Severe Weather in Texas: 2012
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 9, 2012: Supercells. South Texas. Squall-line thunderstorms, hail, and an EF-1 tornado hit southeast of Alice International Airport and parts of Robstown, causing an estimated $5 million in damage. Other straight-line winds and hail caused a total damage of $8.66 million.
March 29, 2012: Hail. McAllen. Strong thunderstorms, with wind gusts over 70 mph at Edinburgh Airport, and severe hail up to 2.75 inches caused $50 million in property damage to homes and $1 million to crops. Rainfall between 4-6 inches fell in less than two hours, causing $5 million in flood damage.
April 16, 2012: Tornadoes. Flash Floods. Gregory. Thunderstorms along the Coastal Bend caused four tornadoes, including and EF-1 in Portland, two EF-0 tornadoes in Gregory, and another in Kleberg County. The Portland tornado caused $2 million in damage to homes and property. Around 80 percent of all homes in Gregory were flooded when storms dumped 2-6 inches of rain; some locations received up to 15 inches over several hours. Total damages topped $8.3 million.
April 29, 2012: Hail. Doud. Several severe storms blew up in West Texas near Lubbock with damaging hail and winds. Hailstones up to 4.5 inches fell in Whitharral, and wind gusts up to 95 mph near Wolfforth tore apart homes and cars. Damage estimates were $20 million from hail in Doud and more than $5 million from wind.
November 22, 2012: Fog. Winnie, Chambers County. Dense fog early Thanksgiving morning caused a massive 150-car pileup on both sides of Interstate-10, causing two deaths and 80 injuries, 12 serious. Vehicular damage was $6 million.
December 19, 2012: Dust Storm. Lubbock. A strong Pacific front kicked up winds up to 70 mph, reducing visibility below 1/2 mile for more than 5 hours, the longest such event since 1977; property damage, $1 million.
December 25, 2012: Heavy Snow. Plano. A moderate cold front and minor storms in North Texas produced wrap-around snow between 3-6 inches that caused 89 traffic accidents and costing $1.2 million.
