5 Tornadoes Confirmed Across East Texas on Sunday

This past weekend saw an onslaught of severe weather across East Texas. Numerous reports of large hail and high winds were reported along with sightings of funnel clouds and possible tornadoes. The National Weather Service has confirmed 5 tornado paths across East Texas from Sunday afternoon and evening.
The first tornado touched down around 3:30 PM 4 miles northeast of Daingerfield along county road 4105. This tornado was on the ground for 3 miles and was approximately 75 yards wide and rated an EF-0. The images below show the storm at the time of this tornado.

The second tornado touched down around 6:00 PM in near Lone Oak close to the Hunt/Rains county line. This was a very short lived tornado on the ground for only 200 yards and approximately 50 yards wide. Ten homes received some sort of damage in the Rolling Hills Community. This tornado was also rated an EF-0. The images below show the storm at the time of this tornado.

The third tornado touched down around 6:15 PM north of Mt. Vernon near Highway 37 and county road 1030. This was a very short lived tornado as well with a path length of only a quarter of a mile and a width of 50 yards. This tornado was also rated an EF-0. The images below show the storm at the time of this tornado..
The fourth tornado touched down around 6:47 PM west of Omaha in Morris County along Highway 67 and county road 3325. This tornado was on the ground for three quarters of a mile and was 75 yards wide and was also rated an EF-0. The images below show the storm at the time of this tornado

The fifth tornado from Sunday touched down around 6:54 PM in Wood County 7 miles northwest of Mineola and was also rated an EF-0. The tornado touched down near the intersection of Highway 69 and FM 779. This tornado was on the ground for nearly 2 miles and mainly caused damage to trees. The images below show the storm at the time of this tornado.
Thankfully most of the tornadoes from Sunday caused very little damage, touching down mainly in no populated forested areas. Doppler radar showed strong rotation with many storms throughout the day. Even though large damaging tornadoes did not touch down, very large hail caused a great deal of damage throughout East Texas.

New Record Set for Lowest Pressure

A new record for the lowest pressure ever measured on the U.S. Mainland from a non-tropical system was set yesterday as a massive low pressure moved across the Upper Midwest. The pressure dropped to 954.95 mb or 28.20” of mercury in Big Fork, MN. This beats the previous record of 958 mb or 28.28” of mercury during the Blizzard of 1978. To put this number in prospective, this low pressure is about the same you would find in a land falling category 3 hurricane. Hurricane Ike had a pressure of 950 mb or 28.05” of mercury. Now this record is preliminary until all the data can be measured. One thing is for certain, this system was a tremendous wind and severe weather producer. Wind gusts over 70 mph were common near the low pressure and a strong line of severe storms raced across the Ohio and Tennessee river valley causing tornadoes and wide spread wind damage.

Severe storms possible today

There is a slight chance of severe weather across East Texas today. A cold front out to our west will move into the area later today and will provide enough lift for a few scattered thunderstorms to develop. Any storm that does develop could produce hail to the size of quarters and gusty winds possibly as high as 60 mph. The overall threat does not appear to be very high at this time however I do expect a couple of severe weather reports before the day is through.
Much of East Texas remains under burning bans today due to the dry conditions. The good news today is our relative humidity will be much higher than we have seen across East Texas. This means the fire danger is not as high today however, it is still not recommended to do any outdoor burning.
Although we will see a few scattered storms across East Texas today, most areas will more than likely remain dry so burning bans will remain in effect for much of the area. As we head towards next week another cold front is forecast to move into the area. This front may be able to produce more widespread rain so until then, look for dry conditions to continue in most areas.