NWS says no confirmed tornadoes in Fort Worth during Friday storms
.png "Strong to severe storms occurred in North Texas on Friday, Oct. 24.")
A line of strong thunderstorms brought heavy rain and wind to the Fort Worth area Friday night, but no tornadoes, according to the National Weather Service Fort Worth.
A NWS survey team traveled to south Fort Worth on Saturday to look over the damage. There were rumors on social media that a tornado had touched down in the area, but the NWS team found sporadic damage consistent with straight-lines winds, officials said in a statement Saturday afternoon.
Several trees and light poles were damaged along East Berry Street from the area near Interstate 35 to U.S. 287, according to the survey. Some businesses in the area also had some minor roof damage.
In southwest Fort Worth there was sporadic damage to trees in some residential areas, and the roof of a detached garage collapsed near Seminary Drive and McCart Avenue.
Storm damage also was reported at the Art Worth fine art festival in the Clearkfork area, where tents were blown over and booths and artwork on display were damaged.
NWS spokesperson Jennifer Dunn told the Star-Telegram on Saturday morning that they had received very few reports of actual damage, and the public could help by sending in photos, video footage or damage reports to sr-fwd.webmaster@noaa.gov. Dunn said email is best, but that information can also be submitted to the NWS via X or Facebook.
A rumor surfaced on social media that the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma, tried to contact the Fort Worth office about issuing a radar-indicated tornado warning, but NWS officials say that didn’t happen.
“We never contact another office to say to issue a warning,” said Norman’s Meteorologist-in-Charge Mark Fox.
Fox said Norman is Fort Worth’s backup office, and when severe weather is expected they routinely reach out to see if Fort Worth needs extra help. The Fort Worth office does the same for them.
According to Dunn, a tornado warning was issued for Weatherford and for part of Palo Pinto County after radar indicated a tornado, but she hasn’t heard of any damage in those areas.
A severe thunderstorm warning was issued in Tarrant County about 8:30 p.m.
Flooding was a major concern ahead of Friday’s storms, but so far it seems there was just some localized flooding in known trouble spots and no widespread issues, Dunn said. The line of storms moved faster than anticipated, and that reduced the flooding risk.
There were some emergency calls related to vehicles stuck in high water Friday night, but a Fort Worth Police Department spokesperson said they didn’t receive any reports of major accidents or injuries related to the storm.
Craig Trojacek, a spokesperson for the Fort Worth Fire Department, said the department received around 800 calls for service starting at midnight Friday through Saturday. That’s over 200 more calls than normal, he said.
Firefighters conducted 12 high water rescues and responded to 57 fires. At least three of the fires are believed to be lightning related based on what the 911 callers told dispatch, Trojacek said. More than 130 calls were about downed power lines, and a tree fell on a house in the 3800 block of 8th Avenue in the Rosemont neighborhood.
Power outages
Over 18,000 Tarrant County residents were without power Saturday morning due to the storms, according to the Oncor website. Nearly 3,000 people were without power in Dallas County. Oncor officials said they were working to “restore power as quickly and safely as possible.”
Close to 15,000 residents in Tarrant County and around 1,000 in Dallas County were still without power Saturday afternoon. Restoration was expected to be “substantially complete” by Saturday evening, according to Oncor’s website. Some people in hard-hit southern Tarrant County were without power at least until Sunday.
This story was originally published October 25, 2025 at 8:37 AM.
