Strong Wind — Smith, Texas

2021-10-28 · Smith, Texas

Wider weather episode

A strong gradient wind event behind a departing surface low pressure area over Northern Arkansas and Southern Missouri resulted in strong northwesterly surface winds across much of East Texas and Western Louisiana during the day on October 28th. The highest wind speeds were observed in East Texas where multiple sites measured peak winds between 45 and 55 mph. The highest wind speed recorded was a gust to 58 mph at the Nacogdoches Airport. Frequent wind gusts of this magnitude downed numerous trees, power lines, and large limbs, with some structural damage noted. In addition, these wind gusts combined with abnormally low relative humidities between 25-35% created an enhanced fire danger atop continued dry grounds given the ongoing moderate drought, with numerous wildfires breaking out across much of East Texas.

The following are peak wind gusts (45 mph or greater) recorded at various observation stations across East Texas:

Angelina County:

Lufkin Angelina County Airport: 47 mph at 215 pm

Cherokee County:

Jacksonville: 49 mph at 115 PM

Gregg County:

East Texas Regional Airport: 55 mph at 307 pm

Nacogdoches County:

Nacogdoches Airport: 58 mph at 1245 pm

Lumberjack RAWS: 45 mph at 246 pm

Panola County:

Lake Murvaul: 49 mph at 105 pm

Carthage: 45 mph at 220 pm

Rusk County:

Lake Striker: 57 mph at 310 pm

Henderson: 48 mph at 406 pm

3 WSW Henderson: 46 mph at 206 pm

Smith County:

Tyler Pounds Field Airport: 51 mph at 1159 am

Titus County:

Mount Pleasant Airport: 47 mph at 155 pm

Upshur County:

Gilmer Municipal Airport: 55 mph at 135 pm

Specifically, an 11 year old boy was killed 5 miles south-southwest of Lindale in Smith County when a tree was downed by high winds and landed on him as he was riding a go-kart on the back part of a property. In addition, trees and/or large limbs were downed on the following county roads in Smith County: 1131, 1134, 121, 178, 210, 2167, 219, 2199, 262, 287, 3203, 356, 373, 374, 378, 384, 4100, 411, 4131, 422, 431, 447, 470, and 486. Power lines were also downed in the 2900 block of Highway 64 West in Tyler, forcing the closure of the roadway.

In Gregg County, these strong wind gusts completely blew the sheet metal roof off of a building on South Main Street in Downtown Gladewater, forcing the closure of the roadway. A power pole and lines were also downed on Hawkins Parkway in Longview.

In Rusk County, a large oak tree was blown down blocking a portion of Highway 259 near the intersection of of Highway 42 South. The high winds also helped fuel the spread of a large fire at Kilgore Recycling along the Gregg/Rusk County line. This fire created a massive toxic smoke plume across the southern half of the city, forcing an evacuation of residents within a half mile area of the recycling plant, and a Shelter-in-Place order to go into effect for some area residents. A middle school football game was also cancelled.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 984040. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.