EF2 tornado in Union Parish, Louisiana

A brief EF-2 tornado with estimated maximum winds near 125 mph touched down along Lem Road north of the intersection of Green Bridge Road, where a few large tree limbs were snapped. The tornado moved north and crossed Lem Road again, with the tornado peaking in intensity as it heavily damaged one home. The roof was torn off of the home and some of the outer walls were blown down. Two pickup trucks were rolled and thrown into the yard, and additional tree damage was noted here with the most significant tree damage located just to the southeast of the home. Based on the damage noted here, it appears that a small vortex quickly intensified and moved out of the wooded area just southeast of the home, before directly impacting the home. Additional damage was noted in the tree line to the north before the tornado lifted.

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.