Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Texas, August 15, 2001

Name: Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Texas, August 15, 2001
Start: 2001-08-15T19:00
End: 2001-08-15T21:00
Location: Texas

August 15, 2001 · NWS FWD · 3 events in 2 counties and zones

2 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $56,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Fort Worth, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 15, 4:30 PM CST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 15, 4:30 PM CST, 2 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED FOR AVIATION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
530 PM CDT WED AUG 15 2001

AVIATION DISCUSSION...
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ALREADY DEVELOPING AS CLOSE AS 70 MILES
NORTHWEST OF DFW.  WILL PROBABLY MOVE TSRA UP TO 04Z FOR DFW AREA.
OTHER THAN MOVING UP TSRA CHANCES NO OTHER MAJOR CHANGES.  59

APPROACHING UPPER TROUGH DIGGING FAIRLY WELL AND DRIVING PACIFIC
FRONT INTO THE NORTHWEST SECTIONS AROUND MIDNIGHT WITH A GOOD CHANCE
OF THUNDERSTORMS.  THE FRONT WILL PUNCH INTO THE CENTRAL AREAS BY
MORNING...THEN INTO THE SOUTHERN AREAS WHERE IT WILL SLOW...AND
LINGER INTO SATURDAY. SEVERAL GOOD SHORT WAVES PASSING WITH THIS
TROUGH.  FIRST ONE OVERNIGHT AND THURSDAY...AND THE SECOND ONE
MOVING OUT OF SOUTHWEST TEXAS FRIDAY.

AREA PW/S 1.5 -2 INCHES WITH CAPES OF 1000-1500 J/KG WITH FIRST
SYSTEM.  THUS EXPECTING SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL ( ONE TO TWO INCHES)
NORTH OF I-20 THURSDAY.  THE SOUTHERN AREAS SHOULD SEE SIGNIFICANT
RAINFALL FRIDAY INTO FRIDAY NIGHT AS ECHOES TRAIN ALONG STALLED E-W
FRONT.

COOLER TEMPERATURES MAINLY DUE TO PRECIPITATION AND CLOUD COVER
OVER THE NEXT TWO DAYS.

IN THE EXTENDED...FRONTAL BOUNDARY AND UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL
LIKELY KEEP SOME THUNDERSTORMS AND RAIN AROUND ON SATURDAY...BUT
MODELS BEGIN TO SHIFT THIS EAST BY SUNDAY MORNING. H5 RIDGE WILL
MAKE A SLOW RETURN TO N TEXAS SO TEMPERATURES WILL ALSO FOLLOW BACK
UPWARD.

FCSTID = 75/80

DFW   75  92  71  91 /  60  50  40  40
ACT   75  94  72  91 /  40  40  40  50

.FWD...
TX...NONE.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 15, 2:38 PM CST, 4 hours 22 minutes before

TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-170900-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH TEXAS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
338 PM CDT WED AUG 15 2001

SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS WILL FORM WEST AND NORTHWEST OF
NORTH TEXAS AS A FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE TEXAS PANHANDLE AND
OKLAHOMA THIS EVENING.  THE STORMS WILL MOVE INTO THE NORTHWEST
SECTIONS OF NORTH TEXAS EARLY THIS EVENING...AND ACROSS THE
REMAINDER OF NORTH TEXAS TONIGHT.  DANGEROUS LIGHTNING WILL
ACCOMPANY THE STORMS.  THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS WILL HAVE A
POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE SMALL HAIL AND STRONG DAMAGING WIND OVERNIGHT.

The radar

The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 94 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:02 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Wise

When: August 15, 7:00 PM CST
Where: Wise County, Chico
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 33.300, -97.817

A barn and some power lines were blown down by high winds.

Thunderstorm Wind, Parker

When: August 15, 7:00 PM CST
Where: Parker County, Weatherford
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph)
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 32.767, -97.800

A small barn was picked up and blown 40 yards.

Lightning, Parker

When: August 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Parker County, 10 mi S of Weatherford
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 32.778, -97.805 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning started a fire that did 50K in damage in Tin Top.

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Texas in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Texas, August 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5265257, 5265259, 5265258.