EF3 Tornado — Jefferson, Texas

2024-12-28 · near Hamshire, Jefferson, Texas

Event narrative

An EF-3 tornado developed south of Houston and moved across Chambers County into Jefferson County just south of Russel Road. It snapped off power poles at French Rd before continuing northeast. An area of trees were snapped off and uprooted just south of the Big Hill Strategic Oil Reserve. The tornado continued northeast where it destroyed the top floor of the Sabine Ranch Lodge, stripped metal from a nearby industrial building, flipped a car into a side yard, and damaged the roofs of two homes. The car contained two people, one sustained a minor injury. The tornado crossed Highways 87 and 82 where it snapped transmission poles. Finally, it moved overtop Sabine Lake. The track continued into western Cameron Parish. Maximum winds were estimated at 161 mph.

Wider weather episode

A series of short waves moved across the region during late December causing multiple rounds of severe weather and flooding. One long lived tornado formed southeast of Houston and moved into deep southeast Texas before crossing into Louisiana.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (29.7170, -94.3550)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1226825. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.