Survey crews confirm at least 16 tornadoes near North Texas. Here’s what we know
Following tornado damage in North Texas, multiple crews from the National Weather Service were surveying the areas to assess the categories, size, strength, wind speeds and path of the storms that hit Monday afternoon, March 21.
Here’s what we know so far.
How many tornadoes hit North Texas?
The National Weather Service in Fort Worth had confirmed 16 tornadoes near North Texas as of March 28. All of the tornadoes occurred on March 21.
One confirmed EF3 tornado hit Jacksboro, causing major damage to Jacksboro High School and Jacksboro Elementary School. No injuries were reported at either campus.
An EF2 tornado hit Grayson County, and by Tuesday evening the National Weather Service confirmed three EF1 tornadoes happened in Montague County.
Survey crews checked out the damage to determine what categories they were.
The National Weather Service also announced a confirmed tornado impacted Possum Kingdom Lake at around 3:15 p.m. on Monday. Survey teams categorized the Possum Kingdom Lake tornado at an EF1 with max winds of 95 mph.
An EF0 tornado in Wise County, south and southeast of Decatur, had winds at 85 mph. Another was a EF1 in the River Oaks and Northwest Fort Worth area with 100 mph winds.
A brief EF0 tornado was confirmed in northern parts of Carrollton around 6:31 pm Monday with winds at 85 mph. Survey teams also confirmed a long-tracked EF1 tornado with max winds of 105 mph in Cooke County. The tornado started south of Era and tracked almost 20 miles through the west side of Gainesville.
On Wednesday, the weather service confirmed more tornadoes. An EF0 tornado with max winds of 85 mph impacted areas north of Groesbeck in Limestone Co.unty on Monday evening. And a tornado near Jarrell caused EF1 damage in Williamson County, then crossed into Bell county where it produced EF0 damage before dissipating a few minutes later.
The weather service later confirmed brief EF0 tornadoes occurred in the Euless and Benbrook areas in Tarrant County, and just west of Rosebud in Falls County.
.jpg "image8 (3).jpg")
Other areas north of Fort Worth in Tarrant and Dallas counties also reported wind damage from Monday’s storms.
“We have another crew across here in the Metroplex where some of the reports near Watauga and then Carrollton and Coppell, kind of that area there, that will definitely take longer because they’re kind of sporadic,” NWS meteorologist Patricia Sanchez said Tuesday. “Giving you a rough number, it’s almost like throwing a dart.”
Hardeman Elementary in the Birdville school district near Watauga was closed for students Tuesday because of damage from Monday night’s storm that caused water to get into six classrooms, district officials said in social media posts. “A large section of the roof over the fourth- and fifth-grade wing at Hardeman was damaged during tonight’s storm,” the district posted Monday night.
How are tornado categories determined?
There are six categories of tornadoes labeled by intensity from EF0 to EF5.
- EF0: 65 to 85 mph winds
- EF1: 86 to 110 mph winds
- EF2: 111 to 135 mph winds
- EF3: 136 to 165 mph winds
- EF4: 166 to 200 mph winds
- EF5: Over 200 mph winds
.jpg "unnamed (2).jpg")
Damage from reported tornadoes and strong thunderstorms gives survey crews an idea of the storm’s wind speed and category.
A map of where survey crews would be included Northwest Fort Worth, Jacksboro, Santo, Bowie and Northwest Grayson County just south of the Red River.
How do I report tornado damage?
The Texas Division of Emergency Management advises anyone with severe weather damage to their home or business to first contact their insurance provider, if they have one, to keep them informed of the situation.
Damage should also be reported to local officials, which can be done using the Individual State of Texas Assessment Tool, also known as iSTAT. This form can be filled out online at damage.tdem.texas.gov and is available in English and Spanish under “March Severe Weather” in the current active incidents listed.
Jacksboro tornado
At 3:20 p.m. survey crews confirmed an EF3 tornado hit Jacksboro on Monday with wind speeds of 140 to 150 mph. According to the National Weather Service, the hardest hit areas were Jacksboro High School into a nearby subdivision. About 80 homes were destroyed.
Jacksboro residents said they received a tornado warning on their phones two minutes before the storm touched down; others living on North 9th Street had to rely on the sirens outside, taking cover within seconds.
.jpeg "image0 (4).jpeg")
Local officials reported extensive damage to the gym roofs at Jacksboro High School and Jackson Elementary School. School officials said they were able to get students and staff into storm shelters before the severe weather hit.
Dustin Trevino of Trevino’s Craft Smokehouse in Jacksboro told the Star-Telegram the storm “hit the back half of town — took the roof off the high school — but they’d cleared all the kids out.”
“I always said I wanted to see (a tornado),” he said. “But I don’t ever want to see another one now. Everything got dark. Everything got quiet. Then everything got super loud.”
More: Tornado damage reported to high school, homes in Jacksboro; houses in Bowie
More: Man thrown by Jacksboro tornado survives. ‘If you saw my trailer, you’d say I’d be dead’
Grayson County tornado
A 73-year-old woman was killed in the tornado that hit Grayson County on Monday.
Grayson County station KXII reported that Texas DPS confirmed one person was killed in northwest Grayson County, where damage has been reported in the Gordonville and Sherwood Shores areas. At least 11 more people were reported injured and transported to local hospitals.
The weather service survey team confirmed a significant tornado impacted the Sherwood Shores community in far northern Grayson County. The tornado was rated EF2 with max winds of 130 mph. This tornado continued into Oklahoma.
Montague County tornadoes
Survey crews confirmed three tornadoes in Montague County.
Two were near Bowie, one southwest of town with 95 mph winds, and one east of town with 100 mph winds.. Another was five miles east of Nocona had max winds at 110 mph.
This story was originally published March 22, 2022 at 12:26 PM.
