EF2 tornado in De Soto Parish, Louisiana

This tornado was a continuation of the tornado which first touched down in eastern Panola County, Texas. This tornado then moved across the state line into western De Soto Parish where it mostly exhibited EF0 to EF1 type damage. A few locations near Keachi, Longstreet and Frierson exhibited low end EF2 damage. Trees were snapped and uprooted'as many as 3 dozen homes sustained minor damage'with a few moderately damaged homes where carports were peeled back or trees fell on them. Several barns were knocked over or destroyed as well. The heaviest damage was located in the community of Frierson where widespread tree damage occurred and the tornado was at its widest point. Other damage along and just south of the tornado track is related to rear flank downdraft otherwise known as straight line winds. The tornado tracked into De Soto Parish across Belle Bower Texas Line Road'State Route 3015 where trees were snapped off 4 to 6 feet off the ground and 2 tanks from a gas well were overturned. The tornado continued northeast crossing State Route 5 between Keachi and Longstreet'then crossed Smyrna Road knocking over trees onto and around homes. The tornado crossed hwy 171 south of the hwy 5 and 171 intersection and followed along Jessie Lattin where a several homes were damaged and barns destroyed. The storm continued northeast crossing I49 where Red Bluff road crosses under. Numerous trees were downed and increased in coverage as the storm moved into Frierson. The tornado then entered southeast Caddo Parish. Maximum winds are estimated at 110 - 115 mph.

A very volatile atmosphere developed during the late afternoon...evening and overnight hours of April 26th across the Four State Region. An area of low pressure moved from the Texas Hill Country into Northeast Texas during the afternoon. Meanwhile, a warm front had moved northward from central Louisiana and was oriented west to east near the Arkansas/Louisiana state line. A dry line had moved just east of the I-35 corridor of North Central Texas and a strong cold front trailed the dry line. Very strong speed and directional shear was noted in the low and mid levels of the atmosphere such that supercells developed. Many of these produced tornadoes across the region. Other storms produced strong straight line wind gusts with bowing segments and large hail.