EF1 Tornado — Shelby, Texas

2024-07-08 · near Shelbyville, Shelby, Texas

Event narrative

An EF-1 tornado with estimated maximum winds near 110 mph touched down on County Road 2625 about 1.5 miles southeast of Shelbyville, and tracked northwest across CR 2100 and FM 417 where it snapped and uprooted numerous hardwood and softwood trees. The significant damage to trees continued to the north as the tornado tore through the Sardis community, south of FM 414 on County Roads 3051, 3054, and 3057. A number of homes also sustained damage to their roofs from a combination of the estimated 110 mph winds produced by the tornado and trees falling on homes. The tornado continued to track to the northwest, where it produced significant tree damage along CR 3505 and 3046 north of Sardis. The tornado then entered a heavily wood area inaccessible by vehicle, although additional significant tree damage was found southwest of the James community along Highway 7. In addition to the trees, a home also sustained significant roof damage from the tornado along with downed power lines. The tornado continued northwest along CR 3140 just northwest of James, with additional tree damage found along County Roads 3140, 3148, 3156, and 3129 before lifting near Spinney Creek south of the Paxton community.

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 → (31.7517, -94.0513)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1200302. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.