The following events were reported: Hail, Tornado. These occurred near station USW00013960, approximately 31.1771 km away, between 2012-04-03 11:40:00 and 2012-04-03 16:10:00. The events included records with hailstones measuring 1.8 inches.The events resulted in 22 injuries and 0 fatalities. The events caused property damage valued at 533421000.0 and crop damage of 6000.0. Episode Narrative: A historic North Texas tornado outbreak occurred on April 3rd, with 17 tornadoes developing from the DFW Metroplex east to Hopkins County. An EF-3 tornado tore through the town of Forney, heavily damaging homes in the Diamond Creek subdivision. Three EF-2 tornadoes damaged parts of Arlington and Kennedale in Tarrant County; Red Oak, Lancaster, and Dallas in Ellis and Dallas counties; and Royse City in Rockwall and Hunt counties. An EF-1 tornado caused damage near Joshua in Johnson County, and the remaining 12 tornadoes were rated EF-0s. In addition to the tornadoes, large hail damaged many parts of the DFW Metroplex. Approximately 110 airplanes at DFW International Airport were damaged by the hail and taken out of service until repaired. No fatalities occurred and only 29 people were injured. Of the 29 injuries, only 3 were considered serious but everyone made a full recovery. The environmental set-up on this day consisted of a cut-off low over New Mexico with a front draped north-to-south across the western counties of the CWA. By mid to late morning, strong and severe storms developed along the front as a lobe of energy rotated into west Texas and forcing from this energy overspread the front. The atmosphere was already unstable and uncapped by this time. In addition, a Mesoscale Convective System in Oklahoma sent an outflow boundary south across the Red River. This outflow boundary moved south of the DFW Metroplex by the late morning hours, and isolated storms began to develop south of the outflow boundary but east of the front. As these storms moved north and crossed the outflow boundary, the low level rotation increased and the storms quickly became tornadic. All of the tornadic storms were tied to this outflow boundary as it retreated north as a warm front. A historic North Texas tornado outbreak occurred on April 3rd, with 17 tornadoes developing from the DFW Metroplex east to Hopkins County. Event Narrative: Quarter sized hail was reported in Red Oak. A tornado began near Highland Road, east of I-35 in Red Oak and continued northeast into Dallas County. The tornado did minor EF-0 damage to trees, crops, and shingles while moving northeast through Ellis County. After the tornado crossed into Dallas County it strengthened and did more substantial damage in the city of Lancaster. The path length of the tornado in Ellis County was approximately 4.4 miles long, but the total path length was 13.7 miles long. An EF-3 tornado did extensive damage as it wound its way through the town of Forney. The tornado began near the intersection of Broad St and N Bois D'arc Street just southwest of Highway 80. As it moved to the northeast, the first significant damage was noted near Aimee St and N Bois D'arc St. There was substantial tree damage with some large trees uprooted near this intersection. Also, shingle damage, roof damage to a fire station nearby, blown out windows at a few homes and an outbuilding was destroyed, all near this intersection. A street sign at the intersection was also completely bent flat near the base. The tornado moved northeast and crossed Hwy 80 near the Forney Cleaners business where substantial roof and commercial sign damage occurred. Debris was also observed in the median between the east and westbound lanes near this location. The tornado continued northeast producing light damage to industrial buildings, but was largely over open fields. The tornado then crossed over Ridgecrest Rd and produced substantial damage to many homes in the Diamond Creek subdivision. One of the first homes struck was on Woodberry Dr and was completely destroyed. Several more homes were destroyed in this subdivision and other homes sustained substantial damage. It was determined that several of the destroyed homes were destroyed as the result of excessive lift being forced upon the roof, and the roofs of these homes were poorly attached to the external walls of the home. Once the roofs failed, pressure built up on internal walls causing the failure of nearly all external and internal walls. As the tornado continued northeast through the subdivision it consistently produced damage to homes, most of which was different degrees of roof or top floor damage. The tornado exited the subdivision at Crosby Elementary School. The tornado damaged several vehicles that were in the school���s parking lot. One vehicle was lofted approximately 300 yards into a field northeast of the school. The school itself sustained mainly roof damage. Children were in the school when the tornado struck, but no injuries occurred. The tornado continued northeast for several miles, producing light/EF-0 damage along the way. In total, this tornado destroyed 14 homes, caused major damage to 28 homes and minor damage to another 42 homes. Many of the damaged homes were in the Diamond Creek Subdivision. Due to damage in the Diamond Creek Subdivision, the maximum estimated winds with this tornado were 150 mph. The path length was approximately 7.7 miles, and the maximum width was 150 yards. Seven people sustained non life-threatening injuries. Golf ball to baseball sized hail was reported in Heath. Quarter sized hail was reported in Red Oak. Hail up to roughly the size of quarters was reported near Allen Heights Dr and Bethany Dr in Allen. Tea cup sized and slightly larger hail pelted homes in the Travis Ranch Subdivision in north Forney. The hailstones penetrated 1/2-inch thick plywood and roof decks. An EF-3 tornado began in eastern Rockwall County and traveled northeast into Hunt County before lifting. The tornado touched down to the southwest of the intersection of FM 548 and Bent Rd in Rockwall County. The tornado quickly moved into a subdivision and severely damaged or destroyed several homes. The worst of the damage in this subdivision occurred along Laci Ln. Trees and shrubs northeast of these houses by a half mile or so were completely debarked and had no vegetation remaining. The tornado continued northeast and produced damage to homes along Country Manor Rd. There was one house that had a large portion of its roof/top story completely removed. A couple of small barns were also destroyed, one which contained a classic car which ended up blown into the back of a neighbor���s house. The tornado continued northeast where it crossed Hwy 276 and sideswiped a cabinet factory. Part of the outside metal walls were crumbled. There was an incredible amount of industrial debris downstream of this factory north of the highway. The tornado continued northeast and demolished one mobile home and damaged another right at the Rockwall/Hunt County line. In total, 8 homes in Rockwall County were deemed destroyed, 17 sustained major damage, and 8 sustained minor damage. The path length of the tornado in Rockwall County was nearly 2.4 miles, but the total path length was 3.3 miles. Maximum estimated winds were 150 mph and the tornado was approximately 400 yards wide. Three people sustained minor injuries when their doublewide mobile home was struck near the Rockwall/Hunt County line. This tornado is a continuation from Ellis County. The tornado crossed into Dallas County near I-35E at the Ellis/Dallas County line. Light damage was noted as the tornado crossed into the county but then the tornado moved into the city of Lancaster and struck the Portofino Apartments where it damaged the roofs of two buildings and tore the roof off another building. Cars were moved in the parking lots, and the windows were blown out in one car. The tornado did significant damage to homes just northeast of the apartment complex, beginning on Sunny Meadow Dr. However, the most significant damage occurred near the intersections of Wintergreen Rd, Telephone Rd, and North Dallas Ave. Many homes in this area were heavily damaged or destroyed. Some cars were pushed into fences, many trees and tree branches were knocked down, an RV was crumpled, and some fence boards penetrated homes. The Cedar Valley Christian Academy also sustained heavy damage when it lost an entire wall. The tornado continued northeast crossing Interstate 20 near Dynasty Drive. The tornado hit a trucking company along the interstate, lofting several empty semis into the air. About 50 semitrailers were damaged or destroyed. The tornado damaged a few additional trees northeast of the trucking company and caused some minor roof damage in the Stagecoach neighborhood. The damage track ended near Palm Island St and Tioga St. In the city of Lancaster, 64 homes were destroyed, 51 sustained major damage, and another 58 sustained minor damage. An additional two homes were destroyed in the Dallas city limits. One home was destroyed when one of the semis from the trucking company was thrown into the house. The path length of the tornado in Dallas County was approximately 9.4 miles long but the total length of the tornado was 13.7 miles. Maximum estimated winds were 130 mph with a maximum width of 200 yards. Ten people in the city of Lancaster were injured, and two people sustained serious injuries. Quarter to half dollar sized hail was reported in Garland. A brief EF-0 tornado caused damage to a few trees and the roof of one home near Skyline High School in Dallas. The path of the tornado was 0.1 miles long, the width was 25 yards, and the maximum estimated winds were 80 mph. Half dollar sized hail fell at the Walmart located near Interstate 30 and Ridge Road in Rockwall. Hail up to the size of tea cups fell in eastern Rockwall County. This large hail was falling from the tornadic supercell that also produced the EF-2 tornado south of Royse City. An EF-0 tornado with maximum estimated winds around 85 mph occurred in Mesquite. The tornado began near Independence Drive and Meadow Lane then tracked east. Minor roof damage was noted along the track of the tornado and several large trees were split or had large branches broken off. Near the end of the track on the east side of N Galloway Ave, a car service station sustained significant damage. The winds from the tornado penetrated the building through the large service doors. The roof was ripped off the building and the back wall collapsed. The path length of this tornado was 0.3 miles with a width of about 30 yards. Two people sustained minor injuries. Golf ball sized hail was reported near Williams Stadium in Garland. Ping pong ball sized hail was reported north of Seagoville.