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
Unincorporated community
Kopperl
Location within the state of Texas
Kopperl
Kopperl (the United States)
Coordinates: 32°04′12″N 97°30′14″W
CountryUnited States
StateTexas
CountyBosque
Elevation
577 ft (176 m)
Population
 (2008 est.)
 • Total225
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP codes
76652
Area code(s)254

History

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. The 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 of up to 75 mph (121 km/h). The temperature increased rapidly, reportedly peaking near 140 °F (60 °C)[2], twenty degrees 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

Kopperl is served by the Kopperl Independent School District.

Climate

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Kopperl has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "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)		 140
(60)		 111
(44)		 112
(44)		 114
(46)		 101
(38)		 93
(34)		 91
(33)		 140
(60)
Average high °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)
Average low °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)		 49
(9)		 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]
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References
  1. Karean Yancy (15 June 2010). "KOPPERL, TX". tshaonline.org. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  2. James Spann (2009-06-15). "The Kopperl Heat Burst: The Alabama Weather Blog". Alabamawx.com. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  3. "Freak Heat Wave Hits Lake Whitney". The Clifton Record. June 17, 1960. Retrieved September 11, 2017.(subscription required)
  4. Bills, E. R. Texas Obscurities: Stories of the Peculiar, Exceptional & Nefarious. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2013.
  5. "Kopperl, Texas Köppen Climate Classification". Weatherbase.com. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  6. "Kopperl, Texas Average Temperature". WeatherDB. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  7. Petricic, Dusan (2000). "It's Raining Eels: A Compendium of Weird Weather". Scientific American Presents: 54–55. ISSN 1048-0943.
  • 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
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