EF3 Tornado — Montgomery, Texas

2024-12-28 · near Oak Ridge North, Montgomery, Texas

Event narrative

A storm spotter initially reported extensive damage from a tornado along FM 1485. They reported mobile homes were heavily damaged or destroyed in the area. A brick home had its roof completely removed. They also reported that the east Montgomery Fire Department was hit, with its bay doors blown in and metal roof peeled back. Texas SOC initial assessments indicated 80 homes with major damage in the Porter Heights area with 10 patients transported to local hospitals.

The survey team had reported extensive damage across portions of Montgomery county. The damage path began in the Porter Heights area, with numerous homes and buildings damaged or destroyed. The path continue northeast all the way to the Splendora Junior High School, where light damage was found in neighboring areas with a clear damage path indicating where the tornado crossed the highway.

In the end, the survey team concluded that this was a large tornado that reached EF3 strength, with damage in Porter Heights indicating peak wind speeds of 140 mph. Majority of the damage track was high end EF1 or low end EF2 damage.

Wider weather episode

Multiple tornadic storms occurred during the afternoon on the 28th, producing hail, wind and tornadoes.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (30.1500, -95.3300)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1224046. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.