Texas Climate Report: May 1997

May began with a cold front extending all the way across Texas, from El Paso through Tyler. The east-west orientation of the front caused temperatures to be relatively uniform in this direction as well. High temperatures in the 60°F-70°F range were observed in the northern Panhandle; 70°F-80°F for Lubbock and Dallas; 80°F-90°F for San Antonio, Austin and Houston; and above 90°F for Laredo and Brownsville in the first few days of May. It was during this time that the lowest temperature in Texas this month was recorded in Dalhart when 30°F was observed on the 3rd. Widespread precipitation and thunderstorms associated with this front occurred over Central and East Texas. The drier air behind this cold front brought sunny skies over most of Texas for the rest of the first week of May. Two more fronts however passed through during the second week and into the middle of May as both San Angelo and San Antonio saw thunderstorms produce 1.74" and 1.28" of rain respectively.

Towards the end of the month, portions of Harris County received nearly six inches of rain in downpours on the 24th which resulted in flooding of streets and homes. The highest temperature for Texas this month was 103°F in Laredo on the 25th. This was only the start of a week which brought devastating weather to the Lone Star State, a week that will never be forgotten. The afternoon of Tuesday May 27th saw intense storms cut across Central Texas. Winds of 125 mph uprooted trees in San Antonio and downed power lines as a strong thunderstorm passed through the region, leaving nearly 100,000 people without power.

It was during this same afternoon that tornadoes tore into the heart of Texas as a path of devastation was left along I-35 between Waco and Austin. Eleven tornadoes were reported in McLennan, Bell, Williamson and Travis Counties, five of which resulted in damage and injuries. An F5 tornado (the largest and most destructive on the Fujita scale) which was a half-mile wide tore through the town of Jarrell, leaving almost nothing to be salvaged and killing 27 people. Later that afternoon Cedar Park and the northwestern part of Austin were hit hard as three more lives were lost due to the passage of other twisters. Later that evening, more storms in Limestone and Freestone Counties reported baseball-sized hail.

After experiencing only the third F5 tornado in Texas over the past decade, the residents of Jarrell became unnerved again on the 30th as funnel clouds were reported from Moody to Jarrell. Strong winds blew down a barn near Fort Hood and damaged roofs in the Lake Belton area. Luckily, no more injuries were reported from this storm.

Monthly Summary for Selected Cities

Monthly Extremes

New Monthly Records

Climatic Averages for June