The storm sirens rang out across Montague County Thursday evening as heavy storms created potential tornado conditions including a confirmed funnel in the Bellevue area.
Tornado watches went up early evening with the tornado warning issued shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday. Kirk Higgins, City of Bowie emergency management coordinator, said there definitely was a tornado in Bellevue as the stormchasers were streaming it.
“The weather service just after that said the radar doesn’t look good for our area so they issued the warning. Just a few minutes later one was issued for Nocona, so sirens were going off in both communities,” said the coordinator.
Higgins said there were no funnels confirmed in the Bowie area but the storm clouds looked prime for one to pull out at any time. In Nocona the fire department storm watchers reported a rotating wall cloud to the west of the city moving east, prompting its sirens.
Friday morning officials in the area communities reported no significant damage other than lots of broken tree limbs.
Nocona also had heavy rain ranging from 1.5 inches near downtown to 2.4 inches eight blocks away. Bowie got .06 of an inch in downtown.

Pictured above, this large tree received damage on West Cedar Street in Nocona Thursday night. (Photo by Suzanne Storey)