EF2 tornado in Union Parish, Louisiana

An EF-2 tornado with estimated maximum winds near 115 mph touched down just north of Highway 2 along Weldon Church Road. Minor tree damage was noted initially but as it crossed Ward Line Road, a few more trees were snapped and uprooted. As it tracked northward, the tornado intensified quickly and grew in size. As it moved through a wooded area, substantial damage was done to the timber as hundreds of trees were uprooted and snapped. This was where the tornado was strongest, with EF-2 winds near 115 mph. The tornado then approached and crossed Highway 2 Alternate, where numerous trees were snapped and uprooted along with a sizeable stretch of power lines down. On the far eastern side, trees were uprooted and a roof was ripped off of a shed. The tornado then lifted shortly after crossing Highway 2 Alternate on the east side of the Weldon community along the Claiborne/Union Parish line.

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.