LBBPNSAMA
NOUS44 KAMA 190128
PNSAMA
OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-190330-
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
828 PM CDT THU OCT 18 2007
...STORM SURVEY CONDUCTED BY WFO AMARILLO...
WFO AMARILLO CONDUCTED A STORM SURVEY IN SOUTHERN AND EASTERN
PORTIONS OF RANDALL COUNTY TEXAS ON 17 AND 18 OCTOBER FOLLOWING AN
OVERNIGHT THUNDERSTORM EVENT TO EXAMINE REPORTED DAMAGE COINCIDENT
WITH A STRONG MESOCYCLONE TRACK. THE DAMAGE WAS DETERMINED TO
BE ASSOCIATED WITH A TORNADIC CIRCULATION.
...SURVEY SUMMARY...
TORNADO RATING...EF1 /MAXIMUM WINDS OF 110 MPH/
TORNADO MAX WIDTH...300 YARDS
TORNADO PATH LENGTH...12 MILES /10 ESE BUFFALO LAKE TO
8 WSW PALO DURO CANYON/
TORNADO START TIME / END TIME...1216 AM / 1235 AM
DETAILS OF THE TORNADO FOLLOW...
DAMAGE WAS FIRST NOTED ALONG WEST DOWLEN ROAD...WEST OF RUNNING
WATER ROAD...WHERE FENCING WAS BROKEN AND TIN WAS WRAPPED AROUND
FENCE POLES AND FENCING. THE TORNADO MOVED NORTHEAST ACROSS RUNNING
WATER ROAD AND DAMAGED SEVERAL OLD POWER POLES. A BARN WAS DESTROYED
ALONG RUNNING WATER ROAD...WITH DEBRIS SCATTERED DOWNSTREAM FOR A
MILE. STEEL PIPE FENCING WAS BENT...AND A TRAILER WAS LIFTED...MOVED
SEVERAL YARDS TO THE SOUTH AND WEST AND DEPOSITED ON ITS SIDE AFTER
BEING IMPALED BY A LARGE BOARD. A DEEP FREEZE WAS ALSO ROTATED 100
YARDS FROM ITS ORIGINAL LOCATION IN THE DESTROYED BARN. FURTHER
NORTHEAST...BALES OF HAY WERE MOVED ONE HUNDRED YARDS OR MORE...A HAY
BALER WAS MOVED AND DAMAGED...AND A GALVANIZED WATER TANK WAS LOFTED
AND RELOCATED ONE HALF MILE TO A FIELD ACROSS HIGHWAY 87.
THE TORNADO THEN CROSSED HIGHWAY 87...CAUSING FURTHER DAMAGE. IN THIS
AREA...A BARN SUFFERED DAMAGE TO ITS EXTERIOR WALLS AND TIN ROOF...
WITH SEVERAL METAL PANELS PEELED UP AND TWISTED. A WINDMILL WAS
ALSO MANGLED IN A LARGE FIELD ADJACENT TO INTERSTATE 27 AND WEST
HUNGATE ROAD.
MORE SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE WAS FOUND EAST OF INTERSTATE 27. AT EAST
HUNGATE ROAD AND INTERSTATE 27...TWO POWER POLES WERE SNAPPED OR
DISLODGED COMPLETELY FROM THE GROUND. A METAL ROAD SIGN WAS ALSO
TWISTED AND BENT OVER TO THE GROUND AT ITS BASE.
THE TORNADO CONTINUED NORTHEAST ACROSS ANOTHER FIELD BEFORE
INTENSIFYING NEAR TRADEWIND STREET...ROUGHLY TWO MILES SOUTH OF
WEST COUNTY ROAD 283. HERE A LARGE METAL CONTAINER WAS FOUND MANGLED
AND CAUGHT IN A FENCE. CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE ALSO WAS DISCOVERED TO A
PROPERTY AT THIS LOCATION. NUMEROUS TREES SUFFERED DISMEMBERMENT...OR
WERE SNAPPED COMPLETELY AT THEIR BASES. SEVERAL OF THESE TREES WERE
RELOCATED UP TO THIRTY YARDS AWAY...AND IN SOME CASES...OVER FENCES.
A HEAVILY COVERED EQUIPMENT CELLAR TO THE NORTH SIDE OF THE HOMESTEAD
HAD ITS NEAR GROUND ROOF REMOVED AND RELOCATED TO 50 YARDS WEST OF
ITS INITIAL LOCATION. AN ELECTRIC LINE MOUNT AMPLY SCREWED INTO THE
STONELIKE HOUSING MATERIAL WAS PULLED OUT OF ITS POSITION. ALTHOUGH
THE HOMESTEAD ITSELF SUFFERED ONLY SUPERFICIAL DAMAGE TO ITS EXTERIOR
AND WINDOWS...IT IS LIKELY THAT THIS IS BECAUSE THE HOME WAS VERY
WELL SHELTERED BY THE TREES SURROUNDING IT...NEARLY ALL OF WHICH
SUFFERED DAMAGE.
FURTHER EAST ON THE PROPERTY...THREE LARGE BARNS WERE DESTROYED. THE
STRONGEST OF THESE STRUCTURES FEATURED HURRICANE CLIPS ON SEVERAL
FRAME JOINTS. THE CLIPS HELD...ALTHOUGH THE WOOD DID NOT. THE
FAILURE OF THIS STRUCTURE WAS PRIMARILY A RESULT OF A COLLAPSED
SOUTHWARD FACING GARAGE DOOR...ALTHOUGH THE REMAINING TWO BARNS WERE
FLATTENED WITH THEIR CONTENTS AND PIECES OF THEIR WALL STRUCTURE
STREWN DOWNWIND IN CYCLONIC FASHION. AN ATTACHED BUILDING TO ONE OF
THESE BARNS WAS ALSO FLATTENED.
OF PARTICULAR NOTE WAS THE LIFTING AND REPLACEMENT OF A HEAVY METAL
VAT FILLED WITH METAL TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT...AS WELL AS THE MOVEMENT
OF TWO LARGE DIESEL TANKS. THESE HEAVY TANKS SAT ATOP SUPPORT
PEDESTALS BEHIND TWO OF THE BARNS. THE SOUTHERN TANK WAS BLOWN TOWARD
THE EAST AND RELOCATED 15 YARDS...WHEREAS THE NORTHERN TANK /WHICH
WAS COMPLETELY FULL/ WAS BLOWN FROM EAST TO WEST.
PIECES OF METAL ROOFING WERE OBSERVED ONE QUARTER TO ONE HALF MILE
DOWNSTREAM ENTANGLED IN A FENCE. APPROXIMATELY ONE MILE TO THE
NORTHEAST OF THIS LOCATION...THREE DOUBLE SUPPORT TRANSMISSION LINE
POLES WERE SNAPPED OVER A QUARTER MILE DISTANCE. THIS POLE DAMAGE IS
SOMEWHAT REMARKABLE GIVEN THE DOUBLE POLE ORIENTATION PARALLEL TO
THE TORNADIC WINDS. IT APPEARS THAT THE TORNADIC CIRCULATION WAS IN
A PROCESS OF WIDENING AND DISSIPATING AT THIS POINT.
ALTHOUGH THE TORNADO CAUSED DAMAGE MOSTLY IN THE EF0 TO LOW END EF1
RANGE /UNDER 100 MPH/ DURING MUCH OF ITS 12 MILE PATH...IT APPEARS TO
HAVE CONTRACTED TO 50 YARDS IN SIZE AND INCREASED IN INTENSITY AS IT
NEARED THE TRADEWIND STREET PROPERTY...WHERE DEGREES OF DAMAGE
SUGGEST WIND SPEEDS UP TO 110 MPH. THE TORNADO WILL BE RATED A HIGH
END EF1 ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE. IN ITS LATE STAGES...THE
TORNADO WIDENED TO APPROXIMATELY 300 YARDS AND WEAKENED IN
INTENSITY.
WFO AMARILLO WOULD LIKE TO THANK ITS PARTNERS AND CUSTOMERS FOR
REPORTING DAMAGE PROMPTLY AND COOPERATING IN THE STORM SURVEYS.
$$
KRAMAR/JOHNSON
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