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EF2 tornado in Orange County, Texas

Tornado January 24, 2023 · Orange County, Texas

EF2

Rating

27.5 mi

Whole path

500 yd

Path width

Injuries

$1.3M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Orange County → Orange County → Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 500 yards (0.28 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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

The Orange-Calcasieu Tornado touched down near Orangefield Road and quickly produced EF-2 damage a few blocks northwest of Orangefield High School. This area sustained the most severe damage from this tornado, where winds were estimated to max out at 120 mph. Numerous homes were either heavily damaged or destroyed. The tornado then crossed over Cow Bayou, and produced mostly EF-1 damage through the rest of Orange County. The tornado crossed the Sabine River over a section of West Bluff Road. A marine survey revealed that the tornado did remain continuous across the Sabine River Swamp area.

The wider storm

A vigorous storm system moved across the region spawning high wind gusts and a pair of tornadoes in deep southeast Texas.

Began near Bobsher (30.0741, -93.8921).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF1 Jefferson County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1077169. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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