WeatherFanatics: PHOTOS: Tornadoes, severe storms kill at least 11 near Dallas

Sunday, December 27, 2015

PHOTOS: Tornadoes, severe storms kill at least 11 near Dallas

By Kristina Pydynowski, Senior Meteorologist

December 27,2015; 9:40PM,EST

An outbreak of severe weather, including tornadoes, in the Dallas area claimed the lives of nearly a dozen people late on Saturday as a powerful winter storm hit the south-central United States.
Eight of the deaths occurred when a powerful tornado hit Garland, Texas, which is located about 20 miles northeast of Dallas. The tornado has been ranked as an EF-4 by the National Weather Service in Fort Worth.
Garland Police Lt. Pedro Barineau said that three deaths occurred in vehicles, according to the Associated Press. Some cars appeared to have been thrown from I-30 and George Bush Turnpike, he said.

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A total of 15 people in Garland also sustained injuries, while about 600 structures were damaged in what Barineau called "total devastation."
Three other people died after severe weather swept through neighboring Collin County. Two people died in the community of Copeville, while an infant perished in Blue Ridge, Dallas Morning News reports.

A home damaged in Ovilla, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 26, 2015. (Twitter Photo/@hayliebrown12)
Extensive storm damage occurred in Copeville, which is located to the northeast of Garland.
The severe weather erupted as a cold front clashed with the near-record warmth that was in place across north-central Texas on Saturday. The front is associated with the winter storm that is unleashing a blizzard in western Texas and eastern New Mexico, extremely heavy rain from eastern Oklahoma to central Illinois with ice in between.
Deaths from the winter storm have not been confined to the Dallas area. The Associated Press reports that five people drowned in southern Illinois when their vehicle was swept away by the fast-moving East Fork Creek near the town of Patoka Saturday evening.
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Storm survey crews from the National Weather Service in Fort Worth, Texas, will continue to investigate the damage east of Dallas on Sunday to determine the number and the strength of the tornadoes from later Saturday.