EF1 tornado in Nacogdoches County, Texas

An EF-1 tornado with maximum estimated winds near 95 mph touched down along County Road 442 a few miles southwest of Chireno, where numerous trees were snapped or uprooted in a heavily wooded area, while continuing northeast along and across County Road 443. The tornado lifted just east of County Road 443, although the rear flank downdraft from this storm tore off a 100 foot section of tin roofing from a vacant chicken house just off of County Road 442. Portions of the roofs from three other adjacent vacant chicken houses were partially lifted up about two inches. Damaging straight line winds of 80-85 mph from this same storm uprooted a tree in front of the Chireno ISD Building on Main Street in Chireno, with numerous trees downed in a north northeasterly direction along Highway 27 about 1-2 miles east of Chireno near the San Augustine County line.

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.