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TEXAS TORNADO WEIRDNESS

From June, 2001 WEIRD TEXAS magazine.

Something about the weather has always fascinated me. Perhaps it is intriguing because so much of what makes different parts of the world, well, different, has to do with weather and climate. But when it comes to the study of weather and climate weather seems to be the one that is most dramatic.

So what is the difference between the two? Someone in a geography class of mine said it best “climate is what you expect, weather is what you get.” In Texas some of the weather we have experienced has been … 13 1/2 inches of snow one day in San Antonio (Jan 1985). On a clear August day, in the 1880’s , ice cold water rushed down the Concho River killing numerous people. It was later discovered that a distant hailstorm was to blame. Lake Whitney experienced a heat storm with 80 to 100 mph winds that reached 140 degrees scorching cotton fields on June 15, 1960.

I have lived in Texas eleven years and I will never forget one day in the Spring of 1991 watching constant flashing of a Gulf Coast thunderstorm passing just south of Houston. Another time marble sized hail pounded down and bounced off ground in a storm that left Central Texas looking like it was hit with a snowstorm. I’ve seen unusually wet springs ended with an even more unusually dry summer. But one thing I have not seen is a tornado. Few weather events inspire more fear awe and curiosity than the powerful tornado — especially by those who experience the storms. This state is no stranger to tornadoes and the curious events that have taken place in and around them.

“All tornado phenomena can be explained — there is nothing that is mystical about them,” according to Al Moller at the National Weather Service office in Fort Worth. Explained maybe, but strange nonetheless. Here is a short list of what Texans have experienced… a 30,000 pound piece of machinery was moved during a Pampa tornado. Twin tornadoes hit Austin in 1922 and witnesses reported seeing the stream bed of the Colorado River as the tornado passed over near Deep Eddy Pool. A graduation invitation was imbedded in a 2 x 4 during the Hale Center twister of 1965. Scientists believe the force of the wind was so strong it pulled the wood grains apart allowing the paper to penetrate the wood.

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