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EF3 tornado in Montgomery County, Texas

Tornado December 28, 2024 · Montgomery County, Texas

EF3
Rating
10.3 mi
Path length
1,675 yd
Path width
10
Injuries
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

NOAA recorded where this tornado touched down but not where it lifted, so it appears as a point. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF3 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF3 is severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, consistent with estimated gusts of 136–165 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

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.

The wider storm

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

Began near Oak Ridge North (30.1500, -95.3300).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

4 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1224046. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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