|
Rain and flooding pound Alpine, Far West Texas
By Andrew Suber / Avalanche staff
On Wednesday, July 30, unusually strong thunderstorms rocked Alpine and resulted in record rainfall for that day.
As lightning flashed and thunder boomed, torrents of rain flooded the streets and caused the normally dry Alpine Creek to run. This temporarily blocked traffic at the intersections without bridges.
Despite the severe weather conditions, there were no traffic accidents in Alpine caused by the storm, according to the Brewster County Sheriff’s Department.
City Hall reported no property damage.
Pea-sized hail fell throughout town at the height of the storm. It was not a severe hailstorm for Far West Texas, however, where golf-ball sized hail is common. Vehicles and buildings damaged by the hail were not evident.
Gusts of 50 miles per hour buffeted buildings and people. The winds tore the roof off of a hillside home in Sunny Glen. Insulation and roofing material still litter the ground surrounding the home. No injuries were reported.
This thunderstorm resulted in record rainfalls for the date - 1. 37 inches fell on July 30, 1956; 1.42 inches fell during this storm. Both totals are far short of the largest one-day rainfall; a thunderstorm on June 15, 1968, yielded a whopping 3.13 inches of precipitation.
The average annual rainfall for Alpine is 16.09 inches.
“We’ve gotten a little more than 5 inches since May,” reported Brewster County rancher Trey Woodward. “Calamity Creek and Ash Creek are running strong down here. The rains have washed out some nice rocks too — even a little Woodward agate!”
“It’s been a wet year,” seconded Jan Woodward, Trey’s wife. “There’s plenty of grass for the cows, and the garden does well. Best of all, we get bragging rights over the rest of Texas. We get to tell them how cool and wet it is here.”
The couple runs the Woodward Ranch, 15 miles south of Alpine.
|
