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The 1995 Mayfest Hailstorm

| May 4, 2007 @ 11:03 pm | 9 Replies

Can you imagine a two billion dollar storm? Oh, yeah. Two billion dollar hurricanes are a dime a dozen. There has even been a billion dollar tropical storm. But wait a minute. What about a two billion dollar thunderstorm. It happened on this date, May 5th, back in 1995.

Mayfest is a huge outdoor festival held each year in downtown Fort Worth. At least ten thousand people were outdoors at the arts event around 7:30 p.m. that evening. It was muggy, with temperatures in the middle 70s and dewpoints in the middle 60s. A stationary front lay across North Central Texas. Two outflow boundaries were heading on a collision course: one from thunderstorms over southwestern Oklahoma, the other over northwestern Texas. The boundaries convered just west of Fort Worth about 7:30 p.m. A huge high precipitation supercell beast of a storm developed. As the monster moved in on Tarrant County, it was producing baseball size hail and 80 mph winds. The unsuspecting crowd was caught unaware as the huge hailstones began pounding them while they ran for their cars or huddled over their children. Cars did not provide much of a refuge as their glass windows were pulverized by the massive chunks of ice. Over one hundred Fort Worth police patrol cars were totaled. A total of 109 people were injured, with wounds ranging from deep bruises and lacerations to broken bones.

As the severe weather was overwhelming the NWS Fort Worth staff, who were busy issuing severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings, the massive thunderstorm turned into a prolific rain producer. The cloudburst dropped nine inches of rain in a short time over parts of the Metroplex. Even as tornado warnings were still in effect, the forecasters issued a timely flash flood warnings minutes ahead of the worst flooding, but still sixteen people died in the floodwaters, most of them from trying to drive through high water. Another three people were killed by the incredible lightning.

It is the costliest thunderstorm in U.S. history.

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About the Author ()

Bill Murray is the President of The Weather Factory. He is the site's official weather historian and a weekend forecaster. He also anchors the site's severe weather coverage. Bill Murray is the proud holder of National Weather Association Digital Seal #0001 @wxhistorian

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