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EF2 tornado in Collin County, Texas

Tornado December 26, 2015 · Collin County, Texas

EF2
Rating
5.3 mi
Path length
300 yd
Path width
2
Deaths
119
Injuries
$1.4M
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 300 yards (0.17 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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

A National Weather Service damage survey team found damage consistent with an EF-2 tornado in and near Copeville. The damage began in a residential area, damaging over 30 homes. The strongest part of the storm was along State Highway 78, where several businesses were destroyed, including a gas station / convenience store at SH 78 and FM 1778, where two people were killed. The tornado had a serpentine path, going on both sides of SH 78, before lifting in an open field about halfway between Copeville and Farmersville.

The wider storm

A potent storm system brought deadly tornadoes and severe weather to North Texas on the 26th followed by waves of heavy rainfall that resulted in significant flooding across parts of North and Central Texas. Twelve tornadoes were confirmed on the afternoon and evening of the 26th, killing 13 and injuring over 300. The strongest tornado was an EF-4 that struck the Garland and Rowlett areas of Dallas and Rockwall County and where most of the fatalities occurred. Then the waves of heavy rain persisted through the night of the 27th until the upper level low moved past the region. The heaviest rainfall and thus most significant flooding was along and east of Interstate 35 where an average of 3-6+ of rain fell.

Began near Copeville (33.0607, -96.4340).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

11 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 606480. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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