Overview
Severe storms affected parts of North & Central Texas for 6 days in a row from April 24 through April 29, 2026. On each of those days, widely scattered supercell thunderstorms brought large to very large hail to the region - while on April 24, April 25, and April 28, tornadoes and wind damage also occurred.
Synoptics
A large upper level trough moved slowly across the country from west to east over this six day period, with frequent shortwave troughs passing across the southern Plains.
Upper-Level Analysis (300mb)
Mid-Level Analysis (500mb)
- 500mb: An upper level trough centered across southern Canada moved slowly eastward across the country during this six day period from April 24 to April 29, which helped to strengthen and enhance the mid-level winds across the southern Plains.
Low-Level Analysis (850mb)
- 850mb: Persistent southwesterly to southerly winds brought and kept considerable Gulf moisture into the southern Plains ahead of the dryline, which shifted back and forth across western North and Central Texas each day. Warm temperatures aloft created a "cap" (a temperature inversion above the low level Gulf moisture) which kept thunderstorm activity limited across the region. However, this "cap" also allowed for potential explosive development of any thunderstorms that did form and were able to break through that cap, as the combination of heat and humidity created high levels of atmospheric instability.
Thermodynamic Profiles (RAOB Soundings)
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April 25, 2026 7pm (00Z) Sounding - The evening balloon sounding from NWS Fort Worth showed very high levels of atmosphere instability present across North Texas, with a MLCAPE (mean layer CAPE) value of 4109 J/Kg, a lifted index value quite low at -11, and very steep mid level lapse rates of 8.8 C/km. In addition, the wind profile indicated considerable turning in the low level winds along with wind speeds generally increasing with height, with surface to 3km SRH of 204 m2/s2. All of these features were very favorable for the development of supercell thunderstorms with very large hail and damaging winds, while the moderate low level shear was also favorable for a few tornadoes. However, the presence of a "cap" (temperature inversion) around 800mb made the development of any storms later in the day uncertain.
- April 28, 2026 7am (12Z) Sounding - This day's morning balloon sounding from NWS Fort Worth also showed high levels of atmosphere instability for so early in the day, with the MLCAPE (mean layer CAPE) of 3573 J/Kg and very steep mid level lapse rates of 8.7C/km. The wind profile did not show as much curvature or speed increase as the April 25th evening sounding, leading to low values of low level wind shear with 0-1km SRH of only 78 m2/s2. A large "cap" (temperature inversion) was also noted on the sounding, which would likely keep thunderstorm development limited across the region unless a source of lift strong enough to break through the "cap" occurred, such as a cold front. Even so, if storms could form, all of these features together made for a very favorable environment for supercell thunderstorm with very large hail and damaging winds, although the weak low level shear made tornado development less likely.
- April 29, 2026 7pm (00Z) Sounding - The evening balloon sounding on April 29 showed that a cold front had moved through the region with temperatures in the 60s and northeasterly winds near the surface. Despite the front, significant levels of CAPE (atmospheric energy) remained in place above the shallow cooler airmass with MUCAPE of 1805 J/Kg and very steep mid level lapse rates of 8.7 C/Km. These parameters indicated that even behind (north) of the cold front, "elevated" (forming above the cooler and more stable surface airmass) severe thunderstorms capable of very large hail and wind damage were still possible that day
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