EF2 Tornado — Sabine, Louisiana

2024-07-08 · near Converse, Sabine, Louisiana

Event narrative

An EF-2 tornado with estimated maximum winds near 125 mph touched down along Highway 174 west of Converse in Northern Sabine Parish, and moved northwesterly snapping numerous hardwood and softwood trees along Old Camp Road. Areas to the north of Old Camp Road were inaccessible by vehicle, but high-resolution satellite imagery taken after this event indicated high-end timber damage as it crossed Parish Road 1048 into Southern DeSoto Parish.

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, 25 tornadoes touched down across portions of North Louisiana.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (31.7808, -93.7140)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1203621. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.