Storm cell brings hail, high winds
Posted: Sat Apr 29, 2006 8:39 am
Tornado warnings issued; 4,000 homes in Gainesville lose power
By PAUL MEYER and JON NIELSEN / The Dallas Morning News
Severe thunderstorms, high winds and large hail walloped North Texas on Friday evening as tornado warnings were issued in Denton and Tarrant counties, among others.
Although residents of many cities were urged to seek shelter, no touchdowns or serious damage were immediately confirmed.
Denton sounded its emergency sirens as the storm hit, but the city appeared to be largely unscathed.
"Right now, we have flooding on some of our lower-level streets," said city spokesman John Cabrales. "I have not been able to verify that we've suffered any kind of power disruption. We do have a little bit of tree damage in town."
Jody Gonzalez, Denton County's emergency management coordinator, said he had no reports of damage in business or residential areas.
Fears of severe weather forced officials to shut down the Denton Arts & Jazz Festival, the city's biggest annual event. The three-day festival will resume this morning, Mr. Cabrales said.
A massive storm cell packing large hail and powerful straight-line winds damaged buildings in parts of Cooke and Grayson counties.
"That's a whale of a storm to get baseball [-size] hail and 80- to 90-mph winds at the same time," National Weather Service meteorologist Alan Moller said.
In Gainesville, 4,000 homes in the city of about 15,000 people lost power as golf ball-size hail pelted vehicles and homes.
At the height of the storm about 7:30 p.m., high winds blew trees and power lines down as structures including a gas station's canopy collapsed.
City spokeswoman Kay Lunnon said there were no reports of injuries, but the emergency operations center was activated and city crews were out to assess damage.
"It's dark, and with the power out you can't tell the damage," she said. "The biggest challenge is getting electricity going."
Tornado warnings were also issued in Parker, Wise and Palo Pinto counties.
Only about 0.4 inches of rain fell Friday afternoon at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, with more expected overnight.
The good news locally is that another wet day further drenched drought fears.
"We're still in a long-term drought, but short-term-wise, yes, the drought conditions have been eased," said Jennifer Dunn, a meteorologist for the weather service. "You can tell everything is greening up, and the fire threat is becoming very low."
In keeping with a schizophrenic season of extremes, Friday's squalls and tornado scares should give way to a dry and temperate weekend.
Rain is expected to leave this morning or early afternoon as temperatures climb into the mid-70s. Sunday is expected to be partly cloudy, warming into the mid-80s.
By PAUL MEYER and JON NIELSEN / The Dallas Morning News
Severe thunderstorms, high winds and large hail walloped North Texas on Friday evening as tornado warnings were issued in Denton and Tarrant counties, among others.
Although residents of many cities were urged to seek shelter, no touchdowns or serious damage were immediately confirmed.
Denton sounded its emergency sirens as the storm hit, but the city appeared to be largely unscathed.
"Right now, we have flooding on some of our lower-level streets," said city spokesman John Cabrales. "I have not been able to verify that we've suffered any kind of power disruption. We do have a little bit of tree damage in town."
Jody Gonzalez, Denton County's emergency management coordinator, said he had no reports of damage in business or residential areas.
Fears of severe weather forced officials to shut down the Denton Arts & Jazz Festival, the city's biggest annual event. The three-day festival will resume this morning, Mr. Cabrales said.
A massive storm cell packing large hail and powerful straight-line winds damaged buildings in parts of Cooke and Grayson counties.
"That's a whale of a storm to get baseball [-size] hail and 80- to 90-mph winds at the same time," National Weather Service meteorologist Alan Moller said.
In Gainesville, 4,000 homes in the city of about 15,000 people lost power as golf ball-size hail pelted vehicles and homes.
At the height of the storm about 7:30 p.m., high winds blew trees and power lines down as structures including a gas station's canopy collapsed.
City spokeswoman Kay Lunnon said there were no reports of injuries, but the emergency operations center was activated and city crews were out to assess damage.
"It's dark, and with the power out you can't tell the damage," she said. "The biggest challenge is getting electricity going."
Tornado warnings were also issued in Parker, Wise and Palo Pinto counties.
Only about 0.4 inches of rain fell Friday afternoon at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, with more expected overnight.
The good news locally is that another wet day further drenched drought fears.
"We're still in a long-term drought, but short-term-wise, yes, the drought conditions have been eased," said Jennifer Dunn, a meteorologist for the weather service. "You can tell everything is greening up, and the fire threat is becoming very low."
In keeping with a schizophrenic season of extremes, Friday's squalls and tornado scares should give way to a dry and temperate weekend.
Rain is expected to leave this morning or early afternoon as temperatures climb into the mid-70s. Sunday is expected to be partly cloudy, warming into the mid-80s.
