Campus Alert Archive
UH

100 MPH Derecho Blows Out Downtown Windows and Shuts UH Across Three Campuses

TXsevere stormemergency notificationmedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

On the evening of May 16, 2024, a derecho with winds up to 100 mph tore through Houston, blowing out downtown windows, spawning tornadoes, and cutting power to nearly a million customers. The University of Houston closed its Houston, Sugar Land, and Katy campuses as the storm and prolonged outages disrupted the region for days.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
—
Institution
University of Houston
Public R1 · TX
~47,000 studentsUH Alert
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTWEA/IPAWS
Approximate reconstructionReconstruction of NWS Houston severe-thunderstorm warning relayed to campus171 chars
Severe Thunderstorm Warning in this area until 7:15 PM CDT. Damaging winds and large hail possible. Take shelter now in an interior room on the lowest floor of a building.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

This reflects the standard NWS severe-thunderstorm warning language pushed to phones as the derecho crossed Harris County; the exact campus-relayed wording and cutoff time are reconstructed and not confirmed verbatim.
Survey teams later estimated 100 mph winds through parts of downtown, in derecho (straight-line) rather than tornadic flow, though three EF1 tornadoes also occurred.
UPDATEEmail+11h 30m
Approximate reconstructionUniversity of Houston official Facebook post195 chars
The University of Houston, including campuses in Sugar Land and Katy, will be closed due to severe weather and widespread power outages. Please avoid travel and stay away from downed power lines.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

The opening clause 'The University of Houston, including campuses in Sugar Land and Katy, will be clos...' is visible in UH's own Facebook post URL; the full sentence is reconstructed around it and marked unconfirmed.
The closure was driven as much by regional power loss as by direct storm damage — nearly a million customers lost power, and tens of thousands were still dark a week later.
Context

Background

From the evening of May 16 into May 17, 2024, a derecho raced across Central Texas and slammed Houston with winds estimated up to 100 mph, blowing out windows across downtown skyscrapers, toppling transmission lines, and spawning three EF1 tornadoes. Nearly a million customers lost power and at least seven people died regionwide. The University of Houston closed its Houston, Sugar Land, and Katy campuses as outages and debris made the region impassable; roughly 50,000 Harris County customers were still without power on May 22. The derecho struck barely seven weeks before Hurricane Beryl would knock out power across the same region, a one-two punch that strained Houston's grid through the summer of 2024.
Analysis

Key Findings

A straight-line-wind derecho — not a hurricane — produced 100 mph gusts that blew out downtown Houston windows and closed UH's three campuses
The closure was driven heavily by regional power loss, with nearly a million customers dark and recovery stretching past a week
The event preceded Hurricane Beryl by about seven weeks, compounding 2024 grid stress in greater Houston
Outcome
UH closed its main Houston campus plus the Sugar Land and Katy locations following the derecho; at least seven people died regionwide and nearly 900,000 to 1 million customers lost power. No UH campus deaths were reported.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Source
    2024 Houston derecho - Wikipedia
    en.wikipedia.org
  2. Social
    University of Houston campus closure post - Facebook
    facebook.com
  3. News
    Houston area's 1 million power outages after 100 mph derecho - Fox Weather
    foxweather.com
  4. Source
    Power Outage Report - May 28, 2024: Texas Derecho - Urbint
    urbint.com
Tags
severe-stormderechotexashoustonpower-outagecampus-closure2024
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion