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EF1 tornado in Bell County, Texas

Tornado April 28, 2023 · Bell County, Texas

EF1

Rating

14.8 mi

Path length

1,400 yd

Path width

Injuries

$2.0M

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,400 yards (0.80 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 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 supercell tracked across Coryell County on the afternoon of April 28th producing an EF-1 tornado with maximum winds around 105 mph. The pattern of damage suggests this tornado may have been a multi-vortex tornado and evidence of very strong RFD wind damage was also found just south of the tornado track, further complicating the track location.

The tornado likely began near Bagget Mountain, tracked across CR 146, and did the most notable damage along CR 148. Several large trees along CR 148, in multiple locations, were damaged ranging from broken trunks to large trees uprooted. The property of a sporting range was damaged with the shooting range cover being blown across the street to the northeast. Two injuries occurred at this location, and one person was transported with a leg injury. The tornado generally followed CRs 148 and 147 on a southeast direction, continuing to damage trees and causing minor roof damage. The tornado crossed FM 116, just north of CR 145, causing damage to trees and minor roof damage to a home east of the road. The tornado then moved onto the property of Fort Hood. Access to this area is limited, but additional damage to trees and power poles was found along West Range Road, south of Henson Creek. The end of the tornado was estimated by radar over inaccessible areas of Fort Hood.

RFD winds were determined to be the cause of damage of a collapsed cell phone tower along West Range Road and a home on Longview Circle that lost part of its roof. The RFD winds could have been near 95 mph.

The wider storm

Another complex surface pattern unfolded on Friday April 28, comprising of a low pressure center, warm front, dryline, and Pacific cold front. All of these features contributed to the development of strong to severe thunderstorms as the next upper trough swept through the Plains. Storms developed shortly after noon, affected areas mainly south of I-20, and exited the region by 7 PM that evening. Large hail up to 3 inches was reported in Hamilton County, and an EF1 tornado occurred in Coryell County.

Began near Hood Afb (31.3821, -97.8820).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1097401. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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