Storm spawns tornadoes

A Saturday afternoon storm system produced tornadic active that tore across part of Donley County.

The storm was first warned by National Weather Service in Amarillo as it entered in to the county near Brice. When emergency personnel spotted rotation, storm sirens were sounded in Clarendon, Howardwick, and Hedley as the system approached.

The NWS reported this week that three separate tornadoes occurred Saturday afternoon with the first being an EF-1 just south of US 287 between Lelia Lake and Hedley about 2:20 p.m. and lasting for 18 minutes as it tracked northeast.

A second EF-1 tornado occurred at 2:40 p.m. and continued for 27 minutes, continuing the northeast track into Collingsworth County. The third tornado was an EF-0 that occurred west of Shamrock and was on the ground for about 11 minutes.

Clarendon Fire Chief Jeremy Powell said property damage from the storm was first reported on County Road U between CR 21 and CR 22 where there was significant damage to large trees being uprooted or broken off, includin trees in excess of two feet in diameter.

One home’s roof was damaged and lost decking. A large barn was gone, and metal roofing was removed from others. Power lines were also downed.

As the storm went over FM 1932 it blew away a carport and took down more power lines. An outbuilding was pulled up and blown away, and a small tree was damaged.

At CR 25, a large barn suffered significant damage, and a small outbuilding was blown away. Power lines were downed, and large trees with diameters bigger than three feet were uprooted.

At FM 273, a home was damaged by hail, and high winds, and large tree branches were broken and trees uprooted.

As the storm moved out of the county near CR P and into Collingsworth County, there was large hail damage to a home with windows being broken, a large tree was blown over, and a large limb was blown from a tree.

Powell said hail damage was reported over a large portion of the county with the largest hail being near the path of the tornado. Hail was noted to exceed 2.5 inches in diameter in this area.

Rain reports were noted to be as little as a few tenths to over two inches in places across the county.

The Donley County Sheriff’s Office reminds citizens that storm sirens are blown when there is an immediate threat and that citizens should take cover immediately and stay there until the sirens are silenced. Do not call the sheriff’s office to inquire about the sirens.