Strong winds developed over South Texas the night of January 21st through the daytime of January 22nd after the passage of a cold front. The surface low associated with the front was unusually deep this far south in the US and created a very strong pressure gradient over the region. Also, as daytime heating progressed, stronger winds several thousand feet off the surface mixed with the air near the surface, and increased wind speeds and wind gusts even more. The morning sounding at Corpus Christi showed a wind of 60 knots (69 mph) 3000 feet above the surface! As a result, winds gusted over 50 mph for some locations (mainly southeast portions of the Coastal Bend), while most of south Texas saw gusts greater than 40 mph.
In addition to the strong winds across the area, the combination of the winds and extremely low relative humidity values created an extreme fire danger across the region. Numerous grass fires were reported across the region during the day.
Two other unusual impacts occurred as a result of the strong winds. The first being "blow out" of water along the western portions of bays and waterways along the coast. Low water levels were noted at several locations along the bays. Additionally, winds created a small seiche on lake Corpus Christi pushing water up against and over the Wesley Seale Dam. This picture is a side-by-side comparison from Violet Andrews Park in Portland, with a normal water level on the left and the water level observed on January 22nd on the right.
| Indian Point Park | Portland |
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The water level trace just outside of the Wesley Seale Dam off of Lake Corpus Christi. The water level rose almost 6 feet through the morning and early afternoon before subsiding.
This wind event was well forecast by models and forecasters at the Corpus Christi forecast office, with the first mention of the potential for a wind advisory and red flag warning 5 days in advance of the event.
...24 Hour Peak Wind Gusts... Location Speed Time/Date Provider ...Texas... ...Aransas County... Aransas County Airport 44 MPH 0954 AM 01/22 ASOS 6 SSE Austwell 43 MPH 1159 AM 01/22 RAWS ...Bee County... 3 SW Beeville 46 MPH 1040 AM 01/22 AWOS ...Calhoun County... 14 ENE Fulton 42 MPH 0212 PM 01/22 RAWS 2 NW Seadrift 42 MPH 1106 AM 01/22 NOS-NWLON Port Lavaca 41 MPH 1015 AM 01/22 AWOS ...Jim Wells County... Alice International Arpt 53 MPH 0103 PM 01/22 ASOS Naval Auxilary Landing Field 52 MPH 0122 PM 01/22 ASOS ...Kleberg County... Kingsville Nas 56 MPH 1024 AM 01/22 ASOS ...La Salle County... Cotulla-lasalle County Airpo 51 MPH 0946 AM 01/22 ASOS ...Live Oak County... 2 N George West 41 MPH 0206 PM 01/22 RAWS ...Nueces County... Corpus Christi 54 MPH 0939 AM 01/22 ASOS Robstown 49 MPH 0935 AM 01/22 AWOS 7 SE Aransas Pass 48 MPH 1000 AM 01/22 NOS-NWLON 3 S Flour Bluff 48 MPH 1007 AM 01/22 WXFLOW 1 SE Flour Bluff 46 MPH 0936 AM 01/22 WXFLOW Port Aransas 41 MPH 1255 PM 01/22 AWOS Corpus Christi Nas 39 MPH 1046 PM 01/21 ASOS ...San Patricio County... 4 NNW Ingleside 53 MPH 1115 AM 01/22 AWOS ...Victoria County... Regional Airport 47 MPH 1011 AM 01/22 ASOS 4 ENE Victoria 40 MPH 0104 PM 01/22 RAWS ...Webb County... 1 NE Laredo 45 MPH 0145 PM 01/22 AWOS ...Maritime Stations... 5 SE Flour Bluff 51 MPH 1007 AM 01/22 18 E Loyola Beach 49 MPH 0936 AM 01/22 7 SE Flour Bluff 48 MPH 1006 AM 01/22 Bob Hall Pier 47 MPH 1012 AM 01/22 3 WNW Corpus Christi 45 MPH 0930 AM 01/22 Mustang Island 85a 44 MPH 0435 AM 01/22 8 SE Aransas Pass 43 MPH 1200 PM 01/22 Portland 42 MPH 1230 PM 01/22 3 WNW Corpus Christi 40 MPH 0435 AM 01/22 5 SE Flour Bluff 38 MPH 0447 AM 01/22 4 ESE Flour Bluff 38 MPH 0412 AM 01/22 10 SE Chapman Ranch 30 MPH 0412 AM 01/22 10 SE Chapman Ranch 30 MPH 0412 AM 01/22 Observations are collected from a variety of sources with varying equipment and exposures. Not all data listed are considered official.
NWUS54 KCRP 230410
LSRCRP
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
1010 PM CST SUN JAN 22 2017
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1000 AM NON-TSTM WND DMG 2 SW CORPUS CHRISTI 27.73N 97.45W
01/22/2017 NUECES TX BROADCAST MEDIA
REPORTS OF DOWNED POWERLINES. CAUSED SMALL GRASS FIRE.
1231 PM WILDFIRE 4 WNW PORTLAND 27.90N 97.39W
01/22/2017 E5 ACRE SAN PATRICIO TX NWS EMPLOYEE
GRASSFIRE IN OPEN FIELD
1248 PM SEICHE 4 SSW MATHIS 28.04N 97.85W
01/22/2017 SAN PATRICIO TX CITY OFFICIAL
WIND CAUSING SPILLOVER AT WESLEY SEALE DAM OF AROUND
825 CFS
1257 PM WILDFIRE 4 NE REFUGIO 28.35N 97.23W
01/22/2017 E96 ACRE REFUGIO TX FOREST SERVICE
TFS REPORTS AN ESTIMATED 96 ACRE WILDFIRE OCCURRED
EARLIER TODAY
0130 PM WILDFIRE 1 S SINTON 28.02N 97.51W
01/22/2017 E5 ACRE SAN PATRICIO TX PUBLIC
0400 PM WILDFIRE ALICE 27.76N 98.07W
01/22/2017 E100 ACRE JIM WELLS TX DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
UPDATE...TFS ESTIMATES FIRE TO BE 100 ACRES.
PREVIOUS...FIRE IN FIELD NEAR COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS ON
SOUTH...SOUTHWEST SIDE OF CITY HAS FORCED EVACUATIONS OF
SEVERAL RESIDENCES
0749 PM WILDFIRE 1 SSE ST. PAUL 28.09N 97.55W
01/22/2017 E50 ACRE SAN PATRICIO TX FOREST SERVICE
TFS REPORTS ESTIMATED 50 ACRE WILDIRE NEAR HWY 181 NEAR
ST PAUL. 0 PERCENT CONTAINED AS OF WRITING
Infrared Satellite and 500mb Height 
US Surface Chart, 6am Jan 22, 2017 
South Central US Surface Chart, 6am Jan 22, 2017 
| 925 MB - 12Z 01/22/17 | 850 MB - 12Z 01/22/17 |
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| 700 MB - 12Z 01/22/17 | 500 MB - 12Z 01/22/17 |
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| KCRP SKEWT - 12Z 01/22/2017 | KCRP SKEWT - 00Z 01/23/2017 |
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