EF1 tornado in Red River Parish, Louisiana

The National Weather Service conduced a storm survey in Red River Parish near Hall Summit and concluded that damage was the result of an EF1 tornado. A couple barns were destroyed west of town north of State Route 514. Several homes in town sustained minor to moderate roof damage. The tornado crossed 514 east of Hall Summit where numerous trees were snapped onto the road. The tornado continued east crossing 371 knocking over a few trees before lifting east of 371. A sheriff deputy witnessed the tornado crossing the highway east of Hall Summitt and was blocked in from falling trees. Maximum winds were estimated at 85-90 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.