North Texas looks back on two-year anniversary of 16-tornado outbreak

It’s been two years since 16 tornadoes ripped through North Texas, leaving homes and businesses with significant damage.

Two tornadoes were in Grapevine, a city that has worked tirelessly for the past two years to finalize repairs and reopen businesses.

“Some of the major damage was the city maintenance facility and it's taken nearly two years to get that redesigned and to make some modifications and get that restored,” Grapevine Mayor William Tate said. “We're just finishing up on that. And the other major loss was the Sam’s store because it serves so many people and businesses.”

Sam’s didn’t reopen until October 2024, nearly two years later. After a lot of time, dedication, and work, Tate said everything was back.

“There's really no evidence that a tornado passed through our city two years ago at this time,” Tate said. “We're very fortunate that we haven't really lost any major business as a result of the storm.”

Of the confirmed tornadoes, six occurred across Tarrant County in areas around Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, North Richland Hills, and Grapevine, where five people were hospitalized with injuries that were not life-threatening.

• Two tornadoes that touched down near the joint reserve base were rated EF-0, while a third was an EF-1. The first, an EF-0, touched down near the air traffic control tower at 8:10 a.m. A minute later, another EF-0 touched down near an aircraft hanger and continued toward the food court. The third, an EF1, touched down in nearby Marion Sansom Park and caused damage to trees. All of the tornadoes were spawned from the same parent storm, but all lifted and reformed causing discontinuous damage. Each touchdown is counted as a separate tornado.
• In Grapevine, two EF-1 tornado tracks were confirmed -- a longer track through most of Grapevine with 110 mph winds and a separate short track over Grapevine Mills Mall with 100 mph winds.
• In North Richland Hills, the NWS said an EF-1 tornado with max winds of 90 mph left a track 1.5 miles long.
• An EF-2 tornado was confirmed in Wise County, where at least two homes were destroyed by winds reaching 125 mph.
• An EF-2, with max winds of 115 mph, was confirmed west of Paris in Lamar County. That tornado tracked from near Petty to Hopewell.
• An EF-0 was confirmed in Cooke County near Callisburg.
• In southeast Palo Pinto County, south of Santo, an NWS survey team confirmed an EF-1 tornado touched down Tuesday with maximum winds of 110 mph.
• An EF-2 tornado with maximum winds of 135 mph was confirmed south of Ranger in Eastland County.
• An EF-2 tornado brought winds up to 125 mph along a track from Blue Ridge in Collin County to Leonard in Fannin County.
• An EF-1 with max winds of 90 mph was confirmed near Wolfe City in northern Hunt County.
• An EF-0 with max winds of 85 mph was confirmed in Parker County, where it briefly tracked on the southwest side of Greenwood, southwest of Weatherford.
• An EF-0 with max winds of 80 mph affected western Parker County, where tree damage was noted.