Lightning-laced thunderstorms rolled through Tarrant County late Tuesday into early Wednesday, drenching much of the area.
Rainfall at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport totaled 1.97 inches through 10 a.m. Normal rainfall for the area for Aug. 1-15 is .97 inches, according to National Weather Service data.Weather service radar indicated rainfall totals of 2-3 inches for much of northeast Tarrant County since the storms began Tuesday evening. A flash flood warning expired at 7 a.m. for that area.Most of the county received at least an inch of rain, radar indicated. Some areas of southern Wise County and southwest Denton County had received up to five inches. Justin in southern Denton County reported 4.86 inches of rain, according to NWS figures.Oncor, which delivers electricity for much of North Texas, was reporting about 2,000 customers without power in Tarrant County at 7 a.m. Another 28,000 customers were without power at that time in Dallas County, said Arielle Kaplan, an Oncor spokeswoman. Those figures were down to about 1,700 in Tarrant County and 6,600 in Dallas County by 11 a.m."Rain is still falling but crews are out there restoring power," Kaplan said Wednesday morning.Anyone without power should contact Oncor at 888-313-4747.Weather service meteorologist Dan Huckaby said that light rain and showers could continue until late Wednesday morning, and possibly into the early afternoon."For August, we average two inches of rain in the area," Huckaby said Wednesday. "Some places got that and more just overnight."The storms moved into Tarrant County about 8 p.m. Tuesday and "averaged two to three [lightning] strikes per minute," said Nick Hampshire, another weather service meteorologist."A stalled frontal boundary over the Metroplex and an upper level disturbance combined together to develop the thunderstorm," Hampshire said.The lightning was accompanied by heavy winds and downpours and brought some heat relief as the temperature dropped into the 70s.Tuesday’s high of 106 tied the record for the date set in 1911.The heavy rain helped completely douse grass fires in Fort Worth that developed Tuesday afternoon. The fires were on Angle Avenue, North Riverside Drive and North Tarrant Parkway.By 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, all were under control and firefighters were "mopping up," battalion chief Richard Harrison said.The weather service's Fort Worth office had a clear view of one of the fires and posted a photo online.The forecast calls for temperatures in the upper 90s Wednesday and Thursday, but a cool front should arrive Thursday night and with it a 30 percent chance of rain.The high on Friday during the day will be in the mid-90s and should be a bit lower for the weekend.Forecasters are calling for rain chances for most of the weekend.Domingo Ramirez Jr., 817-390-7763; Twitter: @mingoramirezjr.
