A tight surface pressure gradient behind a strong cold front, along with cold air damming and funneling through Guadalupe Pass, resulted in high winds.
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.
The episode as NWS MAF wrote it up.
A tight surface pressure gradient behind a strong cold front, along with cold air damming and funneling through Guadalupe Pass, resulted in high winds.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 31, 10:42 PM MST, 2 hours 8 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 1142 PM CST SAT DEC 31 2011 .DISCUSSION... SEE AVIATION DISCUSSION BELOW && .AVIATION... A COLD FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO RESULT IN BREEZY NORTH NORTHEAST WINDS AT MOST TERMINALS LATE THIS EVENING. THE STRONGEST GUSTS...NEAR 30 KT...WILL ONLY PERSIST ANOTHER HOUR OR SO AT MAF. THE FRONT WILL PASS OVER FST AROUND 07Z. THE WINDS WILL BEGIN TO SUBSIDE THROUGH THE EARLY MORNING HOURS AND BECOME MORE EASTERLY AFTER SUNRISE. CLEAR SKIES ARE ANTICIPATED. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 818 PM CST SAT DEC 31 2011/ UPDATE... A MINOR UPDATE HAS BEEN SENT TO INCREASE WINDS SLIGHTLY WITH FROPA. DISCUSSION... THE COLD FRONT IS NOW ENTERING THE NORTHERN PERMIAN BASIN AND NORTHERN LEA COUNTY THIS EVENING...WITH SIGNIFICANT 3 HR PRESSURE FALLS (~11 MB) STILL BEING OBSERVED OVER THE EASTERN PANHANDLE. ESTIMATES FROM RADAR INDICATE THE FRONT IS MOVING AROUND 40 MPH. THIS SHOULD RESULT IN FROPA FOR MAF AROUND 03-04Z. ALTHOUGH PRESSURE RISES WILL LIKELY DECREASE A BIT AS THE FRONT SLIDES SOUTH...THE RUC13 STILL SUGGESTS A TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL BE DRAPED ACROSS THE PERMIAN BASIN AROUND 06Z. A STRONG NORTHERLY LLJ WILL ALSO BE PRESENT OVER THE LATTER REGION. WE HAVE INCREASED WINDS SLIGHTLY FROM SE NM THROUGH THE PERMIAN BASIN...AND THE WESTERN LOW ROLLING PLAINS. GUSTS MAY BRIEFLY EXCEED 40 MPH BEHIND THE FRONT ACROSS THE PERMIAN BASIN AND WESTERN LOW ROLLING PLAINS FROM 04-07Z. ALL UPDATED PRODUCTS HAVE BEEN SENT. && .MAF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NM...NONE. TX...NONE. && 76
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 1241 PM CST SAT DEC 31 2011 NMZ027>029-033-034-TXZ045>048-050>053-057>063-067>070-074-075- 079>082-258-011845- GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS OF EDDY COUNTY-EDDY COUNTY PLAINS- NORTHERN LEA COUNTY-CENTRAL LEA COUNTY-SOUTHERN LEA COUNTY-GAINES- DAWSON-BORDEN-SCURRY-ANDREWS-MARTIN-HOWARD-MITCHELL- VAN HORN AND HIGHWAY 54 CORRIDOR-REEVES COUNTY AND UPPER TRANS PECOS- LOVING-WINKLER-ECTOR-MIDLAND-GLASSCOCK-WARD-CRANE-UPTON-REAGAN- DAVIS/APACHE MOUNTAINS AREA-PECOS-PRESIDIO VALLEY-MARFA PLATEAU- BIG BEND AREA-TERRELL-GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS- 1241 PM CST SAT DEC 31 2011 /1141 AM MST SAT DEC 31 2011/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO...SOUTHWEST TEXAS AND WEST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. THIS PRODUCT...ALONG WITH OTHER WATCHES...WARNINGS...ADVISORIES... AND STATEMENTS ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN MIDLAND CAN BE FOUND ON THE INTERNET AT /LOWER CASE/ HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/MIDLAND
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Sustained northeast winds of 45-51 mph occurred in Guadalupe Pass for 4 consecutive hours.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, January 2012
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: 356197.