Storm reports for April 11, 2016

In the late afternoon of April 11, 2016, one long-lived storm dropped hail across the northern suburbs of Dallas-Fort Worth.¹ Grapefruit-size hail, 4 inches across, fell near Audra Lane and East McKinney Street in Denton at 4:20 p.m. CST.¹ Grapefruit-size hail fell near Rockwall on Eastshore Road at 5:08 p.m., and softball-size hail, 4.25 inches across, hit southeast Wylie at 5:17 p.m.^2,3 Photos analyzed after the storm showed Wylie hailstones at least 5 inches across and possibly as large as 6 inches.⁴

In Wylie, many homes and businesses were damaged, hail punched through the roofs of some, and several people were hurt by broken glass.³ The NWS narrative says at least 80 percent of the town of Wylie was damaged by the hail.³ NOAA's Storm Events Database lists $100 million in property damage for the southeast Wylie report and $50 million each for the Denton and Rockwall reports.^3,1,2 Earlier, 3-inch hail fell in Bowie near the Highway 287 exit at 3:09 p.m., and baseball-size hail fell in Alvord at 3:36 p.m., each listed with $500,000 in damage.^5,6

In Smith County, Mississippi, winds up to 85 mph cut a swath nearly 11 miles long and almost 3 miles wide at about 5:03 p.m. CST, blowing a few trees onto homes.⁷ The database lists $600,000 in property damage there.⁷