Official Number Of April North Texas Tornadoes Upped To 15
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NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) - First there were eight, then 11, and now 15... well kind of.
Last month there was a rash of EF-0 tornadoes, with winds between 65 and 85 mph, that hit in five North Texas counties -- Comanche, Erath, Hill, Johnson and Somervell.
It turns out the tornadoes in southern Johnson County, near Rio Vista, kept lifting off the ground and coming back down again. Officials with the National Weather Service say when that happens each touch down counts as a separate tornado.
CBS 11 Storm Team Meteorologist Jeff Jamison says, "The number of tornadoes from the evening of April 26 now stands at 15, but we will more than likely never know the true number since the vast majority of the reported tornadoes were weak and didn't last very long. Even though the tornadoes had the same, long-lasting mother storm, the twisters themselves caused minimal damage overall."
NWS meteorologist Ted Ryan agrees the tornadoes were relatively weak. "So far the strongest tornado that occurred Sunday night was an EF-1 and that was one of the ones that we announced yesterday that we discovered some evidence of." That tornado had winds as high as 90 miles an hour.
Weather experts say on-the-ground assessment is necessary to determine if an actual tornado moved through or if an area was damaged by straight-line winds. To determine the strength of a tornado officials look at and measure the amount of damage caused.
The band of tornadoes that swept across parts of North Texas flattened buildings and tore the roofs off of some structures, but caused no serious injuries.
Flash flood warnings were also issued as the severe weather, with varying sizes of hailstones, moved across cities and towns.
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