Hail storms across North and Central Texas on Sunday damaged cars, homes, and businesses, putting one school district out of commission for at least a week.
The National Weather Service in Fort Worth tracked storms across the metroplex and southward on September 24, beginning in the late afternoon and evening. A large swath of the state was under a severe thunderstorm watch.
Residents in Central Texas posted footage of the storms in the overnight hours of September 24 as large hailstones fell, damaging multiple vehicles and downing trees. Various reports cited hail ranging from nickel- to baseball-size. Garland residents reported golf-ball-sized hail.
Newsweek reported that the hail storm passing through Round Rock caused power outages. The storm caused damage to thousands of dollars worth of inventory at a Honda dealership in the city, smashing windshields and denting automobiles, according to KXAN.
Round Rock ISD reported damage to some of its campuses, including “power outages, broken skylights, windows and windshields, dented HVAC equipment, vehicles and buses, leaky roofs, and downed tree limbs.” Monday was a regularly scheduled student holiday and teacher work day, and classes were expected to resume on Tuesday as usual, per KXAN.
However, a North Texas school district apparently sustained more damage, giving local students a week-long vacation from classes. All campuses in the Blooming Grove ISD were closed Monday due to damages caused by Sunday’s storms.
“The storm damaged our campuses and vehicles as they did to others in our community,” the school district said in a Facebook post. “It will take the rest of the week for the restoration company to make our schools ready for students.”
The district anticipates that all campuses will reopen on October 2.
Steve Fano, a meteorologist with the NWS in Fort Worth, told The Dallas Express that Blooming Grove, located about 53 miles south of Dallas in Navarro County, sustained “exceptionally” large hail, with some hailstones measuring 2.75 inches in diameter. Storms passing through the region also produced straight-line winds between 60 and 70 miles per hour.
Although Blooming Grove ISD did not elaborate on the extent or type of damage the schools sustained, Fano said that hail was the likely culprit.
