Here's What Happens When a Storm Pummels Your Wife's Pontiac with Baseball-Sized Hail

Categories: Weather

It happened in Coppell. You can probably guess when. Video is unsafe for work, presuming your boss isn't big on F-bombs.

Tornado Tally: No Deaths and Few Injuries, but Plenty of Wreckage Left Behind

Categories: Weather

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The aftermath of the now-famous Dance of the Trailers.
The storms have moved on, but chaos is hanging around for another day: According to Oncor, some 4,000 people are still without power across the 'plex. NBCDFW reports that about 300 homes were damaged or destroyed in Lancaster, while an AP report from this morning says there were another 650 in Arlington; there aren't solid numbers yet from Forney or Kennedale, where damage was also reported.

Fox 4 reports that one of the Arlington buildings damaged was Green Oaks Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, where part of a wing was clipped off. About 130 residents had to be moved into an interior part of the building. And at DFW Airport, about 500 flights remain grounded.

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You Might Say It Was Cloudy Yesterday

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As the region cleans up from yesterday's case of the swirlies, we were happy to learn that our go-to storm chaser, Justin Terveen, wasn't swept into the sky. (Although that would have made for a cool shot.) He sent over the photo above, which you'll want to click to embiggen. Honestly? He sounded downright sad about it: "Nothing that does the day justice."

It's Only a Matter of Time Before Our Fancy New Bridge Gets Disemboweled by a Tornado

Categories: Weather

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In the meantime, take cover, marvel at Mother Nature's latest moves in the videos below, and be on the look out for a Justin Terveen-shaped man flying past your office window, click-click-clicking away.

Also, if you want to stay up to date, KXT is covering it blow by blow, including on-the-ground updates from listeners. Most of the reports are pretty cool, but every once in a while someone randomly starts singing "Ants Marching."

Update, 3:30 p.m.: More videos below.

Update, 3:37 p.m.: Flights at DFW have been grounded, per Rueters Africa, and Love Field's terminal has been evacuated, according to every single person on Twitter.

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Last Night's Storm Had Way More Than 1.21 Gigawatts, as This Justin Terveen Shot Proves

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Justin Terveen/Urban Fabric Photography
Click to embiggen and let the lightning strike your soul.
​If there's a storm over Dallas, local photographer Justin Terveen is spending the night chasing it, and we're spending the morning chasing Terveen down so we can deliver his camera magic unto you, the Slightly Damp Friends of Unfair Park.

Terveen reports that the shot up top is of DPD's communication tower. There's another below. He's the Annie Leibovitz of lightning, this guy, only without the crippling debt. Praise and a heavy jacket be to him.

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Dallas May Be Out of the Drought (For Now), But Watering Restrictions Are Far From Over

Categories: Weather
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U.S. Drought Monitor
With the release of its latest map this morning, the U.S. Drought Monitor made it official: A few weeks' worth of heavy rain have officially removed Dallas-Fort Worth from the historic drought that has most of the state bone-dry. (Watch the 12-week animation here.) And per the AP's breaking-news sounder: "Residents in those areas will likely no longer have any water restrictions."

Ah, but remember: The Dallas City Council was told yesterday that our six water-supply reservoirs are 15 percent depleted, a significant improvement since council voted to institute twice-a-week watering restrictions. Nevertheless, on Wednesday council will be asked to extend Stage 1 restrictions till June 8, at least, because surrounding neighbors will need to buy our water.

Why Is Suhm Asking Council to Extend Watering Restrictions? "Water Sales," In Part.

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When Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm first told the council it was time, at long last, to enact twice-a-week watering restrictions, Dallas's six water-supply reservoirs were about 25 percent depleted. But last week's record rainfall, in addition to other recent wet-weather events, have helped fill area lakes as evidenced by the city's latest look-see. They haven't been this high since last February. Nevertheless ...

Tomorrow Suhm will tell the council that there is the need to extend Stage 1 watering restrictions for another 120 days -- till June 8, at least. Which should make Scott Griggs happy, if nothing else.

The reasons, per the briefing docs, are myriad. For starters, says the note to council, ongoing construction at the East Side Water Treatment will "result in a temporary water treatment capacity restriction of 680 MGD for Dallas' treated water system during the Spring/Summer of 2012." And, of course, Dallas continues to sell water to outlying districts not as fortunate as ours; says the briefing the North Texas Municipal Water District could ask for "up to 60 MGD," while Irving and the Upper Trinity Regional Water District's future needs are yet to be determined. And: "Luminant has requested additional water from Lake Fork for a two year term expiring December 31, 2013."

Says the briefing: "Water sales, assuming drought conditions continue as forecasted, may require Dallas to implement stronger drought measures, i.e., Stages 2-4."

The whole thing's below. As always, pray for rain. Friday, maybe.More >>

Once Again, Justin Terveen Proves There's No Bolt of Lightning He Can't Catch

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Photo by Justin Terveen
Speaking of energizing downtown Dallas ....

The storms that moved through, oh, an hour ago are but a prelude of the downpour to come. And if there's electricity in the air, Justin Terveen's there to catch it, as always. He just sent this freshly minted postcard, along with the note that there's a bigger, better, badder version suitable for framing here.

Will It Ever Get Really Cold in Dallas This Winter? Well, As a Matter of Fact ... Maybe?

Categories: Weather
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National Weather Service
A few days back the great Alan Melson, KERA's director of interactive, directed his Facebook friends to a great weather-geek (said with all due respect) site where folks are currently having a great debate about whether or not signs point to an icy deep freeze headed toward North Texas toward the middle to end of the month. Alan follows along, he tells me, because it's fascinating stuff thrown out there by meteorologists and other would-be weather forecasters. Says he this afternoon: "A couple posters there called the ice storm on Super Bowl weekend last year, a week or two in advance." So there's that.

Anyway. A few minutes ago the National Weather Service's Fort Worth forecasters posted that graph you see above, along with the note that "when the AO index is positive, Arctic air usually stays bottled up in the Arctic region, but when it turns negative the Arctic air can move farther south and at times invade North Texas." And, as you can see, the index turns negative round the middle to end of the month. Maybe.

I called Dennis Cavanaugh, a meteorologist out of Fort Worth's NWS offices, for further info since, you know, their official look-see far ahead jibes with what Alan's friends have been saying for a few days now.

"From our forecast perspective, we look at the next seven days," Cavanaugh tells Unfair Park. "That's as far as we forecast, so for the extended we look more to climate signals, like the Arctic Oscillation Index." That sound you hear in the background? He just triggered The Band Name Alert™. Sorry ... do go on.More >>

With Lakes Drying Up, How Much Longer Will Dallas's Watering Restrictions Stay Voluntary?

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As of today, per city ordinance, you no longer have to water your lawn before 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m.; that rule's only in place from April 1 till October 31. But according to the latest data, Dallas's reservoirs are close to 25 percent depleted -- 7 percent higher than the August numbers that triggered the city's voluntary twice-a-week lawn-watering plea.

We've asked plenty of times: When will Dallas go to at least Stage 1 restrictions, which would "require reduction of water use through mandatory maximum 2-days-per-week landscape watering schedule"? Because, after all, the North Texas Municipal Water District went to Stage 3 today, while surrounding cities are already well into Stage 1 restrictions. And it's fall, after all, when lawns begin to go dormant and don't need so much water.

City officials have long maintained Dallas wouldn't go to Stage 1 till reservoirs are 35 percent depleted. But rumors have been floating for a few days, at least, that Dallas would put those mandatory restrictions in place sooner than later -- this week, matter of fact, perhaps during the council's briefing on the future of the city's water supply that will take place tomorrow. No doubt it'll come up; at least one council member we know of wants Stage 2 restrictions pronto, which would knock down lawn-watering to one day a week, at most.

But, no: City officials to whom I spoke yesterday and today say Stage 1's not yet on the to-do list. City Manager Mary Suhm confirms. And while it's not on the agenda tomorrow, she says, there are two briefings forthcoming later this month that will deal with water: "one on conservation strategies and one on the drought we are experiencing and its effects." When asked if and when Stage 1's a-comin', she says only: "A bit sooner than we last publicly discussed."
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