The National Weather Service released images of the Dallas County tornadoes on Doppler radar, and it's a classic hook echo pattern (see slideshow).
The first tornado formed near Ferris at 5:15p.m. It dissipated and then re-formed within a larger circulation, moving NE to Seagoville between 5:40 and 5:55p.m. It did considerable damage in Seagoville but fortunately there were no injuries.
A second Supercell thunderstorm spawned a tornado over western Dallas beginning around 6:15p.m. This tornado took a path quite similar to the April 2, 1957 Dallas tornado. It began in north Oak Cliff as a wall cloud and tracked northward across the Trinity River. One of the images captured on KDFW Fox 4 News showed this dramatic crossing (see link below).
It touched ground north of the river and was even seen from Love Field tower.
The "hook" is caused by the rapid rotation and strong updraft of the circulation pulling rain high aloft. It's a telltale signature of the lift and spin needed for tornado production.
The west Dallas tornado has been classed as an EF2 with winds of 111 to 135mph. It was on the ground for a 1./2 mile, so in this respect it had a much shorter total path than the 1957 tornado.
The Seagoville funnel has been classed as an EF1 with winds of 86-110 mph. It was up to 1/4 mile wide and was on the ground for a mile.
---------------------------------------------------------
Here is the preliminary official report released by the National Weather Service Friday morning regarding the north Texas tornado outbreak of Sep 8th:
A TOTAL OF SIX TORNADOES OCCURRED ON WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 8TH. FOUR
TORNADOES WERE RATED EF0 ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE. ONE TORNADO
WAS RATED EF1...AND ONE TORNADO WAS PRELIMINARILY RATED EF2. ONLY
TWO MINOR INJURIES HAVE BEEN REPORTED FROM ALL OF THESE STORMS.
THE EF2 TORNADO DAMAGE WAS LOCATED IN THE CITY OF DALLAS NEAR THE
INTERSECTION OF MOCKINGBIRD LANE AND IRVING BOULEVARD. THIS
TORNADO CAUSED MINOR ROOF DAMAGE TO SEVERAL BUILDINGS AND CAUSED
MORE EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO A WAREHOUSE. AN EXTERIOR NON LOAD BEARING
WALL COLLAPSED...LEADING TO A PARTIAL COLLAPSE OF THE ROOF. THIS
DAMAGE WAS RATED EF2 ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE WITH WIND SPEEDS
OF APPROXIMATELY 115 MPH. THE LAST TIME THE CITY OF DALLAS HAD A
TORNADO RATED AT F2/EF2 OR HIGHER WAS F2 TORNADO DAMAGE ON APRIL
11 1974. THE LANCASTER TORNADO OF APRIL 25 1994 PRODUCED F4 DAMAGE
IN THE CITY OF LANCASTER BEFORE DISSIPATING WITHIN THE CITY LIMITS
OF DALLAS.
THE EF1 TORNADO DAMAGE WAS LOCATED IN THE CITY OF SEAGOVILLE JUST
EAST OF HIGHWAY 175. AT LEAST THREE APARTMENT BUILDINGS SUFFERED
SIGNIFICANT ROOF DAMAGE. WIND SPEEDS IN THIS TORNADO ARE ESTIMATED
TO BE NEAR 90 MPH.
THE REMAINING TORNADO DAMAGE WAS GIVEN A PRELIMINARY RATING OF
EF0. THESE TORNADOES OCCURRED NEAR LINDSAY IN COOKE COUNTY...NEAR
FERRIS IN ELLIS COUNTY...IN HEATH IN ROCKWALL COUNTY...AND NEAR
BLOSSOM IN LAMAR COUNTY.
THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE RATES TORNADO DAMAGE.
ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE APPROXIMATE WIND SPEED RANGE
EF0 65-85 MPH
EF1 86-110 MPH
EF2 111-135 MPH
EF3 136-165 MPH
EF4 166-200 MPH
EF5 200 MPH OR GREATER
----------------------------------------------------------------
Comments