High Wind, Winkler
- When
- January 17, 3:00 PM CST to 6:30 PM CST
- Where
- Winkler forecast zone
- Measured
- 61 kt (70 mph)
- Property damage
- $35,000
- Coordinates
- 31.850, -103.048 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind in Texas, January 17, 1996
A 300-foot tall light stanchion crashed to the ground at the Wink Football Stadium. At 1727 CST the peak wind gust of 70 mph occurred at the Winkler County Airport and the visibility was reduced to 3/4 mile from 1509-1640 CST.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $35,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS MAF wrote it up.
A 300-foot tall light stanchion crashed to the ground at the Wink Football Stadium. At 1727 CST the peak wind gust of 70 mph occurred at the Winkler County Airport and the visibility was reduced to 3/4 mile from 1509-1640 CST. In Kermit poles were blown down around town.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- High Wind
- Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- High Wind in Texas, January 17, 1996
- Blizzard in South Dakota, January 17 to 18, 1996
- High Wind in Kansas, January 17 to 18, 1996
- Winter Storm in Nebraska, January 17 to 18, 1996
- Tornado in Texas, January 17, 1996
- Tornado in Texas, January 17, 1996
- Blizzard in Minnesota, January 17 to 18, 1996
- Dust Storm in Arizona, January 17, 1996
- High Wind in Iowa, January 17 to 19, 1996
- Tornado in Texas, January 17, 1996
- High Wind in Texas, January 17 to 18, 1996
- Ice Storm in Minnesota, January 17 to 18, 1996
More
Every storm in Texas in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, January 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5552983.