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The eastern wall of the Reynolds Utilities building on North U was sheared from the frame. -
Wind gusts approaching 50 mph caused extensive damage in west and north Snyder early this morning. One mobile home and a fifth-wheel trailer at the Trailertopia RV Park on West U.S. Hwy. 180 were toppled by the high winds. -
The area surrounding Gilmore Ave. was particularly hard hit by the storm. This home on Gilmore Ave. suffered extensive damage. -
A trampoline on Gilmore Ave. was blown over a fenceby the high winds.
Rain and extremely high winds — including a possible tornado — ripped through Scurry County early this morning, causing extensive property damage, but no reported injuries.
Recorded wind gusts of nearly 50 mph were noted by the National Weather Service (NWS) at Winston Field as the storm blew through this area shortly after midnight, but gusts elsewhere in the county were suspected of exceeding that speed.
The hardest hit area was on either side of North College Ave., north of the U.S. Hwy. 84 interchange, where several homes were damaged and trees and utility poles were uprooted. Reynolds Utilities on the U.S. 84 access road had an entire side of its metal building peeled off by the high winds.
Also in the area, several homes sustained heavy damage and twisted metal siding from trailer homes and other debris littered streets in the area of Gilmore Ave. and surrounding streets. There was also a report of a tree collapsing onto the roof of a home on O’Neil Ave.
West of town, the most noticeable damage was sustained at the Trailertopia RV Park on West U.S. Hwy. 180, where a mobile home and trailer were flipped onto their sides by the high winds.
Snyder Deputy Fire Marshal Nathan Hines said that NWS officials will conduct a site survey in the affected areas Thursday to determine whether the damage was caused by a tornado or by straight-line winds.
The storm also was the suspected cause of a trailer home fire that was reported at 12:02 a.m. today in the 1200 block of Andress Ave. The home suffered extensive damage, but no injuries were reported.
In response to the storm, Calvary Baptist Church opened a warming center for people displaced by the storm, however officials reported that no residents came to the shelter.
The storm caused widespread power outages across Scurry County.
At 1 a.m. this morning, Oncor reported 1,547 power outages in Scurry County and as of 11 a.m., it was down to 130. Officials at Big Country Electrical Cooperative said they were still assessing how many outages were suffered by their customers.
Rainfall totals in the area ranged from 0.51 of an inch northwest of Colorado City to 0.80 of an inch in Lamesa. Western Texas College reported. 0.71 of an inch of rain, while the SnTx Industrial Park recorded 0.68 of an inch of precipitation.
Extremely high winds are expected the rest of today and early Thursday. The NWS has issued a high wind warning for Scurry County that will remain in effect until 7 a.m. Thursday. Wind gusts of between 60-70 mph may occur during the afternoon hours today.
“This is potentially a dangerous wind event,” an NWS bulletin stated. “People driving high-profile vehicles should strongly consider postponing travel until the winds subside.”