High Wind, El Paso
- When
- January 17, 9:00 AM MST to 8:30 PM MST
- Where
- El Paso forecast zone
- Measured
- 75 kt (86 mph)
- Deaths
- 3 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $10 million
High Wind in Texas, January 17, 1996
High winds did widespread but mostly minor damage across west Texas and Southern New Mexico. The most serious incident was a roof partially ripped off a supermarket in Anthony, TX killing three people.
The toll
- Deaths
- 3
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $10 million
- 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 EPZ wrote it up.
High winds did widespread but mostly minor damage across west Texas and Southern New Mexico. The most serious incident was a roof partially ripped off a supermarket in Anthony, TX killing three people. On Fort Bliss, at least 6.9 million dollars of damage was done, 80% as a result of damaged roofs. High winds also ripped much of the roof from the Camlu retirement village in Central El Paso.
Event by event
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The people who died
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Wind, El Paso | 1996-01-17 | 33 | Male | Business | Direct |
| High Wind, El Paso | 1996-01-17 | 21 | Male | Business | Direct |
| High Wind, El Paso | 1996-01-17 | 57 | Female | Business | Direct |
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
- 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
- Flooding in Ohio, January 17 to 23, 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: 5537602.