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August 5, 2008

High winds cause damage

By Rich Flowers News Editor

After a still and sweltering Sunday afternoon, winds kicked-up in Henderson County downing tree-limbs and in some cases knocking out power.

The county got little rain out of the weather event that’s not that uncommon this time of year, Jennifer Dunn of the National Weather Service said.

“We call them pulse thunderstorms,” Dunn said. “Usually they come up fast then go down fast.”

Dunn said the weather pattern in east Texas Sunday was just right for volatile weather.

“We were kind of on the southern end of an upper high ridge. A weak disturbance came through and sparked off some thunderstorms. I believe there was wider coverage Sunday than in your typical summer thunderstorm,” Dunn said.

The reports of strong, swirling winds were widely scattered in the county. At 7:19 p.m. Henderson County Sheriff’s Department dispatch received a call that power lines were down at KILO park near Lake Palestine. A short time later, Stuart Street in Brownsboro had a snapped power line.

At 7:50 p.m. Murchison Fire Department was dispatched to a downed trees call on Highway 31E and Farm to Market Road 317.

Within a few minutes the Eustace Fire Department responded to a downed tree call near the Meredith Street and Cook Street intersection. Several other weather related calls were fielded over the next hour.

Things were relatively quiet in Athens, but tree limbs were downed on Highway 31 and on LaCosta Street.

“With afternoon storms, in kind of a dry environment, your biggest threat is going to be winds,” Dunn said. “We were not in an environment that would support tornados and it was much too hot for much hail production.”

Athens recorded only 15 hundredths of an inch of rain in July, the driest month of the year. Only a slight change is predicted through Wednesday as temperatures stay in the high 90s.

“You’re actually pretty fortunate there,” Dunn said. “You had quite a bit of rain in the spring and are still a little above normal for the year. Places just to the west of you are far behind their normal rainfall totals.”

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