000 NOUS44 KEWX 140305 PNSEWX NOUS 44 KEWX 261200 WRKPN1 TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-261300- PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 845 PM CST SAT JAN 13 2007 ...SURVEY OF THIS MORNINGS WIND DAMAGE IN SAN MARCOS... THIS AFTERNOON...A TEAM FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE...WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE SAN MARCOS EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT COORDINATOR... POLICE CHIEF AND FIRE CHIEF...COMPLETED A SURVEY OF DAMAGE CAUSED THIS MORNING BY STORMS IN THE SAN MARCOS AREA. THE DAMAGE EXTENDED ALONG A NORTH-TO-SOUTH PATH...BEGINNING ALONG IH-35 APPROXIMATELY ONE-QUARTER MILE SOUTH OF THE SAN MARCOS POLICE HEADQUARTERS BUILDING. TIN METAL ROOFS WERE TORN OFF SEVERAL BUILDINGS AND TOSSED SEVERAL HUNDRED FEET. DAMAGE WAS NOTED TO ROOFS AND EAVES AS WELL AS WALLS OF SOME BUILDINGS. THIS WAS ATTRIBUTED TO STRONG STRAIGHT-LINE THUNDERSTORM WINDS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF 70 TO 80 MPH...ALSO KNOWN AS DOWNBURST WINDS. TYPICALLY...ALL THE DAMAGE WAS BLOWN IN THE SAME DIRECTION...TOWARD THE NORTH. ANALYSIS OF THE GENERAL AREA OF DAMAGE SUGGESTS THAT THESE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WINDS CONTINUED FROM THE INITIAL DAMAGE LOCATION FOR APPROXIMATELY ONE MILE TO A RESIDENTIAL AREA. ALL ALONG THIS PATH THE TEAM SAW SECTIONS OF TIN RIPPED FROM ROOFS...WITH PIECES TOSSED SEVERAL HUNDRED FEET. AT ONE LOCATION A LARGE WOODEN DECK WAS TORN FROM A ONE-STORY BUILDING. AGAIN...ALL THE DEBRIS IN THIS MILE-LONG PATH WAS BLOWN IN THE SAME DIRECTION - TOWARD THE NORTH. MUCH MORE SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE WAS SEEN NEAR THE CENTER OF THIS PATH - AT POLICE HEADQUARTERS. JUST SOUTH OF THE BUILDING...METAL ROOFS HAD BEEN TORN OFF A STRUCTURE AND TOSSED TOWARD THE NORTH. IN THE SOUTH PARKING LOT ADJACENT TO THE BUILDING...THREE TELEPHONE POLES WERE BLOWN DOWN...ONE TOWARD THE WEST...ONE TOWARD THE NORTH...AND ONE TOWARD THE SOUTH. AN OFFICER WAS IN HIS VEHICLE AT 7:08 AM CST AS THE STORM STRUCK...PARKED NEXT TO A LARGE METAL BUILDING WHICH PARTLY PROTECTED IT. THE OFFICER REPORTED THAT VERY HIGH WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN BEGAN BLOWING FROM NORTH TO SOUTH...THEN ABRUPTLY CHANGED DIRECTION AND BEGAN BLOWING FROM SOUTH TO NORTH...ACCOMPANIED BY PENNY-SIZED HAIL. HIS CAR...IN SPITE OF BEING SOMEWHAT SHELTERED... WAS BADLY DAMAGED BY THE BLOWING DEBRIS. IN ALL...THIRTY-FIVE VEHICLES AT THE POLICE BUILDING SUSTAINED DAMAGE...WITH NUMEROUS DENTS AND LARGE GASHES IN CAR BODIES...AS WELL AS WINDOWS AND WINDSHIELDS FRACTURED. A LARGE AREA OF BRICK WAS EJECTED FROM AN UPPER PORTION OF THE BUILDING'S NORTH WALL. THE CONCLUSION OF THE SURVEY TEAM WAS THAT THIS DAMAGE AT THE POLICE HEADQUARTERS WAS DUE TO A SMALL AND SHORT-LIVED TORNADO THAT OCCURRED JUST BEHIND THE 70 TO 80 MPH THUNDERSTORM WINDS. DAMAGE WAS ALSO FOUND ABOUT 200 YARDS NORTH OF THE POLICE BUILDING AT A BUSINESS THAT MANUFACTURES LIGHTING FIXTURES. THIS WAS THOUGHT TO BE A SECOND TOUCHDOWN OF THE SMALL TORNADO. HERE A LARGE DUMPSTER WAS SPUN ALMOST 360 DEGREES AND SEVERAL TRAILERS WERE SLAMMED INTO EACH OTHER. A SINGLE-WIDE TRAILER WAS TIPPED OVER ON ITS SIDE. WINDOWS AND DOORS AT THE BUILDING WERE BROKEN...WITH SOME BLOWN INWARD AND SOME BLOWN OUTWARD. BASED ON THE TYPE AND LEVEL OF DAMAGE...THE TORNADO WAS RATED AN F1 ON THE FUJITA SCALE...AND AN EF1 ON THE NEW ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE. THE TORNADO PATH WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 100 YARDS WIDE AND THREE-TENTHS OF A MILE LONG.