After last evening’s excitement, I can happily report no harm came to family, friends, or their property.  In fact, the severe weather appears to have skirted around the family farm and reformed to strike Louisiana with the same violence with which it bludgeoned North Texas.

As for the Lone Star State…

Current reports indicate at least one person is dead and a handful injured, although it’s still far too early for a final accounting of the storm’s impact.

Damage reports have poured in from throughout the metroplex.  The majority of it appears to be from very large hail, some flash flooding, and extremely powerful winds.  At present, there is one confirmed tornado in one of the suburbs (Haltom City) and reports from trained weather spotters of yet another tornado a short drive north of my location.

Interestingly, photographs and videos have been seen from around the area showing a plethora of funnel clouds (whether they became full tornadoes or not, and whether they caused any damage, has yet to be determined).

There are at least 23,000 without power at this time due to trees and power poles being felled by the weather system.

I’ve already seen reports from my own area showing a tremendous amount of damage, from homes with roofs blown off to trees and power lines scattered about like matchsticks.  I can’t help but feel I got through the evening right on the edge of disaster.  I could easily drive a few minutes in one of several directions and would see the wreckage left behind.

But again I say all is well because none of us saw firsthand the storm’s direct brutality.

And today?  Well, it’s much colder and very windy.  We’re expecting a light frost in the morning.

Talk about unusual weather.  We had snow last weekend, tornadoes and terribly violent storms last night, and are looking forward to a cold and blustery day today followed by a touch of winter overnight.