A strong cold front helped kick off a round of thunderstorms the afternoon of Sunday May 9. Wind damage and large hail accompanied a few of these storms across parts of Central 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 strong cold front helped kick off a round of thunderstorms the afternoon of Sunday May 9. Wind damage and large hail accompanied a few of these storms across parts of Central 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 May 9, 2:00 PM CST, 45 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Fort Worth TX 300 PM CDT Sun May 9 2021 ...New Long Term... .SHORT TERM... /Issued 1201 PM CDT Sun May 9 2021/ /This Afternoon Through Monday Night/ Morning surface analysis shows a cold front bisecting North Texas along a line from near Comanche to Fort Worth to Bonham. Visible satellite imagery shows this boundary well as a fine line of cloud cover steadily advancing southward. Ahead of the front, a moisture rich boundary layer is in place with surface dewpoints in the lower 70s. This boundary layer was sampled well by an aircraft sounding about an hour ago, showing the moisture depth to around 800 mb and a significantly weaker capping inversion than was sampled on the 12Z FWD raob. Above the capping, a plume of >9 C/km lapse rates were observed. This environment will become increasingly unstable into the afternoon as we continue to heat into the 80s with peeks of sunshine now apparent south of the boundary. As the front continues southward during peak heating, thunderstorms should erupt somewhere in the vicinity of a Hillsboro to Ennis to Canton line initially between 3-5 pm, and expand southwestward into the evening hours as the front continues southward. Areas east of I-35 and south of I-20 are under the greatest threat for severe weather. Low level winds will weaken with the approach of the cold front and the overall tornado threat should be low, however, given the strong instability and perhaps a remnant boundary from earlier convection across the south, we'll have to keep an eye on locally enhanced areas of vorticity that could raise the threat in a few locations across our far southeastern counties. Otherwise, deep layer shear will be sufficient for organized severe weather with primarily a very large hail threat and damaging wind threat. Thunderstorm chances will diminish late tonight as the front moves into Central Texas. Unseasonably cool air will filter in behind the front with low temperatures dropping into the lower 50s in the northwest to lower 60s in the southeast. Cloud cover will overspread the region late tonight atop the cooler airmass and Monday will be a very cool day by May standards. Highs will range from the lower 60s in the north to lower 70s in the south. Warm advection will increase late in the day and rain/storm chances will overspread the region once again, especially by Monday night where widespread rain and isolated thunderstorms will occur. Steep lapse rates will support a low end hail threat with any convection Monday evening and overnight, but the overall severe weather threat will be significantly lower than today. Dunn && .LONG TERM... /NEW/ /Tuesday onward/ A slow-moving upper-level trough will continue to amplify across the interior CONUS over the next few days. At the present time, a cold front is moving south across North TX. This cold front is forecast to stall near the Gulf Coast by late Monday. While the FWD CWA will be north of the surface front, the 850 mb front will be stretched across Central TX through Wednesday. This will act as a focus for widespread shower/thunderstorm development as isentropic ascent continues near this front as southwest flow continues above the surface front. The transport of Pacific moisture in the mid levels of the troposphere will allow PWAT values to climb to near climatological maximum values for mid-May. This will support the potential for heavy rainfall near where the 850 mb stationary front becomes established. Right now, it appears this is most likely to occur somewhere over Central TX. Forecast event-total QPF (i.e., today through Wednesday) across Central TX looks likely to be in the 3-5" range. This would almost certainly require a Flash Flood Watch for parts of Central TX if the forecast were to hold, but after coordination with neighboring WFOs, we will wait and see how much rainfall occurs today before making the decision on a watch for the rainfall forecast for Monday and Tuesday, as the greater threat for flash flooding looks to be on Tuesday. In addition to the flash flood potential, per coordination with WGRFC, there will also be a potential for minor flooding within the Neches and Trinity basins. Rainfall chances will begin to decrease by late Wednesday and into Thursday as the upper-level trough axis passes to our east and ridging builds in the West. The next upper-level trough will dig into the Pacific Northwest by the end of the week, leading to robust return flow across the south central CONUS, bringing a warming trend and allowing temperatures to return to near normal values. Godwin && .AVIATION... /Issued 1201 PM CDT Sun May 9 2021/ /18Z TAFs/ The cold front is moving through the Metroplex now and we'll start the TAFs off with north flow, although it may be just a tad beyond 18Z at DAL/GKY. VFR cigs may prevail for a few hours before scattering out this afternoon. Thunderstorms are expected to develop just to the southeast of the major airports and will likely significantly impact the Cedar Creek arrival sector through evening. Otherwise, MVFR cigs will likely overspread the region again tonight and continue through Monday with increasing rain/storm chances Monday afternoon and especially Monday night. At Waco, VFR cigs will prevail through the afternoon, but TS chances will increase from 22Z to 02Z and we'll continue with VCTS in the TAF during this time with a TEMPO TSRA between 23Z and 01Z. North flow will prevail behind the front late this afternoon. MVFR cigs will again spread over the region tonight and continue through Monday. Dunn && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Dallas-Ft. Worth 58 67 58 67 57 / 10 30 60 80 60 Waco 64 72 61 71 59 / 30 20 60 90 70 Paris 55 64 54 62 54 / 10 40 60 80 60 Denton 53 65 56 65 54 / 5 40 60 80 60 McKinney 55 67 56 65 55 / 10 40 60 80 60 Dallas 59 68 59 68 58 / 10 30 60 80 60 Terrell 58 70 56 67 56 / 20 40 70 80 70 Corsicana 62 71 59 70 59 / 40 30 70 90 70 Temple 64 74 62 73 59 / 40 20 60 90 70 Mineral Wells 54 64 54 65 54 / 5 30 60 80 50 && .FWD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. &&
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Fort Worth TX 300 PM CDT Sun May 9 2021 TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-101100- 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- 300 PM CDT Sun May 9 2021 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for North and Central Texas. .DAY ONE...Tonight. Thunderstorm chances will increase through the evening hours, with the greatest chances across Central and East Texas. Some thunderstorms may be severe with large hail and damaging winds being the main threats. A few isolated tornadoes will also be possible. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Monday through Saturday. Thunderstorm chances will continue on Monday and Tuesday. While the severe weather threat will be low, heavy rainfall leading to flash flooding will be possible across parts of Central Texas. Some rivers may also experience minor flooding. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is likely this evening south of Interstate 20.
The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 173 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:46 UTC.
7 hail, 6 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail up to the size of golf balls was reported along FM 837 east of FM 315. The hail covered the ground causing ground fog and slick driving conditions on the roadway.
A public report indicated quarter sized hail approximately 5 miles south of Aquilla, TX.
A public report indicated quarter sized hail near the city of West, TX.
A public report indicated dime sized hail near the city of Mount Calm, TX.
A public report indicated damage to a barn and multiple large trees down in the city of Coolidge, TX.
Emergency management reported major damage caused by a tree being blown onto a home near Lake Mexia. The tree partially punctured the roof of the home causing part of the ceiling to cave in.
Emergency management reported several trees leaning or knocked over, and many tree branches broken around Lake Mexia. Some of the roads with tree damage were Redbud A, CR 377, CR 379, FM 2705, White Rock Road and the Cedar area.
The Automated Weather Observation System at the Limestone County Airport measured a wind gust of 60 MPH.
Dime sized hail was reported on Highway 334 to the east Gun Barrel City.
Emergency management reported golf ball sized hail approximately 12 miles south-southeast of the city of Oakwood.
Emergency management reported several small trees being blown down approximately 12 miles south-southeast of the city of Coolidge, TX.
Emergency management reported a 10x10 portable shed blown over, along with minor damage to a roof and tree limbs, approximately 11 miles south-southeast of the city of Coolidge, TX.
Mills County Sheriff's Department reported ping pong ball sized hail in the city of Mullin, TX.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, May 2021
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: 961433, 960558, 960560, 960561, 960565, 960566, 960567, 960570, 963107, 960563, 960568, 960569, 960564.