Damaging Wind in Texas, August 15, 1997

A cell among a multicell cluster moving to the northeast in northern Pecos County produced microburst winds that damaged structures in the Girvin community. A 2-foot section of the south wall of a house was partly separated from the flooring as upward forces by the wind on the eaves tried to lift the wall from its connection with the floor. An old convenience store had 2/3 of its corrugated roof blown off by the wind and other parts of the roof curled up. A 30x10 foot goat pen was moved and overturned on the north end of the property. The pen was open on the south side allowing the wind to enter freely but the wind was trapped by the other walls. The pen was moved approximately 12 feet to the north and rolled 1/4 turn onto the back wall. All of the debris was blown to the northeast.The cluster of storms developed near the dry line and moved to the northeast at about 20 mph. The cell that caused the damage had indications of a weak elevated mesocyclone on the Midland 88D that dissipated before moving into the Girvin area. In the vicinity of the storms, surface temperatures were in the mid 90s with dew points in the lower 60s. The storm survey resulted in assigning the estimated wind speed of 60 mph.