EF1 Tornado — Smith, Texas

2025-10-28 · near Lindale, Smith, Texas

Event narrative

An EF-1 tornado with estimated maximum winds near 100 mph touched down from a weak, shallow supercell northeast of Lindale. The tornado first touched down along CR 4114 northeast of Macs Creek Lake, snapping large tree limbs. It moved east, crossing FM 1804 (Hoard Road) where it caused significant loss of shingles from a single family residence. The tornado then moved east-southeast through a wooded area and snapped more large tree limbs as it crossed CR 452. Here, a doublewide manufactured home also sustained some minor roof damage. The tornado then intensified with the damage more concentrated as it crossed CR 4129 and CR 4106, where several trees were snapped and uprooted in this area. At the intersection of CR 4106 and CR 4128, a single family residence suffered significant loss of shingles and the collapse of a brick facade on the east side of the home. However, the wooden walls and frame remained solidly standing. Just south of the intersection of CR 4126 and CR 4128, numerous pine trees were snapped, and a couple of large hardwood trees were uprooted. One house on the farm sustained major damage to its roof, with a nearby outbuilding losing most of its metal roof panels, and those that remained attached to the wooden frame showed significant twisting. The family on the farm told the survey team that they witnessed one of their flatbed trailers being lofted into the air above treetop level when the tornado struck. The tornado then turned southeast and removed half the roof from a wood-and-metal home. A couple of hardwood trees were also uprooted on this property. The tornado continued southeast, snapping a couple more pine trees, and caused some minor shingle damage to a single family home along CR 4104 before lifting.

Wider weather episode

A large upper level trough dropped southeast across the Plains and into the Four State Region during the afternoon and evening hours of October 28th, reinforcing a strong cold front southeast into Northeast Texas, Southwest Arkansas, and North Louisiana during the evening and overnight hours. A very warm, moist, and unstable air mass developed ahead of the front during the afternoon, within a zone of strong wind shear ahead of the approaching trough. Strong forcing ahead of the trough and along a warm front contributed to the development of scattered severe thunderstorms across portions of East Texas and North Louisiana along and south of the I-20 corridor. Two isolated tornadoes briefly touched down across Northern Smith County near Lindale and along the Gregg/Rusk County line in the city of Kilgore, with additional instances of damaging winds observed as well before the storms shifted into Northwest Louisiana.

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Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1294927. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.