Tornado and Hail in Texas, June 1, 2005

Widespread damage was reported by the Sheriff's Department across the western part of Llano County. Trees were blown over by winds from the line of thunderstorms. Also, widespread damage to roofs was noted.

Storms from a mesoscale complex that formed in the Texas Panhandle arrived in the Texas Hill Country shortly after midnight. The line stretched from Llano to Fredericksburg to Kerrville to Leakey and Rocksprings, moving toward the southeast with speeds varying at times from 25 to 45 mph. The most intense and widespread damage appeared to take place across Gillespie County. In the northwest part of the county several trees were blown over onto FM648 and blocked the road until they were removed. Minor damage was noted southeastward to near US290 where severe damage again was seen around the Gillespie County airport, just southwest of Fredericksburg. The roof was lifted off the airport terminal building with major water damage to the interior. A light standard was blown over just outside the terminal. Further down the runway the severe winds had blown in the doors of a hangar and had damaged five aircraft. One of the five was considered a total loss. The airport manager reported that it took him over 3 hours to drive the 8 miles to the terminal because so many roads were covered with debris and flood waters. This damage was due to thunderstorm winds with embedded downbursts as all of the damage was laid down pointing toward the southeast. Widespread minor damage to tree limbs and spotty severe damage continued along US290 from Fredericksburg to near Stonewall. It continued from Fredericksburg southwest to the Kerr County line and to the southeast along FM1347 beyond Cain City to near Luckenbach. Again all damaged trees and limbs were oriented toward the southeast indicated severe thunderstorm wind damage.

Widespread severe damage from the line of thunderstorms was also found along SH27 between Center Point and Comfort in Kendall County. Large tree limbs were knocked out of trees and healthy mesquite trees of up to 8 inches in diameter were broken off above the ground or blown over completely. This level of damage continued eastward to just beyond Comfort. It appeared to stretch southward from this portion of SH27 for around 4 miles.

The thunderstorm line produced spotty wind damage in Kerr County. Most of the damage was in the area around Kerrville. It generally involved small to medium sized tree branches blown down by winds of 40 to 50 mph. A few trees were blown down that suggested winds reached at or above 60 mph. As in Gillespie County, the damage was laid down pointing toward the southeast, showing the cause to be severe thunderstorm winds.

An NWS survey found evidence of a tornado that struck at the southeast end of the wind damage area in Kendall County, about one mile south of the Waring exit off IH10. Trees at one home in this area again showed severe damage with many broken off above the ground and others blown over. However in this one case the tree limbs and trees were not oriented toward the southeast but instead were generally laid down in all different directions. The home within 50 yards of the damage area suffered no damage at all. This change in orientation, along with the very narrow area, the well defined nature of the path, and stronger level of damage, led the team to conclude that the damage was caused by a small and short-lived tornado. The tornado was rated as F0.