A large upper level low moved through the Texas panhandle and triggered several rounds of thunderstorms over north Texas.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS FWD wrote it up.
A large upper level low moved through the Texas panhandle and triggered several rounds of thunderstorms over north Texas.
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 Oct 5, 10:57 PM CST, 1 hour 3 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 1157 PM CDT SUN OCT 5 2008 .AVIATION... A LARGE BAND OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL TRACK EAST ACROSS NORTH TEXAS OVERNIGHT. THIS ACTIVITY SHOULD APPROACH THE METROPLEX TAF SITES 10-12Z...LOWERING CEILINGS TO BKN-OVC015 AND VSBYS TO 1-3SM. AFTER THIS FIRST BAND MOVES THROUGH...WE WILL SEE ADDITIONAL CHANCES OF RAIN/THUNDERSTORMS OFF AND ON THROUGH MONDAY EVENING. HAVE SHOWN A IMPROVEMENT TO MVFR DURING THE AFTERNOON BUT THIS WILL EASILY GOING BACK DOWN TO MVFR IN PRECIPITATION. 58 && .UPDATE... AREA OF PRECIP TO OUR WEST SHOULD BEGIN TO AFFECT OUR WESTERN COUNTIES NEAR OR JUST AFTER 06Z. AS A RESULT...HAVE CONFINED POPS TO ALONG AND WEST OF A GOLDTHWAITE TO GAINESVILLE LINE THROUGH 06Z. NO OTHER SIGNIFICANT UPDATES. SCHULTZ && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 239 PM CDT SUN OCT 5 2008/ NORTH TEXAS IS IN FOR A CHANGE IN THE WEATHER OVER THE NEXT 36 HOURS AS A UPPER LEVEL TROUGH MOVES EASTWARD ACROSS THE REGION. THE TROUGH WILL BRING NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ALONG WITH ABUNDANT CLOUD COVER. WE EXPECT THE ACTIVITY CURRENTLY IN WEST TEXAS TO TRANSLATE EASTWARD THROUGH THE EVENING AND REACH THE NORTHWEST ZONES OF NORTH TEXAS BY MID TO LATE EVENING. SHOWERS AND STORMS SHOULD REACH THE INTERSTATE 35 CORRIDOR NEAR OR A COUPLE OF HOURS AFTER SUNRISE WITH OFF AND ON ACTIVITY EXPECTED THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON. A FEW STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE MONDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING...ESPECIALLY IN THE SOUTHEAST ZONES WHERE THE BEST INSTABILITY WILL RESIDE. RAIN AND THUNDERSTORM CHANCES WILL CONTINUE MONDAY NIGHT WHEN A COLD FRONT ENTERS INTO THE REGION. THE FRONT WILL MOVE INTO SOUTH TEXAS BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND POST FRONTAL SHOWERS SHOULD END QUICKLY FROM WEST TO EAST. THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK WILL BE DRY AND SEASONAL AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS BACK OVER NORTH TEXAS. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL BE ON THE INCREASE LATE IN THE WEEK AHEAD OF ANOTHER DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM. THE EXTENDED MODELS STILL INDICATE ANOTHER CHANCE FOR RAIN SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...ALTHOUGH THERE ARE SOME TIMING DISCREPANCIES. FOR NOW WILL KEEP ONLY LOW RAIN CHANCES IN. 79 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DALLAS-FT. WORTH, TX 70 84 65 82 56 / 30 80 60 20 10 WACO, TX 72 87 67 86 58 / 20 60 70 30 10 PARIS, TX 66 80 62 79 54 / 20 80 80 30 10 DENTON, TX 70 84 61 82 54 / 40 80 50 20 10 MCKINNEY, TX 68 83 61 79 52 / 20 80 70 20 10 DALLAS, TX 69 82 64 81 57 / 30 80 60 20 10 TERRELL, TX 68 85 66 82 56 / 20 70 80 30 10 CORSICANA, TX 69 85 65 82 56 / 20 70 80 30 10 TEMPLE, TX 71 88 66 86 57 / 20 60 70 30 10 && .FWD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 58/
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 900 PM CDT SUN OCT 5 2008 TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-061215- MONTAGUE-COOKE-GRAYSON-FANNIN-LAMAR-YOUNG-JACK-WISE-DENTON-COLLIN- HUNT-DELTA-HOPKINS-STEPHENS-PALO PINTO-PARKER-TARRANT-DALLAS- ROCKWALL-KAUFMAN-VAN ZANDT-RAINS-EASTLAND-ERATH-HOOD-SOMERVELL- JOHNSON-ELLIS-HENDERSON-COMANCHE-MILLS-HAMILTON-BOSQUE-HILL-NAVARRO- FREESTONE-ANDERSON-LAMPASAS-CORYELL-BELL-MCLENNAN-FALLS-LIMESTONE- LEON-MILAM-ROBERTSON- 900 PM CDT SUN OCT 5 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE... THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ALONG AND WEST OF A GAINESVILLE TO GOLDTHWAITE LINE AFTER MIDNIGHT. CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING WILL BE THE MAIN HAZARD. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS MONDAY THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON. FORECAST INSTABILITY AND WINDS INDICATE THAT SOME STORMS MAY BECOME MARGINALLY SEVERE MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THUNDERSTORM CHANCES WILL RETURN TO ALL OF NORTH TEXAS SATURDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The Dyess AFB radar (KDYX), 44 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 06:01 UTC.
9 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail, 2 flash flood, 1 lightning, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck a building as a line of thunderstorms moved through Eastland. A 3-foot tall concrete staute on a roof was struck by lightning and fell onto a lower part of the building causing more damage. The debris landed on Main Street.
Large tree limbs were blown onto vehicles and power lines. A large tree was blown down at the intersection of College Avenue and North Lane Street.
The roof of a porch was blown off.
Wind gusts up to 60 MPH were reported flowing into a storm west of Mexia.
The intersection of North Ross Avenue and Highway 14 was flooded and had to be barricaded.
Large limbs were blown into roadways west of Mexia.
Golfball-size hail was reported on the south side of town.
A tower was damaged at a prison and an eighteen wheeler tractor-trailer was blown over. On FM 321, four houses had shingles missing, two sheds were damaged, and numerous trees had been blown down and some had their tops sheared off. Power lines were downed by trees and large limbs.
Hail as large as hen eggs was reported. The hail broke siding off a home and damaged trim around windows.
A 70 MPH wind gust was measured in Tennessee Colony.
Quarter-size hail was reported.
A tornado touched down just west of Tennessee Colony and moved towards Montalba. A metal roof was removed from a mobile home on FM 2709 and a barn was heavily damaged. Numerous trees were twisted and broken with their leaves stripped off. On Highway 287, a mobile home was damaged and a huge tree was felled, damaging a carport and two vehicles. Shingles were also missing from roofs in this area. A barn east of Highway 287 was blown down. In Montalba, trees and power lines were downed.
Golfball-size hail reported west of Marquez.
Half dollar-size hail was reported near Montalba.
A tree was blown down.
The roof was blown off the drive-thru section of a bank. Trees and power lines were also blown down.
A 60 MPH wind gust was reported.
Flood waters were two-feet deep near the intersection of Highway 175 and Highway 155 in Frankston.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Texas, 2008Warnings in Texas, October 2008
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: 134623, 134557, 134558, 134559, 134633, 134624, 134556, 134635, 134638, 134564, 134566, 134568, 134560, 134561, 134562, 134563, 134565, 134567.