In less than 24 hours, multiple violent storms wreaked havoc across northern and eastern Texas, leaving nearly 1.4 million customers in the dark. The storms, which produced blinding rain, hail, and winds exceeding 70 mph, impacted cities such as Dallas, Houston, and various parts of eastern Texas.

The Houston area, still recovering from a recent derecho that caused significant damage, was hit once again by the storms. Just 12 days after the previous storm, which resulted in eight fatalities and wind gusts of up to 100 mph, the region experienced additional power outages. Dallas County saw power cuts for nearly 400,000 customers, while in Harris County, which encompasses Houston, over 280,000 customers were affected.

The extensive outages were not limited to these areas alone. Dozens of counties to the southeast of Dallas and north of Houston experienced extensive power loss, affecting between 30% to 60% of their total customers. As if the situation wasn't dire enough, there were predictions of additional storms in western and southern Texas.

Dallas bore the brunt of the storms, facing two separate complexes of severe weather within a span of 12 hours. The first storm hit late Monday afternoon, followed by another before dawn on Tuesday. Wind gusts of more than 70 mph swept through Dallas and its surrounding areas. Notably, Denton recorded a gust of 83 mph, while both Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Love Field airports reported gusts of 77 mph and 75 mph, respectively.

As the storms moved southward, they unleashed heavy rainfall, hail, and wind gusts of 60 mph and higher in areas like Lufkin and Coldspring, en route to Houston. George Bush Intercontinental Airport, located just north of Houston, reported a gust of 75 mph. Reports of wind damage trickled in from Houston to Lake Charles, where gusts of approximately 55 to 60 mph were common. In Kountze, northwest of Beaumont, a carwash roof even collapsed due to the strong winds.

The National Weather Service received numerous reports of downed trees and damaged buildings, including a commercial building in Addison, a suburb north of Dallas, where the roof was torn off. North Forney High School, located east of Dallas, experienced what was described as "major damage."

Videos on social media captured the intensity of the storms, with sheets of rain being blown sideways by powerful gusts and frequent lightning flashes. Visibility dropped to zero at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, while Houston witnessed similar scenes of reduced visibility and darkening skies.

Large hail also added to the destruction, with one supercell storm over Tarrant County, west of Dallas, producing baseball-sized hail. Social media videos showed the harrowing moment when skylights at a Walmart shattered, causing ice and glass shards to rain down onto the store's floor.

Texas storms have been forming at the northern periphery of a "heat dome" or ridge of high pressure over Mexico, resulting in record temperatures in the country. These thunderstorms straddle the edge of the heat dome, benefiting from the changing temperatures along its boundary. This phenomenon, known as ridge runners, taps into jet stream energy, causing damaging straight-line winds at the surface.

The coming days still pose a threat, as windy thunderstorms are forecasted to develop across the Colorado High Plains on Thursday and move southeast toward Dallas. However, Wednesday seems to offer some respite from the severe weather.

As the affected regions recover from the damage caused by these relentless storms, efforts to restore power and repair infrastructure continue.