Here is the monthly summary from the National Weather Service in Fort Worth. A couple of things to note is that we have started off the year in the top 10 wettest category and the severe weather that took place on the 23rd, many of those wind reports came from myself in the Storm Interceptor. — First Alert Meteorologist Conley Isom

WACO DIPPED INTO THE 30S ON APRIL 9 FOR A LATE SEASON FROST…BUT SUCH AN EVENT IS NOT THAT UNUSUAL. THE LOW THAT MORNING (37 DEGREES) WAS NEAR THE NORMAL MINIMUM FOR THE MONTH (38 DEGREES). DESPITE SOME COOL MORNINGS DURING THE MONTH…APRIL TALLIED AN ABOVE NORMAL MEAN TEMPERATURE…THE FIRST ABOVE NORMAL MONTH SINCE NOVEMBER. THE BOUTS OF SPRING WARMTH PEPPERED THE MONTH…WITH THE MERCURY REACHING 86 DEGREES ON THE FINAL DAY OF THE MONTH. IN AN OTHERWISE QUIET SEVERE WEATHER SEASON…ONE MEMORABLE EVENT OCCURRED APRIL 23-24. THE STORMS BEGAN DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON HOURS OF APRIL 23…DROPPING HAIL AS LARGE AS 4 INCHES IN DIAMETER NORTH OF CAMERON (MILAM COUNTY). A SECOND ROUND OF STORMS IMPACTED CENTRAL TEXAS AROUND MIDNIGHT THAT NIGHT. GOLF BALL HAIL FELL IN KEMPNER (LAMPASAS COUNTY) WITH 60-MPH WINDS…AND A 67-MPH GUST WAS MEASURED JUST EAST OF COPPERAS COVE (CORYELL COUNTY). HAIL TO THE SIZE OF QUARTERS FELL IN PORTIONS OF BELL COUNTY…BUT THE WINDS WERE OF FAR GREATER SIGNIFICANCE. WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 70 MPH WERE RECORDED IN BOTH BELL AND MCLENNAN COUNTIES. THE PEAK WIND OF 66 MPH AT WACO REGIONAL AIRPORT WAS JUST SHY OF THE HIGHEST WIND SPEED EVER RECORDED THERE. THE RECORD GUST OF 69 MPH HAS BEEN REACHED MULTIPLE TIMES…MOST RECENTLY ON NEARLY THE SAME DAY (APRIL 23) IN 2008. CORSICANA ENDURED SUSTAINED WINDS IN EXCESS OF 50 KNOTS (58 MPH) FOR 8 MINUTES…RECORDING A PEAK GUST OF 87 MPH BEFORE THE AIRPORT LOST POWER. THE EVENT WAS THE SECOND CONSECUTIVE WEEKEND WITH HEAVY RAINFALL AT WACO…HELPING THE MONTHLY TOTAL CLIMB ABOVE NORMAL.

Severe Risk for Friday

Once again, we are tracking the threat for severe weather across parts of Central Texas Friday afternoon and Saturday. A dry line will move eastward Friday morning and then stall somewhere along I-35. As daytime heating kicks in, we should see storms develop along and east of the dry line. So the best chance for severe weather on Friday is from the Brazos Valley north along I-45. Waco, Temple, and Killeen and places west of I-35 will likely miss out. The main threats will be large hail and gusty winds.

On Saturday, the dry line backs up to the west as an upper level disturbance arrives and another round of storms is expected to develop. This time more of the area could see the storms. Large hail, gusty winds, and isolated tornadoes are all possible. Remember, if you see severe weather happen, email us your photos to weatherpics@kxxv.com. — First Alert Meteorologist Conley Isom

Red are tornado, green are hail, and blue is wind damage.

The start of this year’s severe weather season was delayed but mother nature has been making up for it quickly. Just in the past week we have seen tornado outbreaks in the Texas Panhandle and in Mississippi. Even here in Central Texas, we saw lots of hail and wind damage. The image above shows all the severe weather reports across Texas through April 25th. There have been a total of 247 reports with 32 tornado, 134 hail reports, and 81 wind reports. These numbers will like be going up over the coming weeks as we head into the peak of the severe weather season.

Quick reminder that you can send us your storm photos to weatherpics@kxxv.com. We will show as many as we can on air and post them on the weather page, as well as our Facebook page. — First Alert Meteorologist Conley Isom

The following images are courtesy of the National Weather Service in Fort Worth. –First Alert Meteorologist Conley Isom

Slight Risk that was in effect that day.

We knew this would be a big day for severe weather across parts of our area and we were ready. Around midday, the dry line was along I-35 and and it begin to stall. To the southeast of the dry line, the air was becoming very unstable as the atmosphere heated up. By 3 PM, towering cumulus clouds were developing between Austin and Georgetown so I grabbed one of our photographers, Chris, and headed south. We ended up near Granger and Bartlett in Bell county and watched as the first round of storms exploded. The rapid growth of the clouds looked like an atomic bomb had went off. Three cell formed, one moving north on I-35 and would eventually die out near Lorena, one moving into Falls county north of Marlin, and the storm we tracked which was west of Cameron.

The storm we chased from Cameron to I-45.

The radar begin indicating rotation within our storm moving into Milam county and soon a tornado warning was placed on it. We took a few back roads and one dirt road to catch up with it. As we got closer to Cameron, we could numerous lowerings along the base of the storm. This is where Matt and I did our phoner as a small wall cloud was present. These cells were not classic super cell thunderstorms and only parts of the storm were rotating, but not very fast. Luckily, no funnel formed but the storm was pulling away from us so we hit 190 east and followed it all the way to Franklin, then Normangee, then to I-45. The storm dropped hail up to 4 inches as reported by the National Weather Service, but we did not see hail since we stayed far enough away.

Golf ball size hail in Buckholts.

Once these storms moved into east Texas, we got on highway seven and heading back west towards Waco. This was a nice 2 hour drive! I knew our day was not over with more storms rapidly developing to the southwest in the hill country. So we drove all the way to Copperas Cove and waited for the storms to move in. Let me warn you that it is never safe to storm chase at night and our main purpose was to cover any damage. We stayed in constant communication with the weather center, had radar updating, and traveled on main highways. Once I knew the tornado threat was not that high, I allowed the storm to move over us while in Copperas Cove. This is where I recorded wind gust up to 70 mph! As the complex of storms raced east, we stayed on the leading edge and then turned north of I-35 heading towards Temple. Once the storm caught back up to us, I measured a wind gusts of 72 mph at the exit for the loop around Temple. We continue northward and ran into golf ball size hail but it was very sporadic and did not cause much damage to the Storm Interceptor. There were numerous power flashes indicating how strong the winds were. This lead to many power outages and it took a while for some to get the power back on.

Damage in Leroy, north of Waco.

Reports came in of wind damage near Axtell so we headed there to find trees blown down everywhere! We did not keep going east since the internet service is not that great and it was after midnight at this point. However, the winds gusted up to 90 mph in Corsicana as the storm blasted through. We headed back to the station, arriving at 2:15 AM, ending a very long day of storm chasing. — First Alert Meteorologist Conley Isom

The line of storms from Thursday night quickly weakened as it pushed into Central Texas Friday morning. Now our focus turns to what could happen Friday afternoon. The dry line is located across our far western counties and the forecast calls for it to make it to the I-35 corridor by the afternoon. Along and east of the dry line, thunderstorms are expected to ignite, especially with a little day time heating. The main severe weather threats will be large hail and gusty winds but we cannot rule out an isolated tornado or two. Everything depends on how far east the dry line makes it today so we are tracking it carefully. If you live in our eastern counties, along the I-45 corridor and the Brazos Valley, you need to stay up to date with the latest weather information.

We are also tracking the threat for storms area wide early Saturday morning as a disturbance moves through. Some of these storms could be severe but heavy rain seems to be the main threat. By midday Saturday, the rain should be out of Central Texas and the rest of the weekend looks great! — First Alert Meteorologist Conley Isom

There is chance for storms to start the day on Friday. Storms that ignited in west Texas Thursday evening will be heading in our direction. Some of the activity could be severe with hail and gusty winds the main threats. The good news is we think the storms will be weakening as they push closer to the I-35 corridor. Still want to take that umbrella with you and check the radar before heading out.

The forecast becomes a little more complicated for Friday afternoon and into Saturday morning. The dry line will be somewhere along the I-35 corridor Friday afternoon and with a little day time heating, more storms will fire and race eastward. So the best chance of rain will be in our eastern counties from Corsicana to Bryan/College Station. Then the dry line retreats westward as an upper level disturbance moves in. This will likely lead to our big event with scattered storms breaking out late Friday night and early Saturday morning. Timing is still in question but it looks like storms should clear most of Central Texas shortly after sunrise on Saturday. Stay tuned for the latest! – First Alert Meteorologist Conley Isom