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Penwell, Texas

8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1986. It stands in the West Odessa-Goldsmith census division. It lies in ZIP code area 79759. The Survey maps it on the Penwell quadrangle. It stands 2,936 feet above sea level.

Penwell within Ector County

Topographic sheets covering this place

4 surveys from 8 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

1 since 2017

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Penwell in 2017, burning about 1 acre in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
15 June 2017Power generation/transmission/distribution1.0 acresTexas A & M Forest ServiceLEGACY FIRE

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Ector County

Mines and quarries near this place

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Penwell: 5 producers, 1 past producer. 5 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Limestone, General, Limestone, General, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Moss QuarryLimestone, General, Stone, Crushed/BrokenProducerLimestone
Cap Rock PitStone, Crushed/Broken, Limestone, GeneralProducer
Odessa QuarryLimestone, GeneralProducerLimestone
Permian Sand and Gravel OperationStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Strain Brothers Limestone OperationStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Weaver-Cunningham PitStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer

Every working recorded in Ector County

Storms near this place

19 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Penwell in 19 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 11 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood, 1 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2003Thunderstorm WindPenwell$105,000A trained weather spotter measured a 61 MPH severe thunderstorm wind gust with a home weather station near Penwell. These winds were responsible for overturning a tractor trailer on Interstate 20 at mile marker 102. The storm then propagated southeast toward the Pleasant Farms vicinity. Several weakly constructed homes were heavily damaged in Pleasant Farms. Winds associated with the storm were likely higher than indicated across the southeast portions of the county, where most of the damage was concentrated. Due to the light construction of the damaged structures, the sole measured wind gust is referenced here instead of a damage based estimate.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindPenwell$60,000A pulse microburst destroyed 5 trailer homes in a rural development in southwestern Ector County. Three other units received major damage. Most of the trailers were not tied down. Winds in the local area was blowing from SE to NW; the same direction as the storm movement. Since there was minimal damage to some more-substantial structures in the area, wind speeds were only estimated at 60-70 mph. In areas farther east it became evident that there was a downburst pattern, as winds were from the south or southwest.
June 2004HailPenwell$5,000Law enforcement officials reported a swath of large hail along Interstate 20 from the city of Monahans in Ward County, northeast to mile marker 92 in southwest Ector County. Hail up to the size of golfballs was reported in the vicinity of Monahans. Quarter size hail was observed northeast of Monahans along the interstate in extreme northwest Crane County and in southwest Ector County.
May 2025HailPenwell-A report of quarter-size hail was received from mPING.
June 2003Thunderstorm WindPenwell-A few strong to severe thunderstorms developed over the western Permian Basin and Upper Trans Pecos region of West Texas during the afternoon and evening of the 23rd. One of these storms resulted in severe wind gusts in Ector County.
June 2003HailPenwell-Several reports of large hail to the size of golfballs was reported from Penwell to Pleasant Farms.
March 2002FloodPenwell-Minor street flooding was reported in Penwell by a trained spotter.
May 2002Flash FloodPenwell-Water was one foot deep at the intersection of Farm to Market Road 1601 and Interstate-20.
May 2002Flash FloodPenwell-Two inches of rainfall in a short time span produced water as much as 15 inches deep on roadways in the community of Penwell.
May 2001Thunderstorm WindPenwell-The cooperative observer reported strong winds as a result of a collapsing thunderstorm.
May 1995HailPenwell-An HP supercell that caused wind damage and dropped large hail in southeastern New Mexico turned right and crossed the border into Winkler County, Texas. A rotating wall cloud was reported by SKYWARN spotters, then a brief tornado occurred five minutes later. Spotters reported the hail in Kermit as the storm continued to move southeast. Weather observer recorded hail in surface observations from the Winkler County Airport near Wink. The storm continued to track southeastward through parts of the next three counties, dropping large hail and another brief tornado.
May 1995HailPenwell-An HP supercell that caused wind damage and dropped large hail in southeastern New Mexico turned right and crossed the border into Winkler County, Texas. A rotating wall cloud was reported by SKYWARN spotters, then a brief tornado occurred five minutes later. Spotters reported the hail in Kermit as the storm continued to move southeast. Weather observer recorded hail in surface observations from the Winkler County Airport near Wink. The storm continued to track southeastward through parts of the next three counties, dropping large hail and another brief tornado.
May 2023HailPenwell-no account filed
May 2019HailPenwell-no account filed
March 2002HailPenwell-no account filed
May 2002HailPenwell-no account filed
May 2002Thunderstorm WindPenwell-no account filed
August 2002HailPenwell-no account filed
April 1993HailPenwell-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Ector County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Badger1.4 miles8
Judkins2.7 miles8
Douro3.8 miles9
Metz4.3 miles8
West Odessa8.6 miles10
Arcade8.9 miles10
Pleasant Farms12.4 miles8
Odessa13.9 miles9

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on PenwellAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q7165366The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1343836. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.