This story has been updated.
Power outages were reported midday Tuesday in parts of West Texas amid high winds, blowing dust and high fire danger.
AEP Texas - the electric transmission company for much of the Big Bend region - reported more than 3,600 customer outages just before noon on Tuesday.
The Marfa outage was apparently short-lived, with an AEP spokesperson telling Marfa Public Radio the outage lasted only a few minutes.
The outage was "attributed to a piece of equipment that failed, that led to a larger equipment failure," spokesperson Omar Lopez said.
In the Permian Basin, Oncor Electric reported just over 1,000 customer outages in the Andrews area.
A text alert from Presidio County Tuesday morning said that Marfa was completely without power. Presidio County officials also warned of “zero percent” visibility on highways in the area and said “travel is discouraged at this time.”
The National Weather Service in Midland has issued high wind and blowing dust warnings for nearly all of West Texas, along with a Red Flag fire warning indicating “dangerous fire weather conditions” through at least late Tuesday afternoon.
A Blowing Dust Warning is now in effect across west Texas and southeast New Mexico until later this afternoon.
— NWS Midland (@NWSMidland) March 4, 2025
Use extreme caution if driving, as near-zero visibilities may occur at times!#txwx #nmwx pic.twitter.com/P954jc84bh
In Marfa, high winds damaged a portion of an adobe wall at a property called “The Block” owned by the Judd Foundation, a nonprofit that preserves multiple buildings once owned by the late minimalist artist Donald Judd.
“While Judd Foundation had recently stabilized the most at-risk areas of the adobe wall at the Block, unforeseen high wind speeds have leveled a section bordering the property along Kelly Street,” the foundation said in a statement.
Much lighter winds are expected across West Texas on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
