Severe thunderstorms tore through southeast Texas Saturday night, leaving pockets of wind damage behind. I want to walk you through a few of the damage reports and then ask a quick favor at the end.
The image above shows the storm reports from Valentine’s night. The bluish dots represent hail reports, the white circles indicate straight-line wind damage, and the red circles in Louisiana mark tornado reports.
The forecast:
Going back to last week, we warned about the potential for severe weather moving into Houston Saturday night. While we said hail and even a tornado were possible, we emphasized that the primary threat would be damaging straight-line winds and that’s exactly what ended up impacting our area.
Valentine’s Night:
Thankfully no one was hurt, but the storms did cause damage. Below is a staircase at a Motel 6 in Webster. I was tracking these storms with Daji Aswad on KPRC 2 Saturday night, and the radar estimates were 50 to 70mph!
Straight line winds vs. tornadoes:
While we were under a tornado watch Saturday night and the National Weather Service did issue three tornado warnings, there were no confirmed tornado touchdowns in southeast Texas.
What we did see were multiple severe thunderstorm warnings for damaging winds, mainly between 6:00 and 8:30 p.m. The photos below are from the Sugar Land area and were sent in by Susan Watts. Around the time this damage occurred, a nearby sensor at Sugar Land Regional Airport measured a wind gust of 67 mph!
Everyone who sent pictures to me said, “A tornado caused this damage.” But there were no tornadoes in the Houston area Saturday night. How do we know? Look at the below image from the NWS.
Straight-line wind damage tends to look more organized, with debris often falling in the same general direction. Everything is essentially pushed straight downwind. Tornado damage, on the other hand, is much more chaotic. When you look at it from above, especially with drone footage, the differences become much easier to spot. Tornado damage often shows a curved or circular pattern.
The examples below show that contrast clearly. The tornado damage is from Cypress in 2024 and has a noticeable curved pattern. The downed fence from Pearland on Saturday, however, fell straight down, consistent with straight-line wind damage.
Does the distinction matter? For classification purposes, yes. But when it comes to impact, a spinning 100-mph wind and a straight 100-mph wind will cause the same level of damage and pose the same danger. Still, you’ll never hear someone say, “A strong wind damaged my house.” What you’ll hear instead is, “A tornado hit my house.”
Two things you can do for me while we wait for the next round of severe weather:
First, make sure you have the KPRC 2 Weather App. One of my favorite features is the location-based alerts. If you’re out and about and a tornado watch is issued for your area, you’ll get notified right away. You can then check our live radar to see where the storms are and how much time you have to prepare. And if a warning is issued for your location, you’ll be alerted immediately. Those notifications are based on where you are, so you’re always one step ahead of the storms.
Second, after the storms move through, please share your photos and videos at www.click2pins.com. What you send in helps us confirm what we’re seeing on radar and gives us a clearer picture of what’s happening on the ground.
If you’d like to see the preliminary individual storm and damage reports, click the highlighted words.
The KPRC 2 Weather Team is always here for you, tracking every storm and keeping you informed when it matters most. Day or night, our focus is on helping you stay safe and prepared.