Severe Threat TX

[GalvestonDuck]

Hou/Galvers, meet Allison's sister, Windy.

Seriously, what in the name of all that is feathered was THAT???

I was in Bayou Vista (20 mi from my house, just on the other side of the the causeway from Galveston) earlier today when the storm rolled in. Got the warnings, looked outside, said "Hmm...pretty storm clouds...getting dark," and then went back inside. We were doing some redecorating and weren't all that concerned about the storm. The winds picked up and the rain started hitting the windows like sheets of water on the windshield in a car wash. The wind was LOUD...and I don't mean your basic howling thunderstorm wind. This stuff was fierce!! Eventually, it died down as the worst part passed.

Shortly thereafter, her hubby called from UTMB and said the power had gone off there a couples of times and the sky was black outside. So, by that time, the hospital was seeing what we'd already seen. He said he'd be on his way home shortly. When he arrived, he mentioned that part of the island was dark, there were tree limbs and branches down in the streets, minor flooding, and lights and sirens everywhere.

I decided to stay there for a little while longer since I probably wouldn't have satellite with all the wind and rain (and we all wanted to watch "Desperate Housewives" anyway). So, about a half hour ago, I drove back here to survey the damage and get to bed.

My first thought upon seeing all the palm fronds, leaves, and branches along Broadway was "This is almost as bad as it looked after Allison." I'm sure we've had other bad storms move through since then (and in my 6 years of living here), but usually during hurricane season, the parks board crews trim the dead fronds from the palm trees so there doesn't appear to be as much debris. Run over those things with your tires -- you've never heard such a bizarre crunch!

Then I got home and noticed a mass of stuff on the front porch. I got out of my car and got closer and realized it was the gas grill (thankfully, not connected to the tank and two patio chairs. The grill had blown over and moved four feet across the patio, pushing the two chairs over and against my neighbors door. The way they had fallen and how they were all wedged together with the grill against them also made it impossible for her to get her screen door open so she could get out. So, I knocked on her door since the lights were still on and I knew she was up. She came downstairs with a look of relief. I was able to upright the grill and move the chairs so she could leave her apartment now.

That was one wild and cra-a-a-a-azy storm!! (Apologies to Steve Martin)

[PTrackerLA]

Dang GD, that was quite a storm. Seems like the worst storms in our area are the ones that catch you off guard like that. Whats left of it is getting really close to home so we might get an unexpected shower after all.

[GalvestonDuck]

Well, stay safe! Keep that helmet on your head.

[cctxhurricanewatcher]

Wow! We had one heck of a storm in Corpus as well. My area of town got a report from a TV weather watcher of 3 inches of rain and that fell in less than an hour! I can't get to my gage because my backyard is drenched. We had wind gust way in excess of 60 mph and marble to golf ball size hail.

My yard really needed a drink and it's showing already that this rain was the best thing for it.

[KatDaddy]

Quite a storm indeed but the wake low winds were stronger than the actual gust front. The winds with the line of storms were much weaker than what the radar indicated thankfully. Winds gusted between 35-40 MPH with sheets of blinding rain. The apex of the bow echo passed just to my south which explains the wind damage reports in Rosharon, Alvin, Santa Fe, Dickinson, and Texas City. About 45 minutes after the line storms had passed and light rain was falling ENE to E really began to increase. 35-45 MPH with gusts approaching 50MPH. It reminded me of a tropical storm.

[GalvestonDuck]

Well, obviously, David, Brian, and I have power. Hopefully, the rest of the Hou/Galvers and Corpus crew will be able to check in soon and let us know how they fared.

[JenBayles]

Ended up with 3.75" in my rain gauge - hooray! Got a little hairy there toward the end with almost a foot of water running between our garage and the house next door. Haven't seen that much water in a long time. Like Jeff, I wasn't able to post anything once the winds kicked in - power kept going on and off but ultimately stayed on. As usual when we get more than 3" of rain, our street filled up but drained quickly once the rain stopped. Just have a lot of work to do on the pool this evening since the yard overflowed into the darn thing. All in all, quite an enjoyable afternoon.

[jeff]

Damaging bow echo and associated wake/meso low produced widespread
wind damage across SE TX Sunday afternoon and evening. Striaght line
winds of 70mph were common across most of Fort Bend, S Harris,
Brazoria, and Galveston counties. Apex of the bow moved from near
Wallis in S Austin CO. to Pearland and then toward Texas City.
Wake/meso low was clearly noted at 700pm with pressure differences
from 30.02in at Port Arthur to 29.76in at NWS in League City. Strong
ENE winds of 35-45mph developed over the area within this gradient
after the passage of the MCS and bow echo.

For those that were wanting rain, BUSH IAH recorded 2.34 inches
breaking a daily rainfall record of 1.73 in. This rainfall is also
double the entire month of April's rainfall and is the single greatest
amount of rainfall at IAH since Nov 22nd 2004.



NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
804 PM CDT SUN MAY 08 2005

..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..

0555 PM TSTM WND DMG PEARLAND 29.56N 95.28W
05/08/2005 BRAZORIA TX NWS EMPLOYEE

TSTM WIND BLEW FENCE DOWN.

0555 PM TSTM WND DMG ROSHARON 29.35N 95.46W
05/08/2005 BRAZORIA TX EMERGENCY MNGR

TREES DOWN. ROOFS BLOWN OFF MOBILE HOMES. ALSO REPORTED
IN DANBURY AND LIVERPOOL.

0555 PM HAIL TEXAS CITY 29.41N 94.96W
05/08/2005 1.75 INCH GALVESTON TX LAW ENFORCEMENT

0600 PM TSTM WND DMG TEXAS CITY 29.41N 94.96W
05/08/2005 GALVESTON TX LAW ENFORCEMENT

TREES DOWN.

0512 PM TSTM WND DMG MISSION BEND 29.69N 95.66W
05/08/2005 FORT BEND TX AMATEUR RADIO

UTILITY POLE BLOWN DOWN.

0515 PM HAIL MISSION BEND 29.69N 95.66W
05/08/2005 0.75 INCH FORT BEND TX AIRPLANE PILOT

0443 PM TSTM WND DMG PECAN GROVE 29.63N 95.73W
05/08/2005 FORT BEND TX AMATEUR RADIO

TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN.

0522 PM TSTM WND DMG NEEDVILLE 29.40N 95.84W
05/08/2005 FORT BEND TX AMATEUR RADIO

POWER POLE SNAPPED.

0606 PM TSTM WND DMG HOUSTON 29.77N 95.39W
05/08/2005 HARRIS TX AMATEUR RADIO

TREE DOWN ON THE FRONTAGE ROAD AT I-610 AND HOLLY.

0621 PM HAIL CRYSTAL BEACH 29.46N 94.64W
05/08/2005 0.75 INCH GALVESTON TX COUNTY OFFICIAL

0629 PM HAIL HITCHCOCK 29.32N 95.02W
05/08/2005 0.88 INCH GALVESTON TX LAW ENFORCEMENT

0635 PM TORNADO SANTA FE 29.38N 95.10W
05/08/2005 GALVESTON TX COUNTY OFFICIAL

POSSIBLE TORNADO AT AVE J AND 31ST STREET.

0638 PM TSTM WND DMG ALVIN 29.43N 95.25W
05/08/2005 BRAZORIA TX AMATEUR RADIO

METAL SHED AND BILLBOARD BLOWN DOWN.

0647 PM TSTM WND DMG DANBURY 29.23N 95.35W
05/08/2005 BRAZORIA TX AIRPLANE PILOT

SHEDS DAMAGED.

0654 PM TSTM WND DMG TEXAS CITY 29.41N 94.96W
05/08/2005 GALVESTON TX AMATEUR RADIO

NUMEROUS TREES DOWN. TRAILER BLOWN OVER.

0257 PM HAIL KATY 29.80N 95.82W
05/08/2005 0.75 INCH HARRIS TX AMATEUR RADIO

0300 PM HAIL ADDICKS 29.78N 95.64W
05/08/2005 0.75 INCH HARRIS TX AMATEUR RADIO

REPORTED AT ADDICKS-SATSUMA/WEST LITTLE YORK. ALSO
REPORTED AT BEAR CREEK.

0510 PM TSTM WND GST 2 N MISSION BEND 29.72N 95.66W
05/08/2005 60 MPH HARRIS TX PUBLIC

LARGE TREE BRANCHES DOWN.

0522 PM TSTM WND DMG DAMON 29.29N 95.73W
05/08/2005 BRAZORIA TX LAW ENFORCEMENT

NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN.

0625 PM TSTM WND GST DICKINSON 29.45N 95.07W
05/08/2005 60 MPH GALVESTON TX LAW ENFORCEMENT

DICKINSON PD REPORTED WIND GUST TO 60 MPH.




Other Reports:

Galveston Pleasure Pier: 66mph wind gust.

183,000 residents without power. Still 27,000 without power this
morning.

Lightening strikes:

1 person injured from lightening in Richmond in Fort Bend Co.

Lightening struck near HGX radar disabling the system.

1 strike to an aprtament complex in SW Houston. 24 units destroyed by
the resulting fire.

Flood:

Flash flood, mudslide at I-10 and 610 W Loop. W bound and HOV lanes
closed due to high water.

Water 2-3 feet deep in the streets around Rive Unversity.

Water within 1 foot of entering homes in the Tanglewood subdivision.

15 minute rainfall rate of 1.77 inches at Spring Branch and Bingle. 30
minute rainfall rate of 2.30 inches. 1-hour rate of 4.65 inches.

[chadtm80]

Weather Reports http://www.storm2k.org/wx/modules.php?n ... ge&pid=120

[southerngale]

We had quite a bit of rain as well, some of it heavy and TONS of thunder and lightning. Nothing severe that I know of over here though...just an incredible light show on and off for many hours. My yard is grateful.


Glad you're ok duckie and all the Houstoners. I heard it was a lot rougher over there.

[PTrackerLA]

Glad everyone is ok. Unfortunately looks like we're going to miss all the rain as drier air is beginning to filter into the area shutting off the small t-storm development. This stinks, next rain chance isn't til MAYBE this weekend...hello drought.

[JenBayles]

Glad everyone is ok. Unfortunately looks like we're going to miss all the rain as drier air is beginning to filter into the area shutting off the small t-storm development. This stinks, next rain chance isn't til MAYBE this weekend...hello drought.

Oh nooooo!

[GalvestonDuck]

The only thing I have left to say is -- get out the mosquito spray.

[Portastorm]

Those of us in central TX are under the gun again.

Severe Thunderstorm Watch posted in the last hour and a fairly impressive cell has gone severely quickly near Llano!!

[Gorky]

Warning of hail to 4 inches and a couple of hours ago this thing wasn't even on the radar... :o



Edit: Reports of softball size hail in LLano recently (4.25in)

[jeff]

C TX storms are strongly tied to heat and instability axis where strong solar heating and near 70 degree dewpoints are supporting CAPE values near 4500 J/kg.

Supercells capable of producing extreme hail will continue until a few hours after dark. Weak storm motions and light shear should result in isolated storms at best. Outflow interactions may induce additional development into N TX and into SC TX where capping can be broken with low level lift.

[Garnetcat5]

What a storm Sunday afternoon in Richmond TX!!!! The wind was incredible! Several BIG trees blown down on my street and no power for hours. Went driving around afterwards and saw big trees on cars and in blocking roads... one landed on a house! That was the strongest storm I've seen in a looong time. I was driving home from Houston when I ran into it! The trees we bent so far over the road I was driving through the branches! It was a trip! My pool is a mess!

[vbhoutex]

GCAT5 it is good to see you and good to know you got through the storms ok.

[GalvestonDuck]

http://galvestondailynews.com/story.las ... 20a585ef63

‘Twin Sisters’ get knocked off their piers

By Marty Schladen
The Daily News

Published May 10, 2005

GALVESTON — The “Twin Sisters” have seen better days.

The houses at 1821 and 1823 Winnie St. made it through the 1900 Storm, but their fate after a storm system that screamed through Sunday night is in doubt. The wind — measured at 66 mph at the Flagship Hotel — appeared to have pushed the house at 1823 about 10 feet into its sister next door, dislodging it from its piers.

Now the homes’ owners are waiting to hear what engineers say before deciding what’s to be done.

“I really didn’t hear anything,” Hector Guerrero, the owner of the house at 1821 Winnie, said. “It happened so fast that you really didn’t have time to know what’s going on.”

Guerrero said that his wife, Elizabeth, suffered some bruises in the storm, but he was not injured. Guerrero said his wife was bruised either by falling blinds or a falling television.

Nobody was home at 1823 Winnie when the storm hit.

Guerrero said that he did not have insurance on the home. He said he was trying to save money to repair the roof and planned to take out a policy before hurricane season.

“I’m hoping that his insurance will somehow be liable,” Guerrero said of the owner of the neighboring home, James Tucker.

The houses were built in 1893.

“They used to be called the Twin Sisters,” Guerrero said.

Tucker and his wife, Renee Magee, thought they were in one of the worst places possible when the storm hit — the Causeway.

“We missed it by 15 minutes,” Tucker said.

Tucker and his wife live in Seabrook and were headed back there when they got a call Sunday evening saying that their house had been damaged.

“We just bought it last year,” Tucker said. He said that among the work they’ve done, he and his wife replaced the ceilings, refurbished the floors, stripped the walls to the original lath board and then hung new drywall.

Their children, Angie and Christopher, are in college, but they work for Galveston Beach Patrol in the summer. They were planning to live in the house at 1823 Winnie.

What will they do now?

“We’re waiting for the structural engineer to show up,” Tucker said Monday. “It’s all going to depend on what everyone says.”

[Roxy]

Wow! Incredible story and picture.