EF1 Tornado — Sabine, Louisiana

2024-07-08 · near Toledo Bend Res Nort, Sabine, Louisiana

Event narrative

A short track EF-1 tornado, with estimated maximum winds near 100 mph, was confirmed by high-resolution satellite imagery and a tornadic debris signature (TDS) on Doppler radar along the western shore of Toledo Bend Reservoir west of Noble. There was no available ground access to the NWS survey team, but peak winds estimated near 100 mph resulted in substantial tree damage in this area as indicated by the high-resolution satellite imagery, before the tornado tracked back over the water as a waterspout and lifting.

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 → (31.6631, -93.7807)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1203709. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.