Damaging Wind in Texas, July 6, 1998

A wet microburst hit the northwest side of Fort Stockton with damaging winds and blinding rains. Damage was scattered but locally impressive. The storm was moving from about 190 degrees with its first damage being apparently on the apex of the outflow. A strongly divergent pattern to the damage was noted with winds from 185 degrees on the west end versus 95 degrees on the east end. The damage path was approximately 3/4 mile wide.The apex of the outflow hit the La Quinta Hotel at the intersection of I-10 and U.S. 285. A large part of the roof was taken off the hotel. The roof was on the second story of the structure and was oriented such that it caught the wind along this apex. The section of roof covered 13 rooms on the second floor and was both a cover for the walkway and roof for the rooms. The roof section broke loose, went over the building and crashed into the parking lot on the other side. The roof section was moving fast enough to force itself under the rear tires of a vehicle and under a storage shed.To the east, other damage included a storage shed behind a car dealership that was broken loose from tie-down straps. The building was torn apart as it crossed a field with the roof catching in utility lines. A mobile home was rolled off its trailer at a Truck Stop. The main structure on a small lumber yard was destroyed by the winds as it took the corrugated metal roof off and pushed in an outside wall. Behind the lumber yard, much of a roof of storage building was torn off and trees were downed.The last damage on the extreme east side of the path was part of a convenience store roof that broke loose and struck the convenience store next door. The second store suffered large dents in its metal wall.A survey of the damage site was performed and an estimate of 85 mph winds was estimated at the La Quinta with 65 mph winds on the extreme east side of the damage.