The date was March 28, 2000. Severe weather was plaguing North Texas. The radar information was ambiguous. Was the supercell thunderstorm west of Fort Worth capable of producing a tornado?
Mike Foster, the forecaster responsible for the storm was desperately looking for ground truth, for spotter reports from the field in the vicinity of the storm that would indicate whether the storm was likely to produce a tornado. Was the storm accompanied by a lowering called a wall cloud? If so, was the wall cloud rotating?
But the problem was that most of the local storm chasers were further to the north, chasing more promising storms in Oklahoma. Without the information that he needed, Foster went on his own intuition to issue a tornado warning for Tarrant County. Fifteen minutes later, the storm produced an F3 tornado that struck the Fort Worth, TX metropolitan area directly just after the evening rush hour.
The 35 story Bank One building suffered heavy damage, with most of its windows being blown out. Glass from several downtown uildings showered down on the streets below. Two people were killed by this tornado, inclduing a heroic man who helped several people to shelter before he was killed. One man was reportedly killed by baseball sized hail.
Another F3 tornado struck the Arlington, TX area. This twister moved along I-20, crossing over the interstate several times. $450 million in damage was tallied after the tornadoes. Foster would win the Special Prediction Award from the American Meteorological Society.
