Fort Worth has had a history of significant tornadoes, but none could surpass the destruction of a family of 13 tornadoes touching down within just four hours {2:05 PM CST to 6:00 PM CST}, resulting in 251 deaths overall, with over 2,700 injuries. This tornado family was also involved in the Late-March 2015 Outbreak, and includes all tornadoes within 25 miles of Fort Worth. Out of all 251 deaths, 174 were from the fifth EF5 of the entire outbreak, resulting in over 30,000 buildings affected and nearly $4 billion in damage. This tornado was also the most powerful tornado ever recorded, with wind speeds reaching up to a staggering 325+ miles per hour {522km/h}, and that tornado was also the longest-lasting and longest-tracked of the family, with 50 miles and 2 hours on the ground. Seven of the thirteen tornadoes were ranked EF0, but all tornadoes claimed at least six injuries, with only four claiming no fatalities.
This was all part of an outbreak that overall killed 499 people in total, 464 on March 21st alone, with 475 tornadoes confirmed in the entire 83-hour outbreak, 414 on Saturday, March 21st, 2015 alone. This tornado family, funny enough, was actually formed by at least five different storms, one of those storms producing 6 of the 13 confirmed tornadoes near Fort Worth.
Multiple areas within forty miles of Fort Worth were severely affected by 'just' thirteen of these tornadoes--including the most powerful tornado on record, with photogrammetry confirming wind speeds of 327mph, which was extremely aligned with a DOW's recording of that was limited to 325+ miles per hour.
Tornadoes and Impacts[]
Ferris, TX[]
| EF3 tornado (NWS) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Duration | 2:31 PM CST – 2:47 PM CST | ||
| Intensity | 220 km/h (140 mph) (1-min) | ||
This was the first of the several different tornadoes to strike within 25 miles of the Metroplex on this fateful day. At 2:30 PM CST, a wedge tornado formed about 6 miles northeast of Ferris, moving slightly southwest at 25 miles per hour. Over the plains, it quickly took on the shape of a multi-vortex wedge tornado, and leveled not only two farms, but tore apart hundreds of trees near its EF3-intensity zone. By the time the twister reached northern parts of Ferris, it was over 1/3 of a mile wide. The tornado destroyed 53 suburban well-built homes outside the downtown Ferris area, and destroyed the Ferris Intermediate School. Right across the school, a subdivision of over 170 well-built suburban homes was in its direct path, and it ended up damaging almost every home in that area, with thirty of them destroyed. Eight people were killed, all in that subdivision, with 92 injuries confirmed from the storm. It died out just 2 minutes after hitting that subdivision. One more fatality was confirmed when a 21-year-old female died of life-threatening injuries on April 14th, bringing the fatality total to 9.
Overall, 9 people were killed by that tornado, all in that subdivision in the southwest parts of town, with 91 confirmed injuries, with 83 homes destroyed, 206 damaged. Approximately $20 million was done in this tornado's 6.6-mile path. It was the first of many tornadoes to wreck havoc within 25 miles of either Fort Worth or Dallas.
Rio Vista-Cleburne-Joshua-Benbrook-Westover Hills-White Settlement-Westworth Village-Lake Worth-Eagle Mountain, TX[]
| EF5 tornado (NWS) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Duration | 3:40 PM CST – 5:41 PM CST | ||
| Intensity | 525 km/h (325 mph) (1-min) | ||
This was the worst and deadliest tornado of the many that hit within the Metroplex during this fateful afternoon. It touched the ground at 3:40 PM Central Standard Time, just south of Rio Vista, as 2 tornadoes initially. The 2 separate tornadoes quickly converged together just over the center of Rio Vista, after causing major damage to the town just over 3 minutes after forming. The damage surveyed in Rio Vista was considered to be very high-end EF3 damage, with several well-built structures sustaining low-end EF4 damage within the town. Two people were killed in the small community, with 37 injuries confirmed there as well. 61 homes were destroyed, with 202 homes damaged, with very few structures in the small community left intact.
The tornado intensified slowly but strongly, and it then reached Cleburne as a single multi-vortex funnel, at roughly 3:49 PM, causing major damage to many suburb areas in the community. The downtown was hit directly and very harshly, with winds considered to be roughly 190 miles per hour over this area and seemingly getting stronger at an increased rate. It left nearly 750 homes destroyed in Cleburne, nearly 1,000 damaged. Two local museums were completely destroyed with several local nature parks completely wiped out. Nearby, even the Johnson County Jail sustained severe damage, and near that a large Home Debot was absolutely pummeled to the ground. Catastrophic damage was confirmed throughout numerous areas of Cleburne. Nine people were killed in the suburban homes, with an extra four deaths confirmed onto US 67. In total, 13 people were killed in Cleburne, with 202 injuries, and a Tornado Emergency was soon issued for Johnson and Tarrant Counties until 5:00 PM.
Shortly after, the community of Joshua suffered a very similar fate to Cleburne, with nearly 600 homes absolutely destroyed within a matter of a few minutes. At 3:58 PM, the tornado was then confirmed to be at EF5 strength, rotating at a confirmed total of at least 202mph at that point. Several homes were absolutely swept away with no trace of existence left in the town of Joshua. Despite this, only one direct fatality was confirmed in Joshua, but however, 100 people were injured.
For the next hour, the tornado mainly moved over plains and lakes. Within most of that hour, it left 7 people killed and 17 injured, all in automobiles. However, just to the south of Benbrook, at 4:59 PM Central Standard Time, a Doppler on Wheels confirmed that the tornado now had wind speeds of over 300 miles per hour. The tornado emergencies were reissued, lengthened until 6:00 PM for the entirety of Fort Worth, with even scarier wording, stating "death is guaranteed if you don't take shelter underground or in a tornado shelter". Making matters worse, a 2nd tornado was forming not far from this one, and it was rapidly intensifying too. However, at 4:40 PM, with wind speeds of what were likely close to the peak of 300+ miles per hour, the Tarleton State University building, a relatively small but well-built and anchored structure, got almost completely swept away, with only a couple of small inner rooms remaining. Unfortunately, out of 93 people sheltering, seven people would still be killed at this location, with at least 57 injuries as well, although both of these totals would have likely been higher had this been a weekday.
At 5:03 PM, the tornado stormed through the community of Benbrook, and within 5 minutes, the community suffered what can only be described as "total destruction". Very few homes were left intact, with nearly 10,000 homes affected by the deadly tornado. Despite the extreme damage there, and despite the fact that people were fearing fatalities in the hundreds, "just" 11 deaths were confirmed in Benbrook. However, nearly 200 injuries were confirmed there.
The twister then slammed into several neighbourhoods of Fort Worth, mainly in Westover Hills in the subdivisions of Como and Ridgela Hills, with nearly 7,000 more homes affected there. Not long afterwards however, the tornado grew more powerful, and would directly hit the two communities of White Settlement and Westworth Village. At 5:09 PM, the tornado was now confirmed to be rotating at nearly 325 miles per hour, and was now the most powerful tornado in the history of mankind. Nineteen people were killed in Como and Ridgela Hills combined, with more than 250 injuries confirmed, alongside over $1 billion in damage.
It hit the two communities of White Settlement and Westworth Village, leaving both towns in complete ruins. Most notably, the Lockheed Martin Corporation building just between the 2 communities was left completely destroyed. Within just a few minutes, over 11,000 more structures were affected, many being absolutely leveled by the deadly tornado. Within the two communities, 95 people were killed, and 499 were injured. More than $2 billion in damage was confirmed here alone, and almost the entirety of both communities were considered uninhabitable thanks to the extreme damage.
Its next destination was Lake Worth, a small community with a population of roughly 4,500 people. It suffered a very similar fate to both White Settlement and Westworth Village. Within minutes, over 1,000 homes were absolutely pummeled, and nearly the entire area was considered uninhabitable. In total, 14 people were killed in Lake Worth, most of which in well-built and well-anchored homes that were absolutely swept away. In addition, 92 people were injured. This is where it started to weaken, and turned slightly northwest as well, sparing hundreds of homes in communities just west of the tornado itself. Nonetheless, thanks to its wind bands, severe damage was confirmed to hundreds of homes outside of the tornado's path. The tornado had wind speeds going up to 94 miles per hour from nearly four miles away, causing damage to anything within up to 3.5 miles of the tornado itself. Fortunately, most of this damage was minimal, but of course a significant number of homes within half of mile of the tornado sustained major to even catastrophic damage.
Its last destination was Eagle Mountain. Fortunately, the tornado started quickly weakening and withering back down to low-end EF3 strength in as little as eight minutes. Nonetheless, severe damage was confirmed in Eagle Mountain, with seven fatalities confirmed in this area, all from mobile homes. Thirty people were injured in Eagle Mountain as well. Roughly 200 homes were confirmed damaged or destroyed by the tornado, and just 5 minutes after hitting Eagle Mountain, it finally died out after two hours of terror.
In total, this tornado left 34,000 buildings affected, and caused over $4.4 billion in damage. It was the longest-lasting tornado of the entire outbreak, and it was the most powerful tornado in the history of mankind. It also took the title of being the 7th deadliest tornado in US history, killing 174 people and leaving 1,470+ injured. It was quite possibly the worst tornado in Texas history, and it would leave over 85,000 people homeless, including huge portions of entire communities.