Severe Weather in Texas: 2011

Severe weather in Texas can be categorized by two factors: loss of life and the cost of damage estimating over $1 million. The following events were included because they caused an extensive amount of destruction and in some cases, fatalities were also a result of the severe weather.

January 8, 2011: Heavy Snow. Sherman. Between 3-7 inches of snow fell across Northeast Texas, causing hundreds of vehicle accidents, including more than 40 in Sherman and one fatality. Total damage, $1 million.

February 27, 2011: Wildfire. West Texas. High winds and temperatures produced a series of wildfire complexes. The costliest was in Tanglewood, burning 1,659 acres and destroying 26 homes at a cost of $25 million. The biggest was in Willow Creek, burning 25,310 acres and 29 homes at a cost of $10 million. A combination of fires near Lubbock, Matador, Post, and Levelland burned 60,500 acres and several urban dwellings, costing $3.45 million.

March 11, 2011: Wildfire. Aransas. High heat, dry air, and high winds produced several fires in North-Central Texas. More than 10,000 acres burned, including fields of hay bales in Aransas worth $4 million. Three injuries were reported; other property losses were around $1 million.

April 6, 2011: Wildfire. Swenson. A wildfire near Swenson was spawned during critical fire conditions due to a cutting torch. The fire burned for 15 days, burning 122,500 acres of grass and ranchland; damage, $2.54 million.

April 9-13, 2011: Wildfire. Possum Kingdom Lake. Drought and high winds helped spark a massive fire complex that burned for 16 days, destroying 167 homes, 126 other buildings, and 90 percent of Possum Kingdom State Park-- about 126,734 acres total. Damage was $120 million, not including the estimated $11 million needed to combat the fire, nor the loss of cattle.

April 9, 2011: Wildfire. West Texas. Dry conditions near the Pecos River spawned two fires near Midland and Marfa. The former burned 16,500 acres and 34 homes, causing 500 evacuations; the latter was caused by an electrical problem and burned 314,444 acres, 41 homes, and hundreds of cattle and utility poles. Total property damage was estimated at $7.7 million.

April 15, 2011: Wildfire. Cisco. Dry conditions caused several wildfires in North Texas. The largest was near Cisco, burning around 2,000 acres and destroying five homes. The fires burned 18,000 acres, costing $1.01 million.

April 17, 2011: Wildfire. Oak Hill. Dry conditions and human negligence combined to cause a wildfire in Travis County. Although it covered only 100 acres, it destroyed 11 homes and damage estimates reached $2 million.

April 19, 2011: Hail. North Texas. A series of supercells brought widespread hail ranging from 0.75 inches to 3.5 inches over the course of the 5-hour storm. Damage was around $1 million.

April 25-26, 2011: Supercells. East Texas. An upper level trough brought severe storms to East Texas for two days. On the 25th, 3 tornadoes touched down in Cherokee and Angelina counties, including two EF-1s; moderate hail was seen and downburst winds of 90-plus mph were reported. The next day, 10 tornadoes were reported, two of which were EF-1s near Ben Wheeler and Groesbeck, causing injuries. Total damage, $2.718 million.

May 1, 2011: Thunderstorm Wind. Clyde. Isolated thunderstorms popped up in the Big Country, bringing hail and strong winds. In Clyde, straight-line winds were reported in excess of 100 mph; damage, $2 million.

May 11, 2011: Thunderstorm Wind. Interstate-20 Corridor. Scattered thunderstorms from Killeen to Burns caused strong winds, hail, flash flooding, and an EF-0 tornado near Lake Kiowa; damage, $1 million.

June 18, 2011: Thunderstorm Wind. Meunster.  Thunderstorms followed by a strong microburst in the early evening and straight-line winds greater than 80 mph caused widespread damage in excess of $1.36 million.

June 20-21, 2011: Thunderstorm Wind. East Texas.  Severe thunderstorms culminated in strong downburst winds, hail, and an EF-0 tornado. Winds greater than 80 mph occurred in Nacogdoches and San Augustine, a tornado in Shelby County, and moderate hail; damage, $1.04 million.

June 28, 2011: Thunderstorm Wind. Titus County. Thunderstorms with 65 mph winds caused widespread damage at a cost of $1.6 million.

August 11, 2011: Flash Flood. Lubbock. Scattered thunderstorms brought heavy rain, wind, and hail to the Lubbock area. Some areas received 1-4 inches of rain in an hour, causing high water damage to homes and vehicles. Farm and weather equipment in Dimmit were damaged by 90 mph winds. Total damage, $1.175 million.

September-October 2011: Wildfires. Bastrop County. Three separate fires that began Sept. 4 merged into a single blaze east of the city of Bastrop and became known as the Bastrop County Complex fire. The fire destroyed 1,691 homes and much of Bastrop State Park was burned. Declared the most destructive wildfire in Texas history, it was finally extinguished on Oct. 29.

October 9, 2011: Tornado. San Antonio. An EF-1 tornado with winds up to 90-100 mph tore apart roofs, utility poles, and vehicles; damage, $1 million.