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Westminster, TX Tornado
MILEAGE: local chase
PHOTOS: 5 ( view all )
All across Dallas, this was a day that felt miserable outside. The heat and moisture hit you all at once as temperatures soared into the mid-90’s and dewpoints reached the mid-70’s. A dry line was setting up near the I-35 corridor. It was a recipe for disaster IF something could manage to break through the cap, given the extreme instability in place. Sure enough, thunderstorms began firing between Dallas and Sherman by late afternoon, one of which produced a large, destructive tornado over the towns of Anna and Westminster.
Here is Jeremy’s account of what happened later that night:
*** “This is a chase I will not soon forget. The tornado has left its imprint in my mind in many different ways. This was also my first solo catch. Although with Aaron nowcasting I can hardly call it solo. Got off work around eight and jetted east on Highway 82 out of Gainesville when I saw incredible updrafts exploding overhead. The storms quickly became severe as I punched a core to get east of what looked like a developing squall line. My hopes weren’t high at all as I sat in Sherman and watched the storms struggle for life in the fading sun. Decided to head south on Highway 75 and see what tail end charlie was up to. It was completely dark as I sat west of Anna, Texas and watched what I thought was a pretty pathetic storm.
Then I looked back east towards Anna and the city lights were lighting up a very interesting feature under the storm. In fact I was nearly convinced I was seeing a rotating wall cloud. I got back to the east of Anna where I met up with Eric Nygen, Amos Magglioco and Scott Eubanks and they told me the storm was tornado warned. All this time I had my weather radio turned off thinking the show was over, so I was shocked to hear this! The storm quickly produced a spinning wall cloud and seconds later put down a very nice elephunt trunk tornado less than a quarter of a mile away. Power flashes lit up the base of the tornado as it roared in front of us. It quickly lifted as fast as it had formed. Within seconds another tornado fell from the sky and churned the earth up just to our north. This was the loudest tornado I had ever heard! It sounded like a jet engine as the ground rumbled beneath our feet. It quickly grew into a large wedge and began ripping apart homes and families in the middle of the night. Debris could be seen flying around the monster. We began driving north and east to try and get ahead the storm. As we got on Highway 121 debris began falling on my car (very small pieces of roofing, insulation etc). I got a little nervous at this point and decided to hold back south a little, by this time the damage had been done and the twister had lifted.
Three people lost their lives this tragic night and 26 homes were completely leveled. My prayers are with the families as they grieve their loss.” ***
Wow! It’s been awhile since a large tornado struck so close to Dallas, only about 35 miles north of the central business district. Furthermore, there was never a Tornado Watch issued where the tornado occurred, and no warning sirens installed in the town of Westminster. All the more reason to pay attention to the skies, making sure our all of our towns have warning sirens, and doing what we can do inform others of approaching severe weather.
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