Severe Hail, Tornado Warning Strike Del Rio Area Near Laughlin AFB

A massive hail storm hammered the San Felipe community in Del Rio on Thursday, sending intense hail crashing through the area while the National Weather Service simultaneously issued a tornado warning for eastern Val Verde County. A brief tornado touchdown was reported near Laughlin Air Force Base, underscoring the severity of a storm system that, by 10:24 p.m., had cleared enough for AccuWeather's Del Rio page to register no active warnings or advisories.

Video footage captured the brunt of the hail assault on San Felipe, showing the kind of intensity that rattles rooftops and strips vegetation. The San Felipe community, situated along the Rio Grande corridor west of downtown Del Rio, bore the visual force of the storm, with the footage offering the clearest documentation of what residents endured.

The NWS tornado warning for eastern Val Verde County placed Laughlin AFB directly in the zone of concern. The base, home to the 47th Flying Training Wing and one of the largest undergraduate pilot training installations in the Air Force, sits just east of Del Rio off U.S. Highway 90. The reported brief touchdown near the installation has not been officially rated, and no NWS storm damage survey results have been released confirming an EF classification or the tornado's path length and width. Laughlin AFB public affairs has not yet issued a statement on whether base operations or personnel were affected.

No injuries were reported from the storm, though officials noted significant weather impacts across the area. The precise scope of those impacts, including any property damage in San Felipe, road closures, power outages, or agricultural losses across Val Verde County's ranch land, has not been detailed in official releases.

The timing suggests the tornado warning had expired or been canceled well before the 10:24 p.m. AccuWeather snapshot, a common sequence when fast-moving convective cells produce short-lived tornado threats. The NWS office covering Val Verde County has not publicly confirmed the exact issuance and expiration times for the warning.

The Del Rio storm developed against a backdrop of widespread severe weather activity. AccuWeather's top stories at the time referenced a severe outbreak spanning more than 20 states, nighttime tornado dangers across the South, and an EF3 tornado that struck Indiana and Illinois. Whether the Val Verde County event was directly connected to that broader outbreak remains unconfirmed.

Val Verde County Emergency Management and the Del Rio Police Department had not released formal storm impact assessments as of Thursday evening. Residents with storm damage are encouraged to contact Val Verde County Emergency Management to ensure impacts are documented in the official record.