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EF2 tornado in Jefferson County, Texas

Tornado April 10, 2024 · Jefferson County, Texas

EF2
Rating
2.7 mi
Path length
300 yd
Path width
$500K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 300 yards (0.17 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

A NWS storm survey revealed that an EF-2 tornado impacted areas of Port Arthur. The tornado began near the intersection of 17th Street and Savannah Ave southeast of Motiva. The tornado path traveled east, peaking out near the Progressive Missionary Baptist Church where a large portion of the masonry walls collapsed. Another home near 11th Street and Orange Ave had the roof completely removed and some walls collapsed. Home and tree damage was extensive across these neighborhoods in Port Arthur. The path continued across Rose Hill Park and onto Pleasure Island. The tornado likely continued into Sabine Lake. Maximum estimated winds were 120 mph.

The wider storm

A strong upper low forced a round of severe thunderstorms across the region. Flooding, high wind gusts, hail, and tornadoes occurred in Southeast Texas as a result of this system.

Began near Port Arthur (29.8863, -93.9423).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1173699. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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