Tornado watch expires after baseball, grapefruit size hail hits North and Central Texas
Severe weather returned to North and Central Texas on Wednesday afternoon and evening with reports of very large hail and a tornado watch, according to the National Weather Service in Fort Worth.
The tornado watch was in effect until 10 p.m., but it didn’t include Tarrant and Dallas counties. The severe weather threat for areas north of Interstate 20 decreased before the watch was issued.
The tornado watch was for counties to the south of Dallas-Fort Worth. It initially included Johnson, Hood and Ellis counties but was allowed to expire early for those three while continuing in counties farther south until 10.
Hail as big as baseballs was reported Wednesday evening near cities including Walnut Springs, Dublin and Hallsburg, and hailstones up to the size of grapefruits fell near Waco, according to reports and photos sent in to the weather service and WFAA-TV.
Some showers and thunderstorms moved into the Dallas-Fort Worth area beginning late Wednesday morning, but the greatest threat for the region was from about 3-10 p.m., according to NWS meteorologist Miles Langfeld.
The strong storms were forecast to include threats of tornadoes, damaging winds and hail larger than 2 inches in diameter. The biggest hailstone reported so far on Wednesday measured about 4.5 inches.
After brief heavy rainfall early Wednesday afternoon, Fort Worth police responded to a few calls about drivers stranded in high water.
Dallas-Fort Worth Airport and Love Field were experiencing flight delays, according to FlightAware.
National Weather Service officials recommended that residents stay weather aware throughout the day and ensure they had multiple ways to receive storm warnings.
This week’s forecast
Cloudy and then sunny weather with a high of 70 and low around 52 is in Thursday’s forecast, according to the National Weather Service. A chance of storms will return on Friday.
It’s been a very busy weather year so far with all the ingredients for storms regularly falling into place, Langfeld said. The North Texas storm season runs from the end of March through early June.
This story was originally published April 26, 2023 at 11:30 AM.
