Originally Posted by ToiletDuck

There's no debate. It's proven Texas has fewer tornadoes than in the "alley" however when Texas does have one they are generally much more powerful and deadly. IE The one that hit Waco, Tx. Texas does tend to get higher winds. I believe it has something to do with the latitudes of the area and distance from water. I could be wrong on that last part as it's been 3yrs since I took that class.

The actual windiest part of Texas is on the Mexican border where winds from the gulf are channeled by the mountains and into the border area. Several times within a year we had winds in excess of 45 miles an hour. I went out to the airport after a windy night and found a Metroliner blown 200yrds away, a DC9 with nose gear broken so it could caster and even with the parking beak on it did several 360s on the ramp leaving screaching tire marks all over in perfect circles and a tri-pacer with the flaps ripped off and the wings bent from where the chains were in it. I think the winds hit 63kts that night.