Tornado warnings well to the northwest of Fort Worth. When will storms reach DFW?
Storms are already firing up to the northwest of Fort Worth and severe weather will likely reach the Dallas-Fort Worth area later on Wednesday.
A tornado warning has already been issued for portions of Archer and Baylor counties, about 110 miles northwest of Fort Worth. About 125 miles northwest of Fort Worth, a tornado warning was also in effect for Throckmorton and Haskell counties.
A severe thunderstorm watch was also in effect for counties northwest of Fort Worth, including Wise, Palo Pinto and Jack counties until 8 p.m.
Gov. Greg Abbott has deployed water rescue teams, including helicopters and boats, to North Texas ahead of the next round of storms.
“As severe weather moves into the North Texas area, the state is taking every precaution including pre-positioning helicopters and boats to ensure we are ready to assist local officials with potential search and rescue operations,” Abbott said. “I urge all residents to stay up to date on local weather reports and heed warnings from local officials throughout this severe weather event.”
So when will the storms reach Fort Worth?
That depends on if we have one or two rounds of storms, said National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Bishop.
“I think it will be hit and miss for the late afternoon,” Bishop said. “I think there will be one line later in the evening between 8 p.m. and midnight.”
But the possibility of isolated storms means everyone needs to be aware of weather conditions later this afternoon.
“I think by 5 p.m. everyone needs to start paying attention,” Bishop said.
The Storm Prediction Center has placed most of North Texas, including Tarrant and Dallas counties, under an enhanced risk (3 on a scale of 5) for severe storms with large hail and damaging winds listed as the greatest threat.
The Weather Prediction Center has also placed North Texas under a moderate risk for excessive rainfall on Wednesday.
“Conditions are not ideal at the lower levels for tornadoes but there’s so much instability I’m not going to rule them out,” Bishop said. “I think hail is the greater threat in earlier storms with the wind threat more of a concern with the later storms.”
The National Weather Service confirmed an EF-1 tornado, capable of producing winds between 86-110 mph, touched down in Denton and in Justin on Tuesday night. Weather service teams also surveyed damage around Eagle Mountain Lake, but said they didn’t find evidence of a tornado there.
On Tuesday night, a tornado touched down near the Texas Woman’s University campus. There were also reports of flash flooding in southern Denton County.
One of the hardest areas was the Idiot’s Hill neighborhood in Denton. There are several different theories for how the neighborhood got its name that included being too far from town or once being home to professors from Denton’s two universities. More can seen on that here.
The Denton Fire Department responded to 37 calls between 5:45 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. Tuesday. There was one lightning-related structure fire at a home near the intersection of Lakeview Boulevard and Edwards Road.
Most of the damage across Denton was due to downed trees that fell on houses, cars and into city streets. The most serious damage extended from the TWU campus into the northeast part of the city, said city spokesman Ryan Adams.
In Fort Worth, the same storm damaged a boat dock on Eagle Mountain Lake and there were reports of flash flooding in both northern Tarrant and southern Denton counties. The National Weather Service also received reports of wind damage in Justin in southern Denton County.
A flash flood watch remains in effect until 7 p.m. Thursday for most of North Texas, including the Tarrant, Dallas, Denton, Parker and Wise counties.
This story was originally published May 1, 2019 at 3:20 PM with the headline "Tornado warnings well to the northwest of Fort Worth. When will storms reach DFW?."