NWS Lubbock Local Weather Events

...NWS CONDUCTS DAMAGE SURVEY FOLLOWING AUGUST 26 2006 SEVERE WEATHER IMPACTS...

ON SATURDAY AUGUST 26 2006...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE SOUTH PLAINS AND ROLLING PLAINS PRODUCING FLOODING... HAIL...AND WIND DAMAGE ACROSS THE REGION. THE COUNTIES IMPACTED BY SEVERE WEATHER INCLUDED LYNN COUNTY WITH FLASH FLOODING...HAIL RANGING IN SIZE FROM PENNIES TO QUARTERS IN BAILEY AND COCHRAN COUNTIES...AND SEVERE WIND GUSTS AND RELATED DAMAGE IN MOTLEY AND COTTLE COUNTIES. TO VIEW A LISTING OF THE PRELIMINARY STORM REPORTS FOR AUGUST 26, 2006, CLICK HERE.

ON SUNDAY AUGUST 27 2006...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LUBBOCK DISPATCHED AN ASSESSMENT TEAM TO INVESTIGATE THE DAMAGE REPORTED IN THE CITY OF PADUCAH. THE FOLLOWING REPORT IS A SUMMARY OF THE TEAMS FINDINGS.

THE ASSESSMENT TEAM...COMPRISED OF JOHN HOLSENBECK...NWS LUBBOCK METEOROLOGIST AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY OFFICER...BRIAN LAMARRE...NWS LUBBOCK WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLOGIST...AND PADUCAH FIRE CHIEF AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATOR RANDY DETWILER INVESTIGATED DAMAGE ZONES ACROSS THE CITY OF PADUCAH.

WIDESPREAD WIND DAMAGE RESULTED AS TWO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IMPACTED COTTLE COUNTY. THE FIRST SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IMPACTED THE WESTERN PORTIONS OF COTTLE COUNTY...AFTER EXITING MOTLEY COUNTY...WITH 50 TO 60 MPH WINDS. THE TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY WEST TEXAS MESONET STATION LOCATED 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF PADUCAH MEASURED A WIND GUST OF 58 MPH AT 525 PM IN ASSOCIATION WITH THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM.

BETWEEN 530 PM AND 545 PM...A SECOND AND MORE INTENSE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM MOVED TOWARD PADUCAH FROM THE SOUTHEAST AND GENERATED A WIDE RANGE OF WIND IMPACTS ACROSS THE CITY OF PADUCAH. THE TWO STORMS MERGED IN THE VICINITY OF PADUCAH AND PRODUCED DAMAGE CONSISTENT WITH WIND SPEEDS RANGING BETWEEN 50 TO 60 MPH OVER WESTERN AND CENTRAL PORTIONS OF THE CITY AND BETWEEN 70 TO 80 MPH OVER EASTERN AND SOUTHEASTERN PORTIONS OF THE CITY.

1. LIGHTNING PRODUCED BY THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY RESULTED IN POWER AND PHONE OUTAGES IN PADUCAH THAT PERSISTED THROUGH MUCH OF THE WEEKEND. IN DOWNTOWN PADUCAH...NUMEROUS AREAS OF TREE AND ROOF DAMAGE TO AREA BUSINESSES AND HOMES RESULTED...INCLUDING A LARGE AWNING THAT WAS BLOWN OFF A BUSINESS IN DOWNTOWN PADUCAH PRODUCING SUBSEQUENT WINDOW DAMAGES.

The following is an image from the damage to an area business in Paducah (please click on an image to enlarge it). All photographs were taken by the NWS Lubbock Damage Survey Team.

2. SOUTH OF DOWNTOWN PADUCAH...GALVANIZED TIN ROOFING WAS PEELED BACK AND REMOVED IN SOME SECTIONS ON AN AREA BUSINESS WITH UTILITY POLES BROKEN IN THE VICINITY. THE DIRECTION OF THE DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED FROM EAST TO WEST. IN ADDITION...A CANOE ON THE RESIDENCE OF AN NWS COOPERATIVE OBSERVER WAS LIFTED AND BLOWN ABOUT 50 YARDS TO THE WEST NEAR THIS AREA.

WIND SPEED ESTIMATES IN THIS AREA RANGED BETWEEN 55 AND 75 MPH.

The following is an image from the damage to an area business in Paducah (please click on an image to enlarge it). All photographs were taken by the NWS Lubbock Damage Survey Team.

3. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE ASSESSED DURING THE SURVEY WAS OBSERVED ONE TO TWO MILES SOUTHEAST OF PADUCAH WHERE ELEVEN MEDIUM VOLTAGE UTILITY POLES WERE SNAPPED BY SEVERE WINDS AND BLOWN TO THE NORTH ALONG FARM TO MARKET ROAD 1038.

WIND SPEED ESTIMATES IN THIS AREA RANGED BETWEEN 75 AND 85 MPH. THE PATH WIDTH OF THE STRONGER WIND SPEEDS ACROSS THIS AREA WAS FOUR TENTHS OF A MILE...OR JUST UNDER ONE HALF MILE.

The following are some images of damage to utility poles along FM 1038 (please click on an image to enlarge it). All photographs were taken by the NWS Lubbock Damage Survey Team.

4. APPROXIMATELY ONE HALF MILE EAST OF THIS LOCATION...AT THE PADUCAH COUNTRY CLUB...EXTENSIVE TREE DAMAGE RESULTED FROM SEVERE WINDS. IN ADDITION...THERE WAS EVIDENCE OF A MINI-MICROBURST IMPACT AT THIS LOCATION. A MICROBURST OCCURS AS WIND RUSHES DOWN AND OUTWARD FROM A THUNDERSTORM AND SPREADS OUT IN VARIOUS DIRECTIONS UPON IMPACT WITH THE GROUND. THE PREVAILING DIRECTION OF DAMAGE FROM THE FORWARD MOVING MICROBURST WAS OBSERVED FROM SOUTH TO NORTH...WITH DEBRIS ALSO SCATTERED IN A SOUTHEAST TO NORTHWEST DIRECTION IN SOME INSTANCES. THIS PATTERN IS CONSISTENT WITH THE FORWARD MOVEMENT OF THE SECOND SEVERE THUNDERSTORM TRAVELING FROM SOUTHEAST TO NORTHWEST ACROSS THE COUNTY.

ACROSS THE PADUCAH COUNTRY CLUB...GALVANIZED TIN ROOFING WAS PEELED BACK AND REMOVED IN SOME SECTIONS FROM STRUCTURES AND RECREATIONAL AND STORAGE FACILITIES. A MESQUITE TREE WAS STRUCK BY LIGHTNING TOWARD THE REAR OF THE COUNTRY CLUB AND REMAINED SMOKING AT THE TIME OF THE SURVEY.

WIND SPEED ESTIMATES IN THIS AREA RANGED BETWEEN 65 AND 75 MPH.

The following are some images of damage at the Paducah Country Club (please click on an image to enlarge it). All photographs were taken by the NWS Lubbock Damage Survey Team.

5. OVER SECTIONS TO THE EAST AND NORTHEAST OF PADUCAH...SIMILAR DAMAGE PATTERNS OCCURRED PRODUCING TREE AND ROOFING DEBRIS. AT THE PADUCAH MUNICIPAL AIRPORT...A CATTLE TRAILER WAS ROLLED BY SEVERE WINDS WHICH ALSO PEELED BACK THE TRAILERS ROOF. LESS THAN A MILE EAST OF DOWNTOWN PADUCAH...AN EMPTY 500-GALLON PROPANE TANK WAS BLOWN THREE-QUARTERS OF A MILE TO THE NORTHWEST AT A STORAGE FACILITY NEAR HIGHWAY 70 AND A ROOF WAS BLOWN OFF A NEARBY SHOW BARN. ALSO IN THE VICINITY...ONE CENTER PIVOT IRRIGATION SYSTEM WAS OVERTURNED FROM THE SOUTHEAST ABOUT 250 YARDS FROM HIGHWAY 70.

WIND SPEED ESTIMATES IN THIS AREA RANGED BETWEEN 65 AND 75 MPH.

The following are some images of damage that occurred east and northeast of Paducah (please click on an image to enlarge it). All photographs were taken by the NWS Lubbock Damage Survey Team.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LUBBOCK WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATOR AND PADUCAH FIRE CHIEF...AS WELL AS MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY FOR THEIR HELP DURING THE NWS LUBBOCK DAMAGE SURVEY. IN ADDITION...THE INFORMATION PROVIDED BOTH DURING AND FOLLOWING SEVERE WEATHER IMPACTS ACROSS THE AREA BY LOCAL MEDIA PARTNERS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

Brian LaMarre
Warning Coordination Meteorologist
National Weather Service
Lubbock, Texas