‘Golf Balls’ Fell from the Sky

TRAVIS RUIZ/The GDH
Tri-County Electric's fleet was severly damaged after the severe thunderstorms on Saturday, June 13. Approximately 20 windows were damaged. 

By TRAVIS RUIZ
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The city of Guymon was lucky on Saturday night as a large super cell thunderstorm narrowly missed the city limits and hit the city of Hooker head on with golf ball sized hail.
The storm caused heavy damage.
"It just barely missed the city of Guymon," said Sarah Johnson, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Amarillo. "It went just east of the city."
The city only experienced about ten minutes of high winds and light rain, missing the brunt of the storm.
"We just got lucky," said Harold Tyson of Texas County Emergency Management. "There were reports just right outside of town, but it missed us."
According to the National Weather Service in Amarillo, Texas, the storm was a left split super-cell. A left super-cell storm is known for producing large hail. The largest reports of hail were 8:45 p.m. Reports from spotters in the field confirmed golf ball sized-hail five miles southeast of the city limits of Guymon. In Hooker, baseball size hail was spotted which caused much damage throughout the city.
 Damage to windows, windshields and house siding were reported in the Hooker city limits. Tri-County Electric, while having no power outages, had extensive damage to their fleet of vehicles parked at their warehouse and out in the field. Windshields were hit on several vehicles, putting them out of service.
“Our system did exceptionally well during the storm,” said Zac Perkins, Tri-County Electric manager of Communications and Member Relations. “We are still assessing the damage to our fleet at this time, but it is extensive. In our warehouse yard alone, 20 vehicle windows were broken.”
High winds were also part of the storm in Hooker. Readings from the mesonet station showed gusts of approximately 60-mph. The storm also extended to other portions of Texas Co., including Tyrone where there were also reports of golf ball size hail.