EF1 tornado in Cass County, Texas

A tornado touched down in a wooded area along County Road 1617 in southern Cass County, approximately 3 miles southeast of the community of Avinger. Low-end EF1 damage was noted as the small tornado traveled north-northeast, snapping and uprooting several pine and oak trees. In addition, numerous small branches were also blown down before the tornado lifted, still in a wooded area, approximately 50 yards from its touchdown point.

A strong upper level storm system moved its way out of the southern Great Basin and into the Southern Plains during the afternoon hours of December 23rd. Strong southerly flow was found ahead of this storm system with dewpoint temperatures in the lower to middle 60s noted northward to the Interstate 20 corridor of northeast Texas and northern Louisiana. Impressive deep layer shear was noted in the warm sector across the region which was conducive for discrete storm cells during the afternoon and evening across northeast Texas. These storms spawned tornadoes and produced large hail across portions of northeast Texas. The storm system moved eastward during the predawn hours of December 24th with again, numerous storms producing tornadoes across southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana. In addition to all the storm damage...these storms were prolific rain makers with numerous reports of flash flooding across the region as well.