EF1 Tornado — Harrison, Texas

2024-07-08 · near Lotta, Harrison, Texas

Event narrative

An EF-1 tornado, with estimated maximum winds near 107 mph, touched down along FM 134 south of the Leigh community, and tracked northwest just east of Bill Coleman Road, snapping and uprooting multiple hardwood and softwood trees. The tornado then turned north, crossing Marshall Leigh Road. However, damage was inaccessible between Marshall Leigh Road and FM 2682 due to a lack of roadways. A consistent tornadic debris signature (TDS) from the Shreveport Doppler Radar led to high confidence that the tornado remained on the ground during this time. Additional tree damage was observed as the tornado crossed Highway 43 and then moved along Peter Chapel Road, before lifting near the intersection of Baldwin Road and Peter Chapel Road west of Karnack.

Wider weather episode

Tropical Storm Beryl briefly strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane with 80 mph winds as it made landfall along the Southeast Texas coast near Matagorda Bay during the early morning hours of July 8th, and tracked north-northeast across East Texas and into Southwest Arkansas during the afternoon and evening hours. While Beryl weakened into a tropical storm over portions of Deep East Texas by mid-afternoon, very strong wind shear and helicity existed near and east of the center, contributing to the largest tornado outbreak in NWS Shreveport history, as well as with any landfalling tropical system. A total of 43 tornadoes were confirmed through NWS surveys across East Texas, North Louisiana, and Southwest Arkansas, before Beryl weakened into a depression by late afternoon over East Texas. As a part of this outbreak, fifteen tornadoes touched down across portions of East Texas.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (32.5473, -94.1397)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1200257. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.