Thunderstorm Wind in Rusk County, Texas

A tree was downed onto CR 308 near the intersection of FM 840.

An upper level low pressure system over the Desert Southwest shifted east through the Intermountain West on May 6th, inducing surface low development over West Texas. This also resulted in a tightening pressure gradient across the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley, with increased southerly low level winds allowing for a warm front to shift north to the I-20 corridor of East Texas and North Louisiana before becoming stationary later in the day. A warm, moist, and unstable air mass developed during the 6th south of the front, as large scale forcing increased near and south of the front ahead of the upper trough. As a result, showers and thunderstorms, some of which became severe, developed across East Texas and North Louisiana, producing damaging winds, locally heavy rainfall, and isolated tornadoes. Given the already saturated grounds from heavy rainfall that fell only several days prior, flash flooding was also observed through the afternoon and evening.