The National Weather Service in Fort Worth has published a preliminary finding on their storm surveys from today. Due to the number of possible tornadoes and the overall scope of the event it’ll take a couple more days to survey all damage areas. The strongest tornado struck Garland and was rated an EF-4. This was the first EF-4 tornado in Dallas county since the Lancaster tornado back in 1994. That was the first EF-4 tornado in the month of December to ever impact Texas. Finally this was the first EF-4 tornado to strike the United States in December since December 16, 2000.It goes without saying yesterday’s event was historic. The Garland tornado continued into Rowlett and eventually Collin County. Another significant tornado struck northern Ellis county and southern Dallas county. Other tornadoes impacted more towns and will be surveyed in Monday. A total of eleven individuals were killed with dozens injured. Hundreds of structures were destroyed and many lives were changed forever. Once the surveys are complete I’ll compile a post with specific survey graphics for each tornado. Since the results are still preliminary I’ll leave you with the report text.

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
755 PM CST SUN DEC 27 2015

…NWS DAMAGE SURVEY FOR DECEMBER 26TH TORNADO EVENT…

.OVERVIEW…SEVERAL TORNADOES WERE OBSERVED DURING THE AFTERNOON
AND EVENING OF SATURDAY DECEMBER 26TH. THE STRONGEST TORNADO PRODUCED
EF4 DAMAGE IN THE CITY OF GARLAND…AS WELL AS EF3 DAMAGE IN THE CITY OF
ROWLETT. THIS TORNADO PRODUCED A CONTINUOUS PATH OF DAMAGE FOR APPROXIMATELY
13 MILES IN DALLAS AND ROCKWALL COUNTIES. THE TORNADO CAUSED 8 FATALITIES
MOST OF WHICH NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF INTERSTATE 30 AND THE PRESIDENT
GEORGE BUSH TURNPIKE. TWO TORNADOES WERE CONFIRMED IN COLLIN COUNTY…NEAR
COPEVILLE…WHERE EF2 DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED BY NWS SURVEY CREWS. TORNADO
DAMAGE WAS ALSO OBSERVED NEAR BLUE RIDGE…WHERE EF0 DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED.
TWO FATALITIES HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN COPEVILLE…AND ONE FATALITY WAS
REPORTED IN BLUE RIDGE.

IN TOTAL…THERE HAVE BEEN NINE CONFIRMED TORNADOES AND 11 FATALITIES
DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING OF THE 26TH. NOT ALL OF THE TORNADO
DAMAGE HAS BEEN SURVEYED AND ADDITIONAL SURVEYS ARE PLANNED FOR MONDAY.
ALL TIMES LISTED ARE APPROXIMATE AND WILL BE FURTHER REFINED. AS OF SUNDAY
NIGHT…THESE ARE THE CONFIRMED TORNADOES FROM THE 26TH. THIS NUMBER MAY
GO UP WITH FURTHER SURVEYS.

.HUBBARD TORNADO…

RATING: EF-0
ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 70-80 MPH
PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/: 3 MILES
PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/: 50 YARDS
FATALITIES: 0
INJURIES: 0

START DATE: DEC 26 2015
START TIME: 203 PM CST
START LOCATION: 3N HUBBARD / HILL / TEXAS

END DATE: DEC 26 2015
END TIME: 209 PM CST
END LOCATION: 6N HUBBARD / HILL / TEXAS

.OVILLA / GLENN HEIGHTS TORNADO…

RATING: EF-N/A
ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: N/A MPH
PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/: N/A MILES
PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/: N/A YARDS
FATALITIES: UNKNOWN
INJURIES: UNKNOWN

START DATE: DEC 26 2015
START TIME: N/A
START LOCATION: N/A

END DATE: DEC 26 2015
END TIME: N/A
END LOCATION: N/A

SURVEY_SUMMARY: THIS TORNADO CAN BE CONFIRMED DUE TO SPOTTER REPORTS.
SEVERAL AREAS FROM MIDLOTHIAN TO GLENN HEIGHTS WILL BE SURVEYED ON
MONDAY

.ENNIS TORNADO…

RATING: EF-N/A
ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: N/A MPH
PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/: N/A MILES
PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/: N/A YARDS
FATALITIES: UNKNOWN
INJURIES: UNKNOWN

START DATE: DEC 26 2015
START TIME: N/A
START LOCATION: N/A

END DATE: DEC 26 2015
END TIME: N/A
END LOCATION: N/A

SURVEY_SUMMARY: TRAINED SPOTTERS OBSERVED A TORNADO APPROXIMATELY
3 MILES NORTHEAST OF ENNIS ON THE EVENING OF THE 26TH. THIS AREA WILL
BE SURVEYED AS WELL ON MONDAY.

.EUSTACE TORNADO…

RATING: EF-0
ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 70 MPH
PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/: 1 MILES
PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/: 40 YARDS
FATALITIES: 0
INJURIES: 0

START DATE: DEC 26 2015
START TIME: 2:44 PM CST
START LOCATION: 2NE EUSTACE / HENDERSON / TEXAS

END DATE: DEC 26 2015
END TIME: 2:47 PM CST
END LOCATION: 3NE EUSTACE / HENDERSON / TEXAS

.SULPHUR SPRINGS TORNADO…

RATING: EF-0
ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 70 MPH
PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/: 0.5 MILE
PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/: 25 YARDS
FATALITIES: 0
INJURIES: 0

START DATE: DEC 26 2015
START TIME: 5:33 PM CST
START LOCATION: 3 S SULPHUR SPRINGS / HOPKINS / TEXAS

END DATE: DEC 26 2015
END TIME: 5:34 PM CST
END LOCATION: 2S SULPHUR SPRINGS / HOPKINS / TEXAS

SURVEY_SUMMARY: THIS TORNADO WAS OBSERVED AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY
TRAINED SPOTTERS.

.EMORY TORNADO…

RATING: EF-0
ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 70 MPH
PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/: 1.0 MILE
PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/: 75 YARDS
FATALITIES: 0
INJURIES: 0

START DATE: DEC 26 2015
START TIME: 5:22 PM CST
START LOCATION: 3NE EMORY / RAINS / TEXAS

END DATE: DEC 26 2015
END TIME: 5:23 PM CST
END LOCATION: 3NE EMORY / RAINS / TEXAS

SURVEY_SUMMARY: THIS TORNADO WAS OBSERVED AND REPORTED BY TRAINED
SPOTTERS.

.SUNNYVALE / GARLAND / ROWLETT…

RATING: EF-4
ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 170-180 MPH
PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/: 13 MILES
PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/: 550 YARDS
FATALITIES: 8
INJURIES: 7+

START DATE: DEC 26 2015
START TIME: 6:45 PM CST
START LOCATION: SUNNYVALE / DALLAS / TEXAS

END DATE: DEC 26 2015
END TIME: 7:05 PM CST
END LOCATION: LAKE RAY HUBBARD / ROCKWALL / TEXAS

.COPEVILLE TORNADO…

RATING: EF-2
ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 115-125 MPH
PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/: 7.3 MILES
PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/: 150 YARDS
FATALITIES: 2
INJURIES: N/A

START DATE: DEC 26 2015
START TIME: 7:28 PM CST
START LOCATION: COPEVILLE / COLLIN / TEXAS

END DATE: DEC 26 2015
END TIME: 7:42 PM CST
END LOCATION: 2NW FARMERSVILLE / COLLIN / TEXAS

.BLUE RIDGE TORNADO…

RATING: EF-0
ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 70-80 MPH
PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/: 3 MILES
PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/: 80 YARDS
FATALITIES: 1
INJURIES: N/A

START DATE: DEC 26 2015
START TIME: 7:48 PM CST
START LOCATION: 1SE BLUE RIDGE / COLLIN / TEXAS

END DATE: DEC 26 2015
END TIME: 7:52 PM CST
END LOCATION: 2NE BLUE RIDGE

EF SCALE: THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES
TORNADOES INTO THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES.

EF0…WEAK……65 TO 85 MPH
EF1…WEAK……86 TO 110 MPH
EF2…STRONG….111 TO 135 MPH
EF3…STRONG….136 TO 165 MPH
EF4…VIOLENT…166 TO 200 MPH
EF5…VIOLENT…>200 MPH

NOTE:
THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO
CHANGE PENDING FINAL REVIEW OF THE EVENTS AND PUBLICATION IN
NWS STORM DATA.