EF3 Tornado — Dallas, Texas

2019-10-20 · near Gribble, Dallas, Texas

Event narrative

The tornado formed in northwest Dallas, near State Highway 348 and Luna Road, where large tree damage and minor roof damage was initially observed. This tornado tracked toward the east-northeast, crossing I-35E and impacted numerous commercial structures between this freeway and Harry Hines Blvd.

Extensive damage to many businesses and residences, consistent with EF-1 and EF-2 intensity wind speeds, occurred near the intersection of Harry Hines Blvd and Walnut Hill Lane. As the tornado moved eastward, roughly coincident with Walnut Hill Lane, several gas stations, large commercial buildings, and churches, and at least one multi-story apartment complex sustained significant roof and exterior wall damage. This path of strong EF-1 and EF-2 damage continued east-northeast along Walnut Hill Lane through the Marsh Lane and Midway Road corridors. East of Marsh Lane, the tornado impacted more single-family residences, though commercial structures were still adversely affected at times. Severe damage to large hardwood trees, consistent with EF-1 intensity winds, was observed throughout the damage path from Marsh Lane to US HWY 75.

Intermittent EF-1 and EF-2 damage also occurred to a number of residences in this area. Many of these damaged homes were large and/or well-established structures that sustained either partial or total roof loss, accompanied by minor exterior wall damage. This damage was consistent with 110-125 mph tornado winds. Within one concentrated region of EF-2 damage along Northaven Road west of US HWY 75, a particular single-family home was surveyed with total roof loss, and multiple collapsed exterior walls. The survey team determined that this damage was consistent with low-end EF-3 intensity winds of approximately 140 mph. This was the only structure that was assigned an EF-3 rating for this tornado.

The tornado continued eastward, toward US HWY 75 and produced significant roof damage to several businesses near US HWY 75 including office low-rise buildings, a car dealership, and a Home Depot. Damage here was assigned an EF-2 intensity. The tornado crossed over the southern part of the Texas Instruments campus and then began to turn more northeastward and parallel Greenville Avenue. Tree and roof damage consistent with EF-1 occurred as it crossed I-635. Several glass windows were blown out at a mid-rise office building. The tornado crossed an apartment complex near Walnut Street and Greenville Avenue where dozens of units had sections of missing roof consistent with EF-1 damage of 95-110 mph. The tornado moved across the Cutters Point apartment complex where numerous units experienced significant roof loss consistent with 115 mph or EF-2 damage. Another low-rise office building saw numerous windows blown out on all sides. The tornado continued into the Richland Park, Lakes of Buckingham, Richland Meadows, and College Park residential subdivisions where widespread tree and roof damage consistent with 80-95 mph winds occurred. A few homes in this area saw complete or total roof loss where winds were estimated at 110 mph or EF-1. The tornado began to weaken and took a sharp turn to the north near Richardson Square where it tracked to the Huffhines Park areas. Mostly tree damage occurred here with winds estimated near 70 mph or EF-0. The track then turned to the east and became very narrow near Duck Creek with the tornado dissipating as it crossed Jupiter Rd. The tornado had a continuous track for 32 minutes, tracked for just over 15 miles, produced maximum winds of 140 mph, with a maximum width of three-quarters of a mile.

Wider weather episode

Thunderstorms erupted across the DFW Metroplex as a strong upper level system and a cold front impacted the region on the evening of October 20 through the early morning hours of October 21st. A few storms developed ahead of the approaching cold front in the late evening hours of the 20th, producing tornadoes in Dallas and surrounding areas. Additional storms formed a squall line along the cold front, producing a large swath of damaging winds across North and Central Texas overnight into the early hours of October 21st. A total of 10 tornadoes were identified by NWS Survey teams, occurring both within the storms ahead of the cold front, and embedded within the squall line. The strongest of these tornadoes was an EF-3 that stretched almost 16 miles across the northern portions of Dallas County. Following on the heels of that tornado, an EF-2 tracked about 2.5 miles through Garland in Dallas County. The remaining count of tornadoes included 4 EF-1s and 4 EF-0s. Miraculously, no one was killed or significantly injured in any of the tornadoes! The total estimated cost of insured damage for all the tornadoes alone is over $2 billion, which the Insurance Council of Texas claims is the most costly tornado event in the state's history. Of the straight line wind damage, the most severe was located in Farmersville in Collin Co where a mobile home was rolled and destroyed. Three people were injured in the home. Over a dozen other manufactured homes in the same area were damaged, too.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (32.8685, -96.9149)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 856409. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.