Texas Twisters Hit Close to Home

It was a stormy end to last week as a widespread severe weather event unfolded across the Deep South on Friday and lasting through Saturday.

After the storms had passed, the National Weather Service out of Shreveport (www.nws.noaa.gov/shv) did storm surveys to determine whether or not the damage that was done from severe thunderstorms was from damaging winds or tornadoes.

As it turns out, they determined there were 4 EF0 tornadoes that touched down. Two of them occured on Friday night, while the other two touched down in the early morning hours on Saturday.

I have labeled the tornadoes so that you can follow the reports that were found from the Weather Service out of Shreveport. It should be noted that the order that I have labeled them is not from strength or intensity, but rather the time in which they occurred.

Tornado 1 (EF0): This was the first confirmed tornado that touched down at 7:34pm 5 miles to the south-southwest of Atlanta, TX. It traveled 5 miles with a tornado width of 50 yards before lifting around 7:41pm about one mile south of Atlanta. Its winds were estimated at around 65 mph.

Tornado 2 (EF0): The second tornado touched down just a few miles to the north of where the first one dissipated. This one touched down at approximately 7:41pm, just one mile west of Queen City, TX. This was the strongest of all the tornadoes that touched down in Northeast Texas as it traveled 18 miles on the ground and was 100 yards wide. This tornado then crossed the state line and into Arkansas before weakening around 8:10pm in Fouke, AR. The estimated winds were near 80 mph.

Tornado 3 (EF0): After a break in the action, a second disturbance moved in after midnight, dropping another tornado at 2:33am Saturday morning 5 miles northeast of Quitman, TX. This was a brief and weak tornado as it stayed on the ground for only 0.75 miles. Its width was 70 yards and had estimated winds of 65 mph.

Tornado 4 (EF0): The last tornado report was from a thunderstorm that dropped a tornado at 2:46 am, just 3 miles east of Mineola, TX. It traveled 2 miles and was 70 yards wide. Due to the fast movement of the twister, it lifted at 2:49am, about 5 miles east of Mineola. The wind speeds with this twister were around 75 mph.

**It should be noted that no deaths or serious injuries were reported. While many trees were uprooted and some small hay barns were destroyed, thankfully these twisters were very weak. Had they been EF2 or stronger, the damage and impacts would have been more significant and more deadly.**