Lightning sparks fires, strong winds topple trucks in Texas
By
Brian Lada, AccuWeather meteorologist and senior content editor
Published Apr 5, 2022 12:13 PM EDT
|
Updated Apr 5, 2022 5:04 PM EDT
AccuWeather's Bill Wadell was live in Alvarado, Texas, on April 5, after heavy storms blasted the region the night before.
Intense storms blitzed across northern Texas Monday night, pelting the area with large hail, flooding rain and likely tornadoes.
Over 30,000 electric customers were without power early Tuesday morning in the wake of the storms, according to PowerOutage.US. The number of outages has gradually been falling as crews work to turn on the lights for residents and businesses across the region affected by the severe weather.
At least one person in East Texas was killed Monday night amid the storms when strong winds toppled a tree over the home of W.M. Solomon, 71, in Whitehouse, a town southeast of Dallas, according to The Associated Press.
AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Wadell was in northern Texas Monday night when the storms hit and was on the scene to survey the aftermath firsthand.
Alvarado, Texas, located 30 miles south of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, was one of the hardest-hit areas Monday night when a tornado-warned storm raced through the area.
Smoke could be seen billowing into the sky early Tuesday morning after lightning from the storm sparked multiple fires, including a fire at a pallet yard.
Alvarado resident Rosa Page, who lives near the site of the pallet yard fire, sounded rattled after riding out the storms Monday night.
A resident of Alvarado, Texas, recalls riding out the severe storms on Monday night. (AccuWeather/Bill Wadell)
"You heard the sirens, the whistling of the train, the hail just hitting everywhere around, the explosions around us, very scary," Page told Wadell.
In the neighboring city of Midlothian, Texas, strong winds knocked over a tractor-trailer as a tornado-warned storm tracked south of Dallas.
It is still unclear if it was a tornado that caused the damage, but survey crews from the National Weather Service will assess the damage in the coming days to determine if a tornado did touch down and how strong it was.
High winds associated with strong thunderstorms toppled a tractor-trailer in Midlothian, Texas, about 25 miles southwest of Dallas, at around midnight on April 5, 2022.
Bill Wadell / AccuWeather
According to the Storm Prediction Center, most of the hail that fell across the southern United States late Monday afternoon through Monday night ranged from the size of quarters to golf balls.
The largest hailstone fell near Fannin, Mississippi, located northeast of Jackson, and was 2.10 inches across.
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AccuWeather forecasters say the severe weather threat has ended in Texas, as the storms have been replaced by dry conditions that are predicted to prevail throughout the rest of the week. This dry spell will benefit any cleanup efforts following the early week storms.
However, the same cannot be said farther east.
Multiple rounds of severe weather are on tap for the southeastern U.S. through the middle of the week, including hail, flooding, isolated tornadoes and damaging wind gusts up to 80 mph.
Additional reporting by AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Wadell.
More coverage on severe weather in the US:
For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform.
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News / Severe Weather
Lightning sparks fires, strong winds topple trucks in Texas
By Brian Lada, AccuWeather meteorologist and senior content editor
Published Apr 5, 2022 12:13 PM EDT | Updated Apr 5, 2022 5:04 PM EDT
AccuWeather's Bill Wadell was live in Alvarado, Texas, on April 5, after heavy storms blasted the region the night before.
Intense storms blitzed across northern Texas Monday night, pelting the area with large hail, flooding rain and likely tornadoes.
Over 30,000 electric customers were without power early Tuesday morning in the wake of the storms, according to PowerOutage.US. The number of outages has gradually been falling as crews work to turn on the lights for residents and businesses across the region affected by the severe weather.
At least one person in East Texas was killed Monday night amid the storms when strong winds toppled a tree over the home of W.M. Solomon, 71, in Whitehouse, a town southeast of Dallas, according to The Associated Press.
AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Wadell was in northern Texas Monday night when the storms hit and was on the scene to survey the aftermath firsthand.
Alvarado, Texas, located 30 miles south of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, was one of the hardest-hit areas Monday night when a tornado-warned storm raced through the area.
Smoke could be seen billowing into the sky early Tuesday morning after lightning from the storm sparked multiple fires, including a fire at a pallet yard.
Alvarado resident Rosa Page, who lives near the site of the pallet yard fire, sounded rattled after riding out the storms Monday night.
A resident of Alvarado, Texas, recalls riding out the severe storms on Monday night. (AccuWeather/Bill Wadell)
"You heard the sirens, the whistling of the train, the hail just hitting everywhere around, the explosions around us, very scary," Page told Wadell.
In the neighboring city of Midlothian, Texas, strong winds knocked over a tractor-trailer as a tornado-warned storm tracked south of Dallas.
It is still unclear if it was a tornado that caused the damage, but survey crews from the National Weather Service will assess the damage in the coming days to determine if a tornado did touch down and how strong it was.
High winds associated with strong thunderstorms toppled a tractor-trailer in Midlothian, Texas, about 25 miles southwest of Dallas, at around midnight on April 5, 2022.
According to the Storm Prediction Center, most of the hail that fell across the southern United States late Monday afternoon through Monday night ranged from the size of quarters to golf balls.
The largest hailstone fell near Fannin, Mississippi, located northeast of Jackson, and was 2.10 inches across.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
AccuWeather forecasters say the severe weather threat has ended in Texas, as the storms have been replaced by dry conditions that are predicted to prevail throughout the rest of the week. This dry spell will benefit any cleanup efforts following the early week storms.
However, the same cannot be said farther east.
Multiple rounds of severe weather are on tap for the southeastern U.S. through the middle of the week, including hail, flooding, isolated tornadoes and damaging wind gusts up to 80 mph.
Additional reporting by AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Wadell.
More coverage on severe weather in the US:
For the latest weather news check back on AccuWeather.com. Watch the AccuWeather Network on DIRECTV, Frontier, Spectrum, fuboTV, Philo, and Verizon Fios. AccuWeather Now is now available on your preferred streaming platform.
Report a Typo