Scattered severe thunderstorms developed across the southern counties of north Texas in a warm air advection regime ahead of an approaching upper level low. One brief tornado was spotted near Easterly in Robertson County.
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.
Scattered severe thunderstorms developed across the southern counties of north Texas in a warm air advection regime ahead of an approaching upper level low. One brief tornado was spotted near Easterly in Robertson County.
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 Apr 18, 5:14 AM CST, 1 hour 1 minute earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 614 AM CDT SAT APR 18 2009 .AVIATION... IFR TO MVFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL IN THE METROPLEX THIS MORNING AS WARM AIR ADVECTIONS SHOWERS DEVELOP. WACO MAY SEE A FEW HOURS OF LIFR CIGS AS WELL. CIGS WILL GRADUALLY LIFT THROUGHOUT THE DAY WITH CONVECTION REDEVELOPING LATER THIS AFTERNOON TO THE EAST OF MOST TAF SITES. DAL AND ACT WILL BE CLOSEST TO THE LATER ACTIVITY SO HAVE INCLUDED TSRA LONGER AT THOSE SITES. MODELS INDICATE ENOUGH LOW LEVEL MOISTURE MAY BE AVAILABLE FOR MVFR FOG SUNDAY MORNING. WINDS WILL SHIFT AROUND TO THE SOUTH AND THEN SOUTHWEST BY 19/00Z AS FRONT MOVES SOUTHEAST. GUSTY NW WINDS WILL ARRIVE SUNDAY MORNING IN THE METROPLEX. SH/13 && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 355 AM CDT SAT APR 18 2009/ MORNING WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS SLOW MOVING UPPER LOW NEAR THE TX/OK PANHANDLE WITH SEVERAL STRONG VORT MAXES ROTATING AROUND ENTIRE SYSTEM. LOOKS LIKE ONE MORE SHOT AT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TODAY BEFORE SYSTEM DEPARTS AND RAIN CHANCES TAPER. ACTIVITY HAS BEEN ON THE INCREASE ACROSS THE HILL COUNTRY OVER THE LAST FEW HOURS AND THINK THIS TREND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE MORNING IN AREA OF MODERATE WARM ADVECTION AND INCREASING DEEP LAYER ASCENT FROM UPPER LOW. NAM/GFS BOTH INDICATE AMPLE ELEVATED INSTABILITY TO SUPPORT VIGOROUS CONVECTION. THIS AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD SPREAD ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE CWA THROUGH THE MORNING...WITH POTENTIAL FOR SOME ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS POSING A HAIL THREAT. BY MIDDAY...DRYLINE WILL SLOWLY MOVE EAST AND SHOULD BE APPROACHING OUR FAR WESTERN COUNTIES. MAIN AREA OF CONVECTION SHOULD STILL BE LOCATED ACROSS THE SOUTHEASTERN COUNTIES...AND INTO SOUTHEAST TEXAS BUT INCREASING LIFT FROM UPPER LOW AND WEAK FORCING ALONG DRYLINE WILL LIKELY BE ENOUGH FOR SOME SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP ALONG THE I-35 CORRIDOR FROM WACO NORTHWARD INTO CENTRAL OKLAHOMA. FORECAST SOUNDINGS FOR THIS AFTERNOON FROM BOTH THE GFS/NAM INDICATE A MINIMALLY CAPPED...MODERATELY UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE WITHIN WEAK BOUNDARY LAYER FLOW. GIVEN THE STEEP LAPSE RATES AND COLD TEMPS ALOFT...LARGE HAIL WOULD CONTINUE TO BE THE MAIN THREAT WITH ANY STORMS THAT DEVELOP. SO FOR TODAY...WILL HAVE HIGH POPS ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST THIS MORNING INTO EARLY AFTERNOON AND KEEP SOME 30/40 POPS ALONG THE I-35 CORRIDOR INTO THE AFTERNOON. BY THIS EVENING THINGS SHOULD BE WINDING DOWN AS UPPER LOW MOVES EAST. SEVERAL NICE DAYS OF WEATHER IN STORE FOR NORTH TEXAS AS NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT PREVAILS THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. TEMPERATURES WILL WARM INTO THE 80S EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE NEXT CHANCE FOR RAIN APPEARS TO BE NEXT WEEKEND AS ANOTHER STRONG SYSTEM MOVES INTO THE WESTERN US BREAKING DOWN THE UPPER RIDGE THAT WILL BE IN PLACE. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... DALLAS-FT. WORTH, TX 76 55 73 49 75 / 40 20 5 0 0 WACO, TX 76 54 77 48 77 / 60 20 5 0 0 PARIS, TX 69 54 71 45 71 / 50 30 5 0 0 DENTON, TX 74 51 71 45 75 / 40 20 5 0 0 MCKINNEY, TX 72 53 71 45 75 / 40 20 5 0 0 DALLAS, TX 75 57 73 50 75 / 50 20 5 0 0 TERRELL, TX 73 55 73 48 74 / 60 20 5 0 0 CORSICANA, TX 73 56 75 49 73 / 70 20 5 0 0 TEMPLE, TX 76 55 76 48 76 / 60 20 5 0 0 && .FWD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && 13/91
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 500 AM CDT SAT APR 18 2009 TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-191100- 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- 500 AM CDT SAT APR 18 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS ALL OF NORTH TEXAS TODAY WITH THE MOST LIKELY AREA LOCATED SOUTHEAST OF A PARIS TO LAMPASAS LINE. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND MARGINAL SEVERE STORMS WITH HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED SOUTHEAST OF A PARIS TO LAMPASAS LINE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. 13
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
631 AM CDT SAT APR 18 2009
TXZ174-181200-
MILAM TX-
631 AM CDT SAT APR 18 2009
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR...
SOUTHERN MILAM COUNTY
AT 632 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS DETECTED A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES NORTH OF LEXINGTON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT
30 MPH.
CITIES IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE ROCKDALE AND THORNDALE.
FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...VERY HEAVY RAINFALL...PEA-SIZED
HAIL...AND WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED FROM THIS STORM.
LAT...LON 3074 9728 3088 9690 3073 9662 3047 9715
3047 9716
TIME...MOT...LOC 1132Z 204DEG 27KT 3051 9702
13The Ft Hood radar (KGRK), 55 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 12:13 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood, 1 tornado, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Rosebud VFD reports roof and structural damage to a barn southeast of Rosebud.
Large cedar trees were uprooted and large limbs broken on the south side of Franklin. Additional tree damage was reported elsewhere in town along with downed power lines and broken windows. A motorcycle was also thrown across the road.
A brief tornado near Easterly tore down trees, fences, and power lines.
Heritage Row at Live Oak Street was closed due to several inches of water over the road from heavy rain. Some drainage culverts were crushed by the weight of the water.
Several areas of flooding in and around Mexia were reported due to 5-6 inches of rain that fell over the area in a short time. The water was a few feet deep on East Hopkins Street.
Nickel size hail fell in Keller.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Texas, 2009Warnings in Texas, April 2009
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: 164976, 164977, 164978, 164982, 164983, 164776.