct this snow dragon! Photo from the Plainview Daily Herald.
Amarillo’s single greatest snowstorm (and 24-hour accumulation) was the 20.6” measured on March 25-26, 1934 and its maximum snow depth was 17” on February 26, 1903 (it remains to be seen what the ground depth of today's storm is). The city's 2nd greatest single-storm snowfall was 20.2" on December 26-27, 2000. The greatest monthly snowfall total for the city is 28.7” during February 1903. That record will probably remain safe since as of today the monthly total this February stands at 25.5”. The average annual snowfall for Amarillo is 17.9”.
OKLAHOMA CITYThe deadly tornado that struck near Oklahoma City late last week had a record-breaking width of 2.6 miles and was the second top-of-the-scale EF5 twister to hit the area in less than two weeks, the National Weather Service reported Tuesday.
Tornado in Moore, Okla., was an EF5, the most powerful there is
The weather service initially rated the Friday tornado that hit El Reno as an EF3. But the agency upgraded the ranking after surveying damage from the twister, which along with subsequent flooding killed 18 people. The weather service determined that the storm packed winds reaching 295 mph.
The update means the Oklahoma City area has seen two of the extremely rare EF5 tornadoes in only 11 days. The other hit Moore, a city about 25 miles away from El Reno, on May 20, killing 24 people and causing widespread damage.
But Friday's massive tornado avoided the highly populated areas near and around Oklahoma City, and forecasters said that likely saved lives. When the winds were at their most powerful, no structures were nearby, said Rick Smith, chief warning coordination meteorologist for the weather service's office in Norman.
"Any house would have been completely swept clean on the foundation. That's just my speculation," Smith said. "We're looking at extremes ... in the rare EF5 category. This in the super rare category because we don't deal with things like this often."
El Reno Mayor Matt White said that while his city of 18,000 residents suffered significant damage — including its vocational-technical center and a cattle stockyard that was reduced to a pile of twisted metal — he said it could have been much worse had the violent twister tracked to the north.
"If it was two more miles this way, it would have wiped out all of downtown, almost every one of our subdivisions and almost all of our businesses," White said. "It would have taken out everything.
"It's very scary ... I don't think a normal person can fathom just how scary. I don't think they realize how lucky El Reno was."
The EF5 storm that hit Moore decimated neighborhoods. In Friday's storm, many of the deaths were caused by heavy flash flooding following the storms. Three storm chasers died in that storm.
Smith said the storm's 2.6-mile path — besting a record set in 2004 in Hallam, Neb. — would have made the storm hard to recognize up close.
"A two-and-a-half mile wide tornado would not look like a tornado to a lot of people," Smith said.
On May 20, 2013, a massive tornado swirled through Moore, Oklahoma — leaving a trail of destruction and devastation behind. At least 24 people have been confirmed dead, and close to 2400 homes were caught in the tornado’s path, thus resulting in damage.
A tornado is more likely to form in the United States than in any other country in the world. In any given year, there are around 1200 tornadoes reported in our country. Additionally, people who live in the Midwest are at an increased risk for witnessing a tornado and experiencing the aftermath of a tornado — as the Midwest region of the United States is more likely to have tornadic activity. Every year, people in the Midwest try to prepare for the possibility of a tornado touching ground, especially during tornado season — which is April through June.
(Related Article: Tornado Survival Stories)
The tornado that struck Moore, Oklahoma, this past week was categorized as an EF5 tornado. An EF5 tornado is known as a “perfect storm” and is one of the strongest tornadoes to ever touchdown in the United States. While the damage was severe, the loss of life was not as high as what was previously expected from a tornado of this magnitude.
In comparison, have you ever wondered which tornadoes throughout our nation’s history have caused the most devastation, in terms of loss of life?
Below are the top ten most devastating tornadoes in American History:
10. On June 3, 1953, an F5 tornado touched down in Flint, Michigan. The tornado struck down in the evening, when many people were at a local drive-in movie theater. When the storm came in, people panicked and tried to leave the theater quickly, which resulted in numerous traffic accidents and additional fatalities. In total, 116 people lost their lives that day.
9. On June 12, 1899, an F5 tornado wiped out the village of New Richmond, Wisconsin. The tornado struck during the first day of the circus, and the village had many tourists in town that day — and many tourists were outside and unable to seek shelter when the tornado touched down. In total, 117 people lost their lives that day.
8. Between April 23 and April 26 of 1908, several tornadoes touched down between the Midwest and Southern regions of the United States. The line of severe weather was called the 1908 Dixie tornado outbreak. There were at least 30 confirmed tornadoes as a result of the outbreak, and 143 people lost their lives during the worst tornado during that time-frame, which traveled from Louisiana to Mississippi on April 24, 1908.
7. Exactly two years ago today, an EF5 tornado struck down in Joplin, Missouri, on May 22, 2011. The tornado was nearly a mile wide, and the American Red Cross estimated that at least 25 percent of Joplin had been destroyed. In total, 157 people lost their lives that day.
6. On April 9, 1947, the deadliest tornado in the history of Oklahoma touched down in Woodward, Oklahoma. The F5 tornado was nearly two miles wide, and remained on the ground for around 100 miles before dissipating. Over 180 people lost their lives that day.
5. Between April 5 and April 6 of 1936, 17 tornadoes touched down in the Southeast region of the United States. The line of severe weather was named the 1936 Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak. On April 6, 1936, an F4 tornado roared through downtown Gainesville, Georgia — at around 8:30 a.m. Over 203 people lost their lives that day.
4. Also during the 1936 Tupelo–Gainesville tornado outbreak: On April 5, 1936, the fourth deadliest tornado in the history of the United States touched down in Tupelo, Mississippi. The F5 twister brought winds of up to 261 miles per hour to the town of Tupelo, and 216 people lost their lives that day.
3. On May 27, 1896, an F4 tornado touched down in St. Louis, Missouri. The tornadic activity was the result of a line of severe weather in the Central region of the United States. To date, this tornado was the most costly tornado in our nation’s history. The St. Louis tornado of 1896 led to $10,000,000 in damage and 255 deaths.
2. On May 7, 1840, a presumed F5 tornado spun through Natchez, Mississippi. It was named the Great Natchez Tornado, and it was nearly a mile in width. It traveled along the Mississippi River, and is the second deadliest tornado ever recorded in the United States. In total, 317 people died as a result of the Great Natchez Tornado.
1. On March 18, 1925, an F5 tornado tore through three states and remained on the ground for 219 miles. It was called the Great Tri-State Tornado and it remains the most powerful and destructive tornado ever recorded — in the world. In total, close to 700 people in the path of the tornado lost their lives that day, as the tornado moved across Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana.
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ama/?n=top10_tornadoes
NUMBER ONE - THE WACO TORNADO - MAY 11, 1953
The deadliest tornado in Texas history struck shortly after 4 pm on the day after Mother's Day in 1953. It touched down north of the town of Lorena and began moving North-Northeast toward Waco. On a radar screen at Texas A&M University, the tornadic storm developed a hook shaped echo. Nearly 1/3 of a mile wide, the massive F5 tornado crossed Waco on a path that ran almost south to north, killing 114 persons and injuring 597. It destroyed around 600 homes and other buildings and damaged over 1000, including 2000 vehicles. Some of the survivors had to wait up to 14 hours for rescue.
NUMBER TWO - THE GOLIAD TORNADO - MAY 18, 1902
The second deadliest tornado in Texas killed 114 persons,the same as Waco, but is rated number two since with 250 injuries, it injured fewer people. It is believed to have touched down just before 4 pm near Berclair, about 15 miles southwest of Goliad, and moved on a track toward the northeast. About 1/8 of a mile wide, the F4 tornado crossed the San Antonio River southwest of Goliad and moved into the town. Most of the deaths occurred in the west part of Goliad, where hundreds of buildings were destroyed.
NUMBER THREE - THE ROCKSPRINGS TORNADO - APRIL 12, 1927
The third deadliest tornado in Texas history, like the first and second, occurred well south of what is generally considered Tornado Alley. This F5 tornado touched down 3 miles to the northwest of Rocksprings, in Edwards County, and moved toward the southeast. Nearly 1 mile wide as it crossed Rocksprings, it destroyed 235 of the 247 buildings in the town. It killed 74 people and injured 205, almost 1/3 of the population. Clearing Rocksprings, it continued southeastward at least 35 miles and perhaps as far as 65 miles
http://news.discovery.com/earth/oceans/hurricane-ike-dike-to-protect-texas-130917.htm
The “Ike Dike” — a proposed dike in Texas modeled on the one that protects The Netherlands from storm surges — could cost as much as $2.4 billion, according to Explorations in Applied Geography.
Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and other consultants, partnering with Texas A&M, this week suggested the dike should resemble The Netherlands’ Maeslant or the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barriers in scope and life-cycle costs. The Eastern Scheldt, which was finished in the late 1980s, cost the proposed amount to build.
William Merrell, a professor from Texas A&M University, first proposed the ”Ike Dike” for Texas soon after Hurricane Ike made landfall in September 2008 as a Category 2 storm. It caused significant flooding in Texas and Louisiana, killed 112 people and caused $38 billion worth of damage, making it third in the list of costliest hurricanes in U.S. history.
Though support for the project waned after Hurricane Sandy, recent research funding and partnerships may bring the “Ike Dike” back to the drawing table.
The proposed barrier would stretch across the mouth of the Galveston Bay. It would attach to Port Bolivar on one side and Galveston on the other and become an extension of the existing Galveston sea wall. The barrier would allow ships to pass into Port Houston through a gate, which would close when sea level rises during a storm.
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/midweek-severe-weather-texas-to-miss/6401028 As a major storm swings out of the Southwest, there is the potential of violent thunderstorms sweeping from western Texas to the lower Mississippi Valley during the middle of the week. The setup has the potential to bring a significant severe weather outbreak, by way of a developing squall line. The most common characteristics of the severe thunderstorms will be damaging wind gusts, hail and blinding downpours. However, a few of the storms will bring the potential for a tornado. Tornadoes could occur during the early stages of the developing squall line or in isolated storms ahead of the squall line. The first isolated storms during the outbreak are likely to fire late Wednesday afternoon from parts of western Texas in the vicinity of I-27/Route 287. The storms will fire on the leading edge of clear-air wind gusts that can kick up dust in parts of New Mexico. The storms will then progress and increase in number farther east, along the I-20 corridor across central Texas to near the Red River area Wednesday night. The storms could impact areas from San Antonio to Dallas/Ft. Worth.
http://www.kltv.com/story/23540487/severe-storms-cold-front-expected-friday
LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - While the South Plains has enjoyed a work week full of refreshing morning temperatures and pleasant afternoons, changes are on the way. A strong storm system is moving into the central plains and will send a cold front into West Texas Friday.
Scattered strong to severe thunderstorms are expected to develop along and ahead of this front by Friday afternoon. Western areas will be the first at risk by early afternoon, then the threat will slowly shift eastward through the evening. The entire South Plains stands a chance of seeing severe weather Friday evening.
A few storms will be capable of producing localized flooding rainfall, severe wind gusts, and small hail - and while not a significant threat, an isolated tornado or two cannot be ruled out, especially north of Lubbock.
Storms will stick around into Saturday morning, before slowly clearing out of the KCBD viewing area heading into Saturday afternoon.
The last time West Texas saw widespread severe weather was back in early June. If you're headed to the fair, or any other outdoor activity, please stay tuned to the latest forecasts.
Remind yourself of your severe weather safety plan, and make sure you have everything in order should severe weather strike.
And as always, you can find the latest weather forecasts on air, or online, at www.kcbd.com and on our mobile apps.
No pictures available on this website
Severe weather made another appearance in southeastern Texas on Friday night, where at least one lowering wall cloud was reported with a cluster of dangerous storms. The storms originated west of Houston, near the Katy area, but moved into the suburbs and eventually the city in the late-evening. Hail, heavy rain and frequent lightning came with the multiple cells that roared through the area.
Center Point Energy reported that there were more than 3,500 power outages in the wake of the storms.
A live stream from a storm chase team showed a wall cloud moving toward the west side of Houston, Texas Friday night.
"We've seen this rotating wall cloud," chaser Jacob Wycoff told meteorologists Jim Cantore and Kelly Cass during a live phone interview on The Weather Channel.
"We've been following it for an hour and a half. It's close to the ground and lot of people are concerned," Wycoff reported at approximately 8:00 p.m. local time.
Dan Reilly with the National Weather Service office in Houston said meteorologists at the office were watching Wycoff's live stream to get a good look at the storm.
Friday's storms marked the second night in a row Texas came under a severe weather threat. A reported tornado hit the small town of Weimer, damaging the high school, a hospital, and throwing a train off the tracks.
No pictures on this website, just a video.
http://www.weather.com/news/texas-severe-20120511
http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2013/sep/26/texas-gulf-coast-inadequately-prepared-hurricanes/ HOUSTON — Five years after Hurricane Ike slammed into the Texas Gulf Coast, causing more than $30 billion in damage and killing at least 37 Texans, cities across the region have trumpeted their rebuilding efforts. But the tune was very different at Rice University’s Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation from Disasters Center this week, where experts gathered to discuss the area’s vulnerability to future storms. It hasn’t improved, they said, and may have even worsened in the last few years — partly the result of explosive growth in the Houston Ship Channel that experts fear is occurring without appropriate hurricane safeguards. During Hurricane Ike, more than 100,000 homes and businesses flooded, most of them on or near Galveston Island — a barrier of sorts for Houston, which experienced much less damage from the storm. But had Ike followed a slightly different path, Houston would’ve faced a different fate, said Clint Dawson, an engineering professor at the University of Texas at Austin. For communities on the coast, the biggest threat from large storms is the surge, the change in water level that can happen alarmingly quickly, and long before the storm makes landfall. That was the case with Ike, where, as Dawson recalled, “there was water in the streets, but no one knew a hurricane was approaching.” The dramatic growth of industry in the Houston Ship Channel, an economic engine for the state whose exports have exceeded even those of New York City, is one of the biggest causes for concern. Some researchers worry that a direct-hit hurricane would wreak havoc on the channel’s chemical and oil storage tanks, leading to spills and an environmental catastrophe.
http://www.myfoxaustin.com/story/19940864/effects-of-hurricane-sandy-being-felt-in-austin
No pictures on this website, just a video.
The effects of Hurricane Sandy are being felt half way across the country by travelers in Austin. What is considered a historic storm is causing a major shut down in the skies.
Airlines cancelled flights up and down the east coast Sunday and Monday ahead of the storm's arrival. A flight tracking service says 7500 flights have been grounded because of Sandy which includes direct flights from Austin Bergstrom International Airport.
Monday morning flights from Austin to the New York City area, Washington D.C. and Philadelphia are grounded.
Friends Andrew Taylor and James Green spent the weekend at Comic Con. They were supposed to fly to Philadelphia Monday morning. The two could have made it to Atlanta but their connecting flight was cancelled. Like thousands of other travelers across the country they are at the mercy of Mother Nature.
James Green says the worst part about all of this is the wait. "The waiting while we try to figure out what's going to happen and then waiting for that to happen and spending more money than we had anticipated in Austin," Green said.
"My mom is already telling us we need to get in a car and drive because she doesn't think we'll get out but I'm going to cross my fingers," explained Taylor.
Taylor and Green are scheduled to fly out Tuesday which is when the major carriers hope to resume flights if conditions allow.
The best advice from airport officials is to check with your airline before you head to the airport. It could be a couple of days before the airlines can accommodate all of the stranded passengers.
Read more: http://www.myfoxaustin.com/story/19940864/effects-of-hurricane-sandy-being-felt-in-austin#ixzz2gPXgE1HT
* Authorities warn death toll could rise as rubble searched
* About 100 people injured as homes destroyed, trees uprooted
* Three separate tornadoes strike near Dallas-Fort Worth
By Marice Richter
DALLAS, May 16 (Reuters) - At least six people were killed and 100 injured when tornadoes ripped through north-central Texas after dark and authorities said the death toll could rise as rescuers search through the rubble of destroyed homes.
At least three twisters were confirmed to have struck on Wednesday night, the deadliest tornadoes to hit the United States so far this year, destroying homes and uprooting trees.
The worst damage was reported in Granbury, a town of 8,000 people about 35 miles (56 km) southwest of Dallas-Fort Worth.
Granbury Mayor Pro Tem Nin Hulett told ABC News on Thursday that the top priority "is to try to get the people that are out there in the community under a shelter somewhere" and to account for the missing.
Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds said 14 people remained unaccounted for, as rescue workers searched houses.
As Hurricane Ingrid -- which poses no threat to New Orleans -- slowly continued its approach toward Mexico on Sunday, Texas continued to take in dozens of Mexican fishing vessels seeking refuge ahead of the storm, according to theCoast Guard.
Fifty-three Mexican shrimping vessels from theTampico and Campeche fishing fleets were given safe harbor on Saturday and 32 more Mexican fishing vessels were being escorted to the Port of Brownsville on Sunday, the Coast Guard confirmed. The Coast Guard anticipated that, all together, about 250 Mexican fishing vessels might take refuge from Ingrid inBrownsville.
The Coast Guard on Sunday was sending aircraft to Brownsville to assess the port, according to Lt. Garrett Barker, a public affairs officer at Sector Corpus Christi in Texas. The Coast Guard was working with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials and the Brownsville Harbor Master to bring the Mexican vessels to the safe harbor.
"We have issued a small craft advisory for the Coastal Bend region and are advising mariners of the large swells and high tides along the South Padre Island and Boca Chica beaches," Barker said on Sunday. "Our primary concern and focus is on anyone who is not heeding these warning, as well as possible inland flooding due to large quantities of forecasted rain."
The National Hurricane Center on Saturday officially declared Ingrid the second hurricane of the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season. While northeastern Mexico will bear the brunt of Ingrid, south Texas is expected to receive up to 6 inches in localized areas -- such as near and to the south of the Rio Grande River -- over a short period of time, potentially leading to localized flash flooding.
BASTROP, Texas – The number of homes destroyed by a Texas wildfire has risen to 1,554 and is expected to further increase as firefighters enter more areas where the blaze has been extinguished, officials said Sunday. Seventeen people remain unaccounted for.
Bastrop County officials joined by Democratic U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett sought to provide new information to hundreds of residents evacuated from their homes a week ago when blustering wind whipped up by Tropical Storm Lee swept across parched, drought-stricken Texas, helping to spark more than 190 wildfires statewide. The worst of the fires has consumed more than 34,000 acres in this area 30 miles southeast of Austin.
While sharing the bad news that the tally of destroyed homes will increase, officials also told some 100 residents who gathered at a news conference on Sunday that people would begin going back into the scorched areas on Monday. A detailed plan will allow residents to slowly enter the evacuated areas over the coming week as firefighters and emergency responders ensure the land has properly cooled, hotspots are extinguished and the blaze is contained.
The KENS 5 First Alert Weather Team is continuing to keep a close watch on Tropical Storm Ingrid as it churns westward in the Gulf of Mexico toward a Monday landfall.
The latest track calls for Ingrid to come ashore, at either Category 1 or 2 strength, near Tampico, Mexico, on Monday morning. Mexico also was dealing with Tropical Storm Manuel, which came ashore from the Pacific Ocean on Sunday in the southwesternpart of the country.
The outer tropical bands of Hurricane Ingrid could reach as far north as San Antonio, but the most significant moisture and rain threat appears to be over deep south Texas.
There is a potential for flooding Monday and Tuesday along and south of a line from Corpus Christi to Laredo and back down to Brownsville.
A moist, humid tropical air mass will be in place across south-central Texas this entire week. Considering the latest path on Ingrid’s landfall, most of the heavy rain will fall well south of San Antonio, said KENS 5 meteorologist Bill Taylor.
If the storm jogs north any, our rain chances will increase through Tuesday and Wednesday. But for now, a 30 to 40 percent chance is the best San Antonio will see through midweek.
The National Hurricane Center has increased to 70 percent the likelihood that a system, which is expected to move from the Caribbean Sea into the Bay of Campeche during the next few days, will eventually become a tropical depression or storm.
Once it gets into the southern Gulf of Mexico, most likely the system will track toward northern Mexico, or possibly the Texas-Mexico border. A track further to the north cannot be ruled out, however.
Even if the storm goes into northern Mexico it could be a significant weather-maker for the region as well as most of Texas beginning on Sunday or Monday.
On Wednesday evening, a round of severe weather spawned multiple tornadoes in northern Texas, killing at least six people and injuring dozens more. The largest of the tornadoes, a preliminary EF4 twister on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, wrecked the town of Granbury with winds as high as 200 mph.
The cleanup began Thursday morning, as aid groups swarmed the towns hit by the storms to help the victims with food, supplies and shelter. Survey crews determined what damage was caused by tornadoes as well.
Below are the real-time images and commentary from the witnesses who saw the violent storms.
As of daybreak, seven people were missing in the town of Granbury, which is just outside Fort Worth, authorities said at a press conference Thursday morning. It was not clear if they were were away from the area for other reasons.
At least one tornado was listed as an EF-4, which means winds can reach 200 mph.
"I've been assured by my deputies on the scene that they're pretty confident with the six that they found, but there was a report that two of these people that they found were not even near their homes. So we're going to have to search the area out there," Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds said.
