Violent weather leads to power outages, deaths in North Texas

By Jennifer Igbonoba 
Texas Metro News Intern

Severe thunderstorms swept through North Texas Thursday night, resulting in widespread power outages across the region.

The National Weather Service (NWS) Fort Worth issued a tornado watch warning at 3:48 p.m. Central Time for North and portions of North Central Texas. The watch remained in effect until midnight, with damaging winds of up to 80 mph, large hail, and several tornadoes being the main threats.

Meanwhile, City of Dallas officials encouraged mobile phone users to make sure their devices were activated to receive updates. Citizens should “have multiple ways of receiving crucial safety-related information, such as weather warnings.”

One such method is by purchasing a NOAA Weather Radio for use in homes and offices. If you have disabled emergency notifications on your mobile device, you are encouraged to turn these notifications back on. 

Friday morning, there were approximately 212,069 outages across the state. Most of the outages are concentrated in northeast Texas and Ochiltree, where the deadly tornado in Perryton claimed the lives of three people. Over 45 percent of Perryton’s residents are currently without power. In counties west of Rockwall, power outages have significantly decreased, with Hunt County experiencing around nine percent and Van Zandt County with 12 percent of residents affected.

The City of Dallas Office of Emergency Management (OEM) utilizes a criterion for sounding the Outdoor Warning Siren (OWS) System that are based upon a regional framework: 

• The National Weather Service issues a Tornado Warning for areas in and around the City of Dallas. 
• The National Weather Service issues a Severe Thunderstorm Warning with sustained winds in excess of 70 mph for areas in and around the City of Dallas. 
• Trained storm spotters have reported a tornado in the City of Dallas, or in a neighboring jurisdiction with the potential to affect the City of Dallas. 
• Reported hail of 1.5″ in diameter or greater (size may be adjusted for areas or events where large numbers of people are outdoors). 
• Other emergency situations as deemed by the Office of Emergency Management. 

When the National Weather Service issues a warning that meets any of the above criteria, OEM will activate the sirens in the impacted areas based on the warning polygon.  

In addition to the storm warnings, the NWS Fort Worth has issued a heat advisory in effect until 8 p.m. on Saturday. The advisory urges residents to take necessary precautions to avoid heat-related illnesses.

“Make sure to practice heat safety this weekend,” advised the NWS Fort Worth in a tweet yesterday afternoon. “The heat and humidity will persist through early next week, creating challenging conditions.”

Thursday also marked a significant meteorological event for the Dallas-Fort Worth area, as it experienced the highest levels of humidity in over 25 years.