The National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed at least eight tornadoes touched down in North Texas during the severe storms on December 13. Multiple counties were left damaged just ahead of the holidays.
According to NBCDFW, a December storm system swept through the region and caused a great deal of damage through the DFW area. The NWS reported survey crews are out looking at damage on December 14.
So far, the NWS confirmed eight tornadoes touched down, but as many as a dozen tornadoes could be confirmed. Of the confirmed tornadoes, four occurred across Tarrant County in areas around Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, North Richland Hills and Grapevine. There is no evidence of life-threatening injuries, but hospitalizations were reported.
The NWS said there are ongoing storm surveys in the following areas:
- South of Ranger in Eastland County
- South of Santo in Palo Pinto County
- Near Hudson Oaks in Parker County
- South of Tolar in Hood County
- Grapevine in Tarrant County (video confirmed)
- Blue Ridge in Collin County
- Near Leonard in Fannin County
- West of Paris in Lamar County
On Tuesday morning the National Weather Service sent warnings for severe storms, issuing a Tornado Watch in areas surrounding North Texas. The watch included the counties of Archer, Brown, Clay, Collin, Comanche, Cooke, Dallas, Denton, Eastland, Ellis, Erath, Fannin, Grayson, Hood, Hunt, Jack, Johnson, Kaufman, Montague, Palo Pinto, Parker, Rockwall, Somervell, Stephens, Tarrant, Wise and Young.
Notable damage occurred in Grapevine, where one school was forced to evacuate and take shelter due to roof damage. But Schools all across North Texas stayed on high alert, monitoring the severe weather. Grapevine-Colleyville ISD announced that all campuses were sheltering children on-site. The district later reported that Grapevine Middle School, Dove, Silver Lake and Cannon Elementary Schools all lost power due to the storm and Emergency Management teams in both cities were in contact with staff.
Most damage to cities is not completely recorded as crews are still working. Local Profile will update this story pending new data.
