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EF4 tornado in Lamar County, Texas

Tornado November 4, 2022 · Lamar County, Texas

EF4
Rating
44.7 mi
Whole path
1,350 yd
Path width
11
Injuries
$5.9M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Lamar County → Choctaw County, Oklahoma; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,350 yards (0.77 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF4 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF4 is devastating damage: well-built houses levelled, consistent with estimated gusts of 166–200 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

A tornado formed near Brookston in western Lamar County and tracked rapidly northeastward, passing to the northwest of Paris, Texas before exiting the northern edge of Lamar County, east of Arthur City. The tornado continued into Choctaw County Oklahoma and additional information about the damage in that county can be found in a separate entry. Several dozen individual homes, businesses and outbuildings were impacted across western and northern Lamar County. Damage consistent with EF-3 intensity tornadic winds of 150-160 mph were identified at several locations west through north of Paris. In particular, several residences along Farm Market Road 1499 northwest of Paris were completely unroofed, with most external and internal walls destroyed. This damage was consistent with tornado intensities of approximately 160 mph. One particular house on CR 33620 revealed EF-4 damage, with estimated winds of at least 170 MPH. EF-3 damage of 145 to 155 mph was also identified with a small number of structures along Farm to Market Road 906 near Mideity, as well as with a residence along Farm to Market Road 2820 west-northwest of Paris. Primary damage to these structures was the total loss of roofs and large-scale interior and exterior wall failure. EF-2 damage, consistent with winds of 111 to 135 mph, was identified with a number of other structures along the tornado's path. Structures with this degree of damage had either all or large portions of their roofs destroyed or significantly damaged, with some wall failures. Widespread EF-1 damage was also apparent all along the track from Brookston to east of Arthur City, as evidenced by trees uprooted, power poles snapped, outbuildings severely damaged, and/or wood frame homes with serious roof damage. Maximum estimated winds were 170 mph.

The wider storm

A fast-moving cold front served as a focus for thunderstorm development across North and Central Texas, as an upper level storm system swept across the Plains the afternoon of November 4. Large hail and damaging wind gusts accompanied several of these storms, and a total of 5 tornadoes occurred. The hardest-hit area was Lamar County, where an EF-4 tornado occurred.

Began near High (33.5995, -95.7490).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

2 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1062581. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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