EF3 Tornado — Jones, Texas

2024-05-02 · near Hawley, Jones, Texas

Event narrative

The tornado was part of a cyclical supercell moving southeastward

through Jones County just west of US-277. The tornado that

produced damage dropped just north of CR-460 and moved southeast

before causing damage to metal outbuildings on two properties. It

continued southeast then turned to the south-southwest where it

damaged a home and snapped some trees and wooden power poles. It

continued southwestward before completely destroying a home that

was under construction. It also threw several trucks and a trailer

about 100 yards before crossing CR-458. Continuing southwestward,

the tornado completely destroyed another house and injured a

family of four. The tornado made one more turn southeastward where

it hit a small neighborhood. In the neighborhood, it caused roof

damage to a few homes and outbuildings. Before exiting the

neighborhood, it took most of the roof off of a house and caused

some of the walls to collapse. It also destroyed a metal garage

and heavily damaged an attached metal outbuilding. The tornado

crossed FM-605 before dissipating shortly thereafter. The estimated

peak wind speed was 165 mph.

Wider weather episode

A favorable weather pattern for widespread severe weather was in place across west central Texas during early May. There was an upper level southwest flow and a sharp dryline in the area. Also, extreme instability was present along with strong vertical wind shear during the late afternoon and evening hours. Supercell thunderstorms developed and produced strong tornadoes in Jones, Runnels and Sterling counties which resulted in damage to homes and other structures. Also, severe thunderstorms produced giant size hail and damaging winds.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (32.6241, -99.8609)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1187506. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.