EF3 Tornado — Nacogdoches, Texas

2019-04-13 · near Sacul, Nacogdoches, Texas

Event narrative

This is a continuation of the Cherokee County EF-3 tornado that tore through the Alto community. This tornado continued to track northeast across extreme Northwest Nacogdoches County, where numerous trees were snapped and uprooted along County Road 898 and FM 1648 as it approached the Sacul community. The tornado moved through the southeast sections of Sacul, where additional trees were snapped and uprooted, headstones were shifted off their foundations in a cemetery, a metal flag pole was bent at a 45 degree angle, and a tree fell on a home on Highway 204. The tornado continued northeast crossing County Road 988 and just east of County Road 991 near the Rusk County line, where numerous trees were snapped and uprooted, and a large section of a metal roof was torn off of a home, before crossing over into Southern Rusk County. The damage to the home here was the strongest in Northwest Nacogdoches County, with maximum estimated winds near 120 mph.

Wider weather episode

A strong upper level trough entered the Southern Plains during the afternoon hours of April 12th, which allowed southerly low level winds to gradually return warm and moist air from the Gulf of Mexico north into East Texas and North Louisiana. An upper level disturbance ejecting northeast ahead of the trough across portions of East Texas and North Louisiana during the early morning hours of April 13th carried enough elevated instability, shear, and forcing north of an advancing warm front over Southeast Texas and South Louisiana, such that scattered strong to severe thunderstorms developed, with numerous reports of large hail and occasional damaging winds received. The warm front continued to gradually mix north northwest into East Texas and Northcentral Louisiana by late morning and early afternoon hours, with a very warm, moist, and unstable air mass noted over Deep East Texas and portions of Northcentral Louisiana south of the front. Coupled with even stronger forcing and low level shear ahead of the approaching upper trough, additional strong to severe thunderstorms developed near and south of the front from late morning through the afternoon, producing numerous reports of damaging winds with several tornadoes across portions of East Texas. These showers and thunderstorms diminished by early evening with the departure of the trough, and the arrival of an associated cold front which brought about cooler, drier, and more stable air southeast into the region.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (31.7738, -94.9555)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 813789. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.