Re: Strange Texas Weather

Robert L. Roberson wrote:
> 
> Rusty,
> 
> Been in Texas all my life (started in 1946) -- don't think the 140 degrees
> will fly!!!
> 
> Patricia Roberson, in Goldthwaite, Texas, where it's in the 70's and NOT
> RAINING for the moment.
> 
Hi all,

I am Rusty's dad, Mark.  Thought it would be interesting for you to read
about this storm.  Dub Bowlus was a weatherman in the panhandle of Texas
for many years - KCBD-TV Channel 11, Lubbock, Texas and KSWS-TV Channel
8, Roswell, N.M.  This short is taken straight from the book where it
has been documented.

		THE STRANGEST STORM IN TEXAS
				OR
	THE NIGHT THE WORLD ALMOST CAME TO AN END IN KOPPERL

	
	"The hottest temperature on record may have been at Seymour near
Wichita Falls, but the highest ever experienced occurred at Lake Whitney
northwest of Waco.
	"Shortly after midnight on the morning of June 15, 1960, under clear
skies and otherwise normal conditions, a damaging, scorching northwest
wind struck terror and near disaster to a 25-mile stretch across the
northwest side of Lake Whitney for nearly 3 hours.
	"It was like any other Texas night in mid-June.  The temperature was in
the 70's, the stars were out and a ligth breeze was blowing.  There had
been some lightning earlier, but no one paid much attention to it. 
Then, without warning . . .it struck.  A searing blowtorch-like wind hit
with speeds estimated at 80 - 100 mph, and the temperature jumped from
near 70 to 140 degrees!
	"The Mooney Village Store lost the roof and was badly damaged, the
interior was smashed and loaves of bread and canned goods blown from the
shelves.  The strong winds smashed down a huge tree at the home of Mrs.
Vergie Moon, near the damaged store.  She said it took three people to
keep the wind from blowing down her front door.  The D.L. Downeys took
refuge in their storm cellar, which soon was filled with neighbors
seeking shelter from this unusual and frightening storm.
	"The heat and searing wind were stifling.  Mothers wrapped their crying
babies in wet sheets and towels to protect them from the intense heat.  
Fire sprinkler systems were set off, car radiators boiled over and
panic-stricken women were crying, thinking the end of the world had
come.
	"The cotton field of rancher Pete Burns was scorched by the hot wind. 
It was an average stand of cotton which he had plowed on Tuesday.  The
wind and the heat carbonized it, leaving only a few burnt stalks
standing.  Corn fields in the area, green when the sun went down
Tuesday, were scorched and wilted at sunup Wednesday. (Picture shown of
seared cotton crop.)
	"No one knows for sure how hot it was, but the thermometer ourside the
Cahrley Riddle Bait and Tackle Shop in Kopperl, jumped from near 70
degrees about midnight to 100 degrees in just a few minutes and the
highest was 140 degrees.  There was nothing wrong with the thermometer;
it was working all right the next day and, if anything, was reading a
little low.
	"The event would have gone undocumented except for veteran cameraman
Floyd Bright wh, hearing the incident the next morning, recorded it on
film.
	"Several attempts have been made to explain the phenomenon, but this
probably is what happened.  Scattered thunderstorms had earlier been
detected in the area by Ft. Worth radar, but they dissappeared off the
scope shortly before midnight.  The weather observations at Waco showed
a high overcast, lght southwest winds and a temperature at midnight of
87 degrees. There had been a trace of rain from earlier thunderstorms.
	"Characteristic of all thunderstorms is the rain shaft falling from the
center or forward protion of the storm, bringing cooler rain and air
from the cold temperatures of the higher portions of the cloud.  This
cold rush of air and rain evaporating moisture into the air as it
descends offsets the usual heating effect of descending air.  The rain
shafts were seen on the Fort Worth radar until near midnight, and then
they disappeared.
	"It may be that the downward thrust of air continued even after the
rain ended.  In so doing, it would heat at the rate of 5.5 degrees F for
every 1,000 feet of fall.
	"The downward force of this air from the old dried-up thunderstorm must
have been fierce, for heated air tends to rise, not fall.  The bases of
the thunderstorms that night were 8,000 to 10,000 feet above the
ground.  If the air temperature in the dissipating cloud at a height of
20,000 feet was 20 to 25 degrees F, then the falling air would be heated
by compression another 110 degrees by the time it reached the ground and
this, added to the initial temperature, would be close to the 140
observed on the thermometer at the bait shop.
	"Except for the film story on file at the television station in Ft.
Worth, there is no other record of this most unusual Texas storm."

End of story.

All things being as they are, possibilities do exist.  I know that from
living in all parts of Texas, as far as the weather is concerned,
anything is possible.  Just glad I wasn't in Lake Whitney on that normal
Texas night.

Mark Thornsburg
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