Kopperl, Texas
Kopperl (pronounced KOP-er-ul) is an unincorporated community in Bosque County, Texas, United States. It lies on the northwestern end of Lake Whitney, and has an estimated population of 225.
Kopperl | |
|---|---|
Kopperl Location within the state of Texas Kopperl Kopperl (the United States) | |
| Coordinates: 32°04′12″N 97°30′14″W / 32.07000°N 97.50389°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Texas |
| County | Bosque |
| Elevation | 577 ft (176 m) |
| Population (2008 est.) | |
| • Total | 225 |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| ZIP codes | 76652 |
| Area code | 254 |
History edit
Kopperl was founded in 1881. Named after Galveston banker and railroad tycoon Moritz Kopperl, the town was established as a regional shipping point along the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway. Its population peaked at 329 in 1904 before declining to 225 by the 1970s, a figure it has maintained fairly consistently since.[1]
Shortly after midnight on June 15, 1960, a freak meteorological phenomenon, a heat burst, struck the community when a dying thunderstorm collapsed over Kopperl. The storm had rained itself out, and with little to no precipitation to cool the resulting downdrafts, superheated air descended upon the community in the form of extremely hot wind gusts up to 75 mph (121 km/h). The temperature increased rapidly, reportedly peaking near 140 °F (60 °C),[2] 20° above the official all-time high for the state of Texas and exceeding the highest official temperature recorded on Earth. The storm, known as "Satan's Storm" by locals, soon became part of local folklore.[3][4]
Kopperl was the town described in "Texas Trilogy", a song by Texas native Steve Fromholz and covered by Lyle Lovett.
Education edit
Kopperl is served by the Kopperl Independent School District.
Climate edit
The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen climate classification, Kopperl has a humid subtropical climate, Cfa on climate maps.[5]
| Climate data for Kopperl, U.S.A. (1908-present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 90 (32) | 97 (36) | 100 (38) | 103 (39) | 107 (42) | 114 (46) | 111 (44) | 112 (44) | 114 (46) | 101 (38) | 93 (34) | 91 (33) | 114 (46) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 57.5 (14.2) | 61.3 (16.3) | 68.5 (20.3) | 77.3 (25.2) | 83.9 (28.8) | 90.9 (32.7) | 95.7 (35.4) | 96.4 (35.8) | 89.0 (31.7) | 79.0 (26.1) | 68.1 (20.1) | 58.5 (14.7) | 77.2 (25.1) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 45.1 (7.3) | 48.8 (9.3) | 55.9 (13.3) | 64.8 (18.2) | 72.7 (22.6) | 80.0 (26.7) | 83.7 (28.7) | 84.0 (28.9) | 76.9 (24.9) | 66.5 (19.2) | 55.8 (13.2) | 46.3 (7.9) | 64.9 (18.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 32.6 (0.3) | 36.2 (2.3) | 43.3 (6.3) | 52.2 (11.2) | 61.6 (16.4) | 69.1 (20.6) | 71.7 (22.1) | 71.7 (22.1) | 64.8 (18.2) | 54.1 (12.3) | 43.5 (6.4) | 34.1 (1.2) | 52.9 (11.6) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −3 (−19) | −3 (−19) | 11 (−12) | 18 (−8) | 35 (2) | 38 (3) | 56 (13) | 51 (11) | 30 (−1) | 20 (−7) | 15 (−9) | −3 (−19) | −3 (−19) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 2.08 (53) | 2.67 (68) | 3.17 (81) | 2.72 (69) | 4.32 (110) | 4.42 (112) | 2.00 (51) | 2.26 (57) | 3.30 (84) | 3.62 (92) | 2.61 (66) | 2.53 (64) | 35.7 (907) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 0.2 (0.51) | 0.1 (0.25) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.1 (0.25) | 0.4 (1.01) |
| Source 1: [6] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: June record high[7][unreliable source?] | |||||||||||||
References edit
- ^ Karean Yancy (June 15, 2010). "KOPPERL, TX". tshaonline.org. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
- ^ James Spann (June 15, 2009). "The Kopperl Heat Burst: The Alabama Weather Blog". Alabamawx.com. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
- ^ "Freak Heat Wave Hits Lake Whitney". The Clifton Record. June 17, 1960. Retrieved September 11, 2017.(subscription required)
- ^ Bills, E. R. Texas Obscurities: Stories of the Peculiar, Exceptional & Nefarious. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2013.
- ^ "Kopperl, Texas Köppen Climate Classification". Weatherbase.com. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
- ^ "Kopperl, Texas Average Temperature". WeatherDB. Retrieved April 25, 2017.[dead link]
- ^ Petricic, Dusan (2000). "It's Raining Eels: A Compendium of Weird Weather". Scientific American Presents: 54–55. ISSN 1048-0943.
Further reading edit
- Tornadoes, Dark Days, Anomalous Precipitation and Related Weather Phenomena by William Corliss, Catalog of Geophysical Anomalies, 1983
- Extreme Weather; A Guide and Record Book by Christopher C. Burt
- Freaks of the Storm by Randy Cerveny