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F2 tornado in Hill County, Texas

Tornado December 29, 2006 · Hill County, Texas

F2
Rating
22.6 mi
Whole path
587 yd
Path width
12
Injuries
$2.5M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Hill County → Johnson County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 587 yards (0.33 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F2 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F2 meant considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted; the scale paired it with winds of 113–157 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The National Weather Service in Fort Worth conducted a damage survey and found that a tornado developed west of FM 933 and south of CR 1145. Tree damage was noted as the tornado crossed FM 933 and FM 67 one mile southeast of Blum. The tornado apparently increased in size and intensity after crossing FM 67. A large grain silo was toppled over on CR 1137, roughly 1.5 miles northeast of Blum. Extensive tree and power pole damage was also noted. The path width was over a quarter of a mile at this time. As the tornado crossed County Roads 1136 and 1133, widespread tree damage was noted, as was structural damage to roofs and windows. The tornado then moved across FM 2488 just south of the Johnson County line, where a well-engineered home lost portions of roof decking and a large barn was destroyed. Portions of the barn's metal skin were carried over a mile to the north-northeast. The tornado then crossed into Johnson County.

The wider storm

A rare winter tornado outbreak occurred on December 29 over portions of North Texas, spawning almost two dozen tornadoes. Very high shear and low instability created an environment favorable for tornadoes. A strong surface low pressure system and warm front located in southern North Texas increased the probablitity for low-level rotation. In addition to tornadoes, severe reports of large hail and flash flooding were widespread.

Began near Blum (32.0922, -97.4000).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 7135. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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