© Star-Telegram/Rodger MallisonA storm moving across northern Tarrant County creates a dramatic sky over Highway 121 and Northeast Loop 820, Tuesday, May 24, 2011.
At least one tornado was spotted in Denton, and 70 mph wind gusts were recorded in the Loop 820 and U.S. 377 area, while Arlington spotters reported wind gusts of up to 75 mph.
Penny- to softball-size hailstones rained down on Tarrant County from east of Eagle Mountain Lake to the Bedford area, the weather service reported.
No injuries have been reported in Tarrant County, but The Dallas Morning News reported this morning that a man had been found dead next to a pile of debris at an Oak Cliff apartment complex.
There was extensive damage to residences in Saginaw, and roof shingles and trees were reported blown down at an apartment complex five miles north of Lake Worth, according to a weather service employee.
"The atmosphere was so unstable that we had reports of several waves of thunderstorms that came through," said Matt Bishop, weather service meteorologist. "We're not sure right now if a tornado actually touched down in Tarrant County. We're sending out assessment teams to all the places that reported damage."
Storm sirens prompted people to head for cover in Tarrant, Parker and Denton counties and elsewhere in North Texas.
"This is one of the biggest storm systems to hit the area since 2007," said Mark Fox, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
About 1.22 inches of rain fell at DFW Airport on Tuesday, bringing the total for the month to close to eight inches, which is almost three inches more than the normal May rainfall.
An Irving police officer was struck by lightning while placing flares in the road at Loop 12 and Shady Grove Road. He remained in a local hospital this morning for observation.
An Oncor spokeswoman said power was knocked out to tens of thousands of customers. About 31,500 remained without power in the Dallas-Fort Worth area this morning.
"The outages followed the path of the storm," Ashley Burton said. "Our crews are working as quickly and safety as possible to restore power."
Fort Worth fire Lt. Ricardo Neaves said this morning that the department did not receive reports of major damage in the city.
Today's forecast calls for drier air and highs in the low 90s, with a slight chance of thunderstorms this afternoon. Temperatures will fall into the low 60s tonight, and Thursday should be beautiful, with highs in the low 80s, sun and light winds, according to the National Weather Service in Fort Worth.
Azle
At least one tornado reportedly touched down in the Azle area.
"We heard reports of rain-wrapped tornadoes, meaning the heavy rain masks the tornado," Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler said. "You don't know it's there till it whacks you."
About 9 p.m., a twisted heap of metal that used to be the roof of the Azle Arts Association's theater was sitting in the parking lot of Josefina's Mexican Cafe. Both businesses, along the service road of Texas 199, sustained significant damage.
The roof hit the top of the cafe, where it destroyed air-conditioning units, knocked down a power line and smashed the back of a Ford pickup before stopping.
About 20 people were dining at the time, but no one was injured, owner MaLuisa Raga said.
Lisha Gregson, president of the Azle Arts Association Popcorn Players, said the damage couldn't have come at a worse time.
"We have a play June 10," Gregson said. "We pray we get a roof by then."
© R. N. Lantz/Dallas Morning News/MCTA tornado passes near Ryan Ranch subdivision in southern Denton County, Texas Tuesday, May 24 2011.
Arlington
The Rangers-White Sox game at Rangers Ballpark was stopped at 8:23 p.m. as the storm reached Arlington. Fans in the upper deck were the first asked to move. Then everyone was told to evacuate.
About 9 p.m., the Rangers had fans move from the main concourse into the service tunnel at the clubhouse level. The game finally resumed after a three-hour delay; the Rangers lost.
Golf-ball-sized hail was reported elsewhere in the city.
D/FW Airport
An American Airlines official estimated that 200 departures and arrivals have been cancelled today at Dallas//Fort Worth Airport.
More than 500 American cancellations were reported across the country because of storms.
Spokesman Ed Martelle said that the company has pulled 62 planes for hail-damage assessment.
"Each will probably take an hour or two for assessment," Martelle said.
American Eagle has pulled 27 planes and 16 have already been inspected, Martelle said.
Many of the airport's cancellations came because planes were not at the airport after having been diverted Tuesday night to avoid the storms, an airport spokesman said.
Other planes were being assessed for hail damage and were not in service, said David Magaña, an airport spokesman.
At least three planes from Virgin, Frontier and Continental received hail damage at Terminal E, Magaña said.
Numerous flights were delayed as the storm moved in Tuesday, and hail damaged up to 100 taxis beginning about 8 p.m.
Many departing planes returned to the terminals and passengers got off before the storm arrived. Employees moved them away from windows and into sheltered areas.
Large hail damaged as many as 100 cabs at the taxi queue on the south end of the airport, Magaña said, but no injuries were reported.
North Richland Hills
Downed power lines and dark traffic signals slowed this morning's commute, said Sean Hughes, emergency management coordinator for the city of North Richland Hills.
Temporary traffic control measures were in place for the morning rush hour, Hughes said. There were also a few residences that experienced some roof damage and some who reported some fence damage, he said.
Saginaw
Residents on the west side of Saginaw believe that a small tornado tore down fences, stripped shingles from roofs and broke limbs in the Whisper Wood Estates neighborhood off Old Decatur Road.
Melissa Chavez, who lives on Jan Court, was in her front yard taking photos of the approaching storm about 7:30 p.m. when she heard a sound like a freight train and felt a change in pressure.
"I tried to get into the house, but I could not open the door," she said. "Even with my son's and brother-in-law's help, we could not get the door open."
Down the road, Rodney Lane saw circulation in the sky and went indoors. His next-door neighbor's fence was blown apart, with a part of it knocking the chimney off her roof.
He said that his neighbors' fences are gone and that there was other minor damage. No damage was apparent in the commercial area of town.
Northeast Tarrant
Across Northeast Tarrant County, hail, wind and rain were reported, but no serious damage.
Numerous tree limbs and fences were reported down this morning. Sirens were set off in Bedford and Southlake because of rotation clouds in the area Tuesday night.
Ashleigh Whiteman, Hurst community relations manager, stood near a window to describe the scene around her home. But she was never far from the interior closet she had prepared in case she needed better shelter.
"It got really eerie," she said. "Ominous. We got fairly large hail, about golf-ball-size, for 30 seconds to a minute. Our sirens sounded about 8 p.m., but we never saw a tornado."
Colleyville City Manager Jennifer Fadden reported no major incidents, although she said the sky was "very ugly" about 8:40 p.m.
"Back to the east, the clouds are very wicked," she said. "We activated our outdoor warning sirens a little before 8 p.m., as most Tarrant County cities did."
Colleyville got hail, high wind and a significant amount of rain, and by 8:45 p.m. it was all over.
"We're happy to be clear of it," Fadden said.
Irving
An Irving police officer who was placing flares in a road at Loop 12 and Shady Grove was struck by lightning. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was reported in good condition this morning, according to Irving police. His name was not released.
Irving police reported that hail and strong winds caused damage to vehicles, buildings and trees throughout the city. No major damage was reported, but officials will be out this morning to make an extensive assessment of damages.
Minor damage also was reported at the Four Seasons Resort, where the Byron Nelson will be held this week.
City officials activated outdoor warning sirens on three different occasions Tuesday.
Staff writers Gordon Dickson, Sandra Engelland, Terry Evans, Susan McFarland, Steve Norder and Domingo Ramirez contributed to this report.
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