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EF1 tornado in Jefferson County, Texas

Tornado August 18, 2009 · Jefferson County, Texas

EF1
Rating
0.9 mi
Path length
100 yd
Path width
10
Injuries
$20.0M
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 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

An EF1 Tornado touched down just west of the Kohls Department Store in the Parkdale Mall area. The tornado struck the Kohls, tearing off part of its roof and collapsing the front entrance. Damage to the store forced it to close for several weeks. The tornado continued to the northeast and crossed a Walmart parking lot, flipping over four vehicles and damaging dozens of others. Further to the northeast, the tornado struck Parkdale Mall, damaging the roofs of several department stores. The tornado lifted in the east parking lot of Parkdale Mall before reaching Highway 69.

Numerous photographs and videos of the tornado were taken.

The wider storm

Scattered thunderstorms developed during the morning and afternoon hours across southeast Texas. One of these thunderstorms moving across the northern portions of Beaumont spawned an EF1 tornado which struck the Parkdale Mall area.

Began near Gillburg (30.1199, -94.1726).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 194711. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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