Severe Thunderstorm Hits San Angelo, Others Likely Later Today

This morning at 3:06 a.m., a severe thunderstorm developed in the San Angelo area. Homes and businesses across the city, as well as the surrounding areas, experienced power outages.

According to Fred Hernandez, American Electric Power manager of community affairs for San Angelo, up to 4,200 customers lost power. However, as of around 9:30 a.m., AEP has brought that number down to 1,000. The company is currently attempting to restore power to customers on an individual basis.

“Our guys are prepared and we have plans in place to deal with these type of contingencies,” Hernandez said.  "Of course, our crews worked through the night to help restore power; we’ll continue to work [and] try to get everybody back restored. We appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding.”

Hernandez encouraged the public to contact AEP if individuals still do not have working electricity after the storm. Call the company at (877) 373-4858 to alert them if you are still having this problem.

Besides power outages, San Angelo was fortunate to avoid major storm damage last night. Although winds reached speeds of 66 mph last night, representatives of the National Weather Service and San Angelo’s emergency management coordinator Steve Mild claim that the city did not even sustain major hail or wind damage.

“Other than the power outages, the only damage that I’ve been made aware of is just some minor tree damage here and there,” Mild said. “The storm wasn’t anything that I would call out of the ordinary. It did pop up fast, which is a normal thing for this time of the year with the type of weather system that we have. At this time of the year, you always have the potential for any storm that might occur to possibly be dangerous--could possibly result in tornados. But we once again dodged a bullet last night."

However, NWS warning and coordination meteorologist Hector Guerrero said that the NWS is expecting additional severe weather late this afternoon and in the evening.

“After you have this kind of rain like we had last night, the atmosphere still has to destabilize again,” Guerrero said. “That’s the question for tonight. We could see a repeat; there’s a strong upper level storm system, upper level disturbance that will be moving across the area... That could bring another round of storms producing large hail damage, winds, and a few tornados.”

For tips involving severe storm safety, check out San Angelo LIVE!’s previous article concerning the subject.