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Storms bring hail, high wind 
08:29 AM CDT on Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Hail Reports
Greg Fields and Cynthia Vega report
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FORT WORTH — Insurance companies will be busy dealing with damage reports Tuesday after a powerful storm dumped hail as large as baseballs across parts of northern Tarrant County late Monday night.
At the Allen Samuels Dodge dealership on Loop 820 near North East Mall, more than half the vehicles on the lot sustained significant damage. Windshields were broken and car bodies were dented by the onslaught of frozen precipitation the size of golfballs.
The storm began around 10:30 p.m. as heavy rain, but the barrage of damaging hail quickly followed. It created such a racket that some people couldn't sleep.
"It was really loud, and my kids were really scared because the hail was hitting the windows in the house," said Angela Young. "They were scared to stay in their room."
Damage to vehicles, roofs and skylights was reported in Fort Worth, Grapevine, Southlake and Keller. Channel 8 viewers sent in dozens of photos documenting the large hailstones that fell in their neighborhoods.
No injuries were reported.
WEATHER BLOG UPDATES
12:42a The severe weather has come to an end in Dallas County and the storms moving toward the southeast in Ellis and Kaufman counties have weakened to marginally severe status. The National Weather Service Fort Worth weather radio transmitter has been knocked off the air by a power failure, so weather radios that rely on that signal will not function during the night. Be sure to stay connected with WFAA-TV or WFAA.com through the night for up-to-the-minute weather information.
12:14a The storm system is now moving though the southeast part of Dallas County and through Rockwall County with reduced intensity.
- Chief Meteorologist Pete Delkus
11:54p The most intense part of the thunderstorm is still intense, still severe, but not as severe as it was about 45 minutes ago. The thunderstorm warning for Dallas County continues until 12:45 a.m.
- Chief Meteorologist Pete Delkus
11:42p The storm is starting to move into portions of Collin County. As the thunderstorm tracks to the east at about 30-35 mph there are numerous lightning strikes and very large hail. It will arrive in Mesquite at 11:48 p.m.; in Sunnyvale at 11:55 pm.; in Forney at 12:05 a.m.; in Terell at 12:27 a.m. Warnings have expired in Tarrant County.
- Chief Meteorologist Pete Delkus
11:34p The most intense part of the storm is now over Highland Park, and I can hear the thunder and heavy rain pounding the roof of our studios right now. The storm is about 10 minutes away from Balch Springs and Mesquite. The hail has decreased from baseball and tennis ball-size to the size of a walnut in central Dallas. Hail up to 1.5 inches is possible in Duncanville, Garland and Rowlett. I haven't seen many reports of wind being a concern; most of the concern we have tonight concerns very large hail. There are reports of hail damage to cars and rooftops in Watauga, Keller, Southlake and Colleyville.
- Chief Meteorologist Pete Delkus
11:31p Nickel size hail accompanies rain falling at the rate of 2 inches an hour in the area of Belt Line Road and Jupiter Road in North Dallas.
- via Twitter
11:30p Very heavy rain accompanied by thunder and lightning has now reached downtown Dallas.
- WFAA.com editor Walt Zwirko
11:22p The storm is approaching the southwestern corner of Dallas County and moving into Ellis County. Most of the area tonight won't see any rain, but those locations that do could certainly pick up a quick half an inch, maybe one-third inch of rain. Rain has now moved into the Love Field area of Dallas. Things are relatively calm in Denton at this hour, although storms are lighting up the skies 20 miles to the south. We're now getting reports of golfball-size hail falling in Carrollton and Farmers Branch. A severe thunderstorm warning has just been issued for Ellis County until 12:30 a.m. Tuesday.
- Chief Meteorologist Pete Delkus
11:20p WFAA viewers report strong winds, heavy rain and hail the size of golf balls in Southlake; marble-size hail and "major rain" in Farmers Branch; and pea-size hail in Richardson near Arapaho Road and U.S. 75.
- via Twitter
11:13p The most intense part of the storm is right along of the Bush Turnpike in Carrollton and Farmers Branch. It's getting ready to approach the Dallas North Tollway. Addison Airport and Galleria Dallas are in the path of the storm. Intense lightning continues as the storm approaches. Penny-size hail is reported at Midway and Belt Line Roads in far North Dallas.
- Chief Meteorologist Pete Delkus
11:06p A severe thunderstorm warning is in place for Dallas County until 11:45. The storm has now moved out of Parker County. We are getting numerous reports of very large hail as the most intense, severe part of the storm has moved into Dallas County. The thunderstorm has not weakened. Trained spotters and storm chasers continue to tell us that this hail is large and there are reports of roof damage in Keller and in Southlake.
- Chief Meteorologist Pete Delkus
11:03p Pea-size hail reported falling at Vandergriff Park in Arlington.
- Viewer report via Twitter
10:58p A powerful storm system is directly over Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The storms are bringing hail up to the size of baseballs, along with lightning and wind gusting to 60 mph. Power is flickering on and off in Hurst. Please don't take this storm too lightly. Most of North Texas is under a severe thunderstorm watch until 2 a.m. Tuesday.
- Chief Meteorologist Pete Delkus
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