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Preliminary ratings for a series of tornadoes that struck Valley View, Celina, and Montague County overnight Saturday have been released by the National Weather Service (NWS).
According to NWS survey crews, extensive damage was observed in Valley View, Cooke County, where the tornado that touched down along Interstate 35 was classified as a “higher-end EF-2,” with maximum winds reaching 135 mph.
During Governor Greg Abbott’s briefing on Sunday, NWS meteorologist Jennifer Dunn stated that although the exact number of tornadoes that occurred overnight is yet to be confirmed, multiple survey teams are assessing the damage caused by the thunderstorm.
“We still are not quite exactly sure how many tornadoes there have been,” Dunn remarked. “It’s a puzzle piece we’re going to have to put together as this circulation persisted and reformed a couple of times.”
While the area near Valley View exhibited some of the most severe storm damage, Dunn emphasized that further evaluation is necessary to finalize the rating of the tornado.
“In the Valley View area, where we are right now, is one of our highest-rated areas. We are rating it a higher-end EF-2 with near 135 mph wind,” Dunn stated. “We still have work to do over the next one to three days to assess how many tornadoes and find additional ratings.”
Dunn clarified that the wind rating provided was a preliminary maximum rating for wind speed.
Regarding damage reports from Montague, Denton, and Collin counties, Dunn indicated that NWS survey teams are yet to provide comprehensive assessments. Additionally, there may be a need to extend the survey to include part of Hunt County.
Further tornado findings from survey teams confirmed multiple tornadoes generated by a long-track supercell across Montague, Cooke, Denton, and Collin counties. The damage assessments revealed that a tornado near Forestburg in south Montague County was consistent with an EF-2 tornado, while damage northeast of Celina indicated a high-end EF-3 tornado. However, the NWS cautioned that these ratings are subject to change pending additional surveys and analysis.
Survey teams are continuing to evaluate damage in Denton and Collin counties, and rating information for those areas will be released upon completion of assessments. The NWS is collecting damage reports from Hunt County to determine the necessity of conducting a survey in that region.
Complete details, including track, length, width, and final ratings for all tornadoes, are expected to be finalized over the next several days.
The tornado outbreak on Saturday night is noted as the most deadly since December 26, 2015, when an EF-4 tornado caused significant devastation in North Texas, resulting in 10 fatalities.