East Texas tornado surveys completed - KLTV.com-Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville, Texas | ETX News

Posted by Michael Hetrick

EAST TEXAS (KLTV) - The National Weather Service has completed storm surveys for the damaging storms that occured Wednesday evening, January 20th.

Field meteorologists from the NWS Forecast Office in Ft. Worth and Shreveport confirmed 9 tornadoes touched down with the powerful storms.  Below are the findings of the survey, sorted by alphabetical order:

HARRISON COUNTY

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COMPLETED A DAMAGE SURVEY IN HARRISON
COUNTY TEXAS...AND CADDO PARISH LOUISIANA. AN EF3 TORNADO FIRST
TOUCHED DOWN NEAR WASKOM...TEXAS IN A WOODED AREA WEST OF IRELAND
WILLIAMS ROAD. THE TORNADO QUICKLY INTENSIFIED AS IT APPROACHED
INTERSTATE 20 NEAR MILE MARKER 628 WHERE 2 BUSINESSES WERE DESTROYED
ON BOTH THE SOUTH AND NORTH SERVICES ROADS. ONE OF THE BUSINESSES
WAS A METAL BUILDING AND THE OTHER WAS A MOBILE HOME.  ONE HOME WAS
COMPLETELY DESTROYED WITH ONLY A FEW INTERIOR WALLS REMAINING. A
SECOND HOME SUSTAINED MAJOR DAMAGE TO THE ROOF AND CARPORT. DEBRIS
WAS SCATTERED ACROSS INTERSTATE 20 AND HWY 80. SEVERAL OTHER HOMES
WERE DAMAGED FURTHER EAST ALONG BOTH SIDES OF THE SERVICE ROAD. MANY
TREES WERE SNAPPED AND UPROOTED IN THE AREA...SOME WERE SNAPPED DOWN
CLOSE TO THE BASE. THE TORNADO CONTINUED NORTHEAST...CROSSING
BELLVIEW ROAD INTO JONESVILLE...TEXAS WHERE A GROCERY STORE ROOF WAS
PEELED BACK AND WALLS WERE BLOWN OUT OF A LARGE WAREHOUSE. THE
TORNADO ALSO DAMAGED SOME METAL BUILDINGS NORTH OF JONESVILLE ALONG
FM 134. THE TORNADO TRACKED EAST ACROSS A WOODED AREA...SNAPPING AND
UPROOTING TREES CROSSING FM 9...AND THEN HEADED EAST INTO CADDO PARISH
IN LOUISIANA. A WEAKENED TORNADO CONTINUED EAST...CROSSING GREENWOOD
MOORINGSPORT ROAD WHERE SEVERAL TREES WERE UPROOTED AND CONTINUED
EAST OVER PORTIONS OF WESTERN CROSS LAKE BEFORE LIFTING SOUTHWEST OF
BLANCHARD...LOUISIANA. MAXIMUM WINDS WERE ESTIMATED BETWEEN 150-160
MPH WITH A PATH LENGTH OF 15.6 MILES AND A PATH WIDTH OF 0.75 MILES.

&&

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COMPLETED A DAMAGE SURVEY IN HARRISON
COUNTY TEXAS NEAR HARLETON...TEXAS. AN EF1 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN
ALONG CENTRAL AVENUE...UPROOTING TREES AND CAUSING MINOR DAMAGE TO
AWNINGS ON HOMES ALONG THE STREET. THE TORNADO TRAVELED NORTHEAST
AND UPROOTED MORE TREES AND CAUSED MINOR ROOF AND STRUCTURAL DAMAGE
TO 2 BRICK BUILDINGS AND ONE METAL BUILDING ALONG HWY 154. THE TORNADO
LIFTED JUST ACROSS HWY 154. WINDS WERE ESTIMATED AT 95 TO 105 MPH.
THE PATH LENGTH WAS 0.5 MI...AND THE WIDTH WAS 50 YARDS.

HENDERSON COUNTY

AN NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM SURVEYED DAMAGE ACROSS HENDERSON COUNTY ON
THURSDAY JANUARY 21 2010. THE DAMAGE OCCURRED ON WEDNESDAY JANUARY
20. THE SURVEY FOUND A DISCONTINUOUS DAMAGE PATH FOR A TOTAL OF
SEVEN MILES ACROSS SOUTHERN HENDERSON COUNTY.

TWO TORNADO TRACKS WERE OBSERVED. THE FIRST TORNADO STARTED SOUTH OF
THE CITY OF LARUE AND TRACKED EAST NORTHEAST. EXTERIOR WALLS
COLLAPSED ON SOME STRUCTURES. THIS TORNADO WAS RATED EF2 ON THE
ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE WITH ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WINDS AROUND 130 MPH.
ESTIMATED PATH WIDTH WAS 200 YARDS.

THE SECOND TORNADO STARTED NEAR POYNOR AND TRACKED NORTHEAST TOWARD
COFFEE CITY. A MOBILE HOME WAS DISLODGED AND A WOOD FRAMED HOME HAD
SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE. TREE DAMAGE WAS NOTED ALONG A THREE MILE PATH
WITH AN AVERAGE WIDTH OF ABOUT 100 YARDS. THIS TORNADO WAS RATED EF1
ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE WITH ESTIMATED PEAK WINDS IN THE 90 TO
100 MPH RANGE.

HOPKINS COUNTY

AN NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM SURVEYED DAMAGE IN HOPKINS COUNTY ON
THURSDAY JANUARY 21 2010. THE DAMAGE OCCURRED ON WEDNESDAY JANUARY
20. THE SURVEY FOUND TWO PATHS OF DAMAGE INDICATIVE OF A
DISCONTINUOUS TORNADO TRACK. BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF COHERENT DAMAGE
BETWEEN THE PATHS...THE PRELIMINARY FINDINGS WILL LIST THE PATHS AS
SEPARATE TORNADOES.

THE FIRST TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN AROUND 615 PM APPROXIMATELY 4 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF SULPHUR SPRINGS. THE TORNADO TRACKED TO THE EAST-
NORTHEAST FOR 1.5 MILES. ONE MOBILE HOME WAS DESTROYED...RESULTING IN
INJURIES TO TWO OF ITS OCCUPANTS. IN ADDITION...A PRE-FABRICATED
METAL BUILDING ON STATE HIGHWAY 19 (JUST SOUTH OF COUNTY ROAD 174)
SUSTAINED CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE. THE DAMAGE WAS CONSISTENT WITH THE
UPPER END OF THE EF0 RATING ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE...WITH WIND
SPEEDS ESTIMATED AT NEAR 80 MPH.

THE SECOND TORNADO PATH BEGAN ONE MILE SOUTH OF THE CENTRAL BUSINESS
DISTRICT OF SULPHUR SPRINGS AROUND 630 PM...AND CONTINUED 1.5 MILES
TO THE NORTHEAST. DURING THE 10 MINUTES THE TORNADO WAS ON THE
GROUND...AROUND 50 HOMES SUFFERED SOME DEGREE OF ROOF DAMAGE...TWO
OF WHICH SUSTAINED MORE SEVERE DAMAGE AFTER BEING IMPALED BY LARGE
TREE BRANCHES. THIS DAMAGE WAS CONSISTENT WITH SPEEDS OF 80 TO 85
MPH...ALSO ON THE UPPER END OF THE EF0 RATING.

SABINE COUNTY

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COMPLETED A DAMAGE SURVEY IN SABINE
COUNTY...TEXAS...NEAR GENEVA. AN EF1 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ALONG FM
330 TOPPLING AND UPROOTING SEVERAL LARGE TREES. ONE HOME HAD MINOR
ROOF DAMAGE ALONG WITH MOST OF ITS SHINGLES STRIPPED OFF...WHILE
ANOTHER HAD ITS OUTSIDE STORAGE SHED DESTROYED. WINDS WERE
ESTIMATED TO BE FROM 95 TO 105 MPH. THE PATH LENGTH WAS 500
YARDS...AND THE WIDTH WAS 150 YARDS.

SMITH COUNTY

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COMPLETED A DAMAGE SURVEY IN SMITH
COUNTY...TEXAS...NEAR NOONDAY. A WEAK EF0 TORNADO FIRST TOUCHED DOWN
IN A SUBDIVISION ALONG SOUTHERN TRACE CIRCLE WHERE SHINGLES WERE
PEELED OFF SEVERAL HOMES AND A TRAMPOLINE WAS THROWN UP ONTO A HOME.
SEVERAL FENCES WERE ALSO BLOWN DOWN. THE TORNADO CONTINUED EAST ONTO
WALNUT HILL DRIVE WHERE SPORADIC TREE DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED AS WELL AS
MINOR DAMAGE TO SEVERAL HOMES ALONG THE STREET. MAXIMUM WINDS WERE
65-70 MPH. PATH LENGTH WAS 1.5 MILES WITH A PATH WIDTH OF 75 YARDS.

VAN ZANDT COUNTY

AN NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM SURVEYED DAMAGE ACROSS VAN ZANDT COUNTY ON
THURSDAY JANUARY 21 2010. THE DAMAGE OCCURRED ON WEDNESDAY JANUARY
20. THE DAMAGE PATH STARTED ON THE NORTHWEST SIDE OF CANTON NORTH OF
HIGHWAY 64 AND JUST WEST OF FM859. THE DAMAGE PATH ENDS IN THE
SILVER LAKE AREA IN THE EXTREME NORTHEAST CORNER OF VAN ZANDT
COUNTY.

IT IS NOT KNOWN AT THIS TIME IF THERE IS A SINGLE CONTINUOUS DAMAGE
PATH OR IF THERE ARE TWO OR MORE SHORTER PATHS ACROSS VAN ZANDT
COUNTY.

ALONG THE DAMAGE PATH...A SINGLE FAMILY HOME LOST ITS ENTIRE ROOF
AND PART OF ITS EXTERIOR WALLS. A NUMBER OF LARGE TREES WERE
UPROOTED...AND SEVERAL SHEDS AND OUTBUILDINGS WERE DAMAGED TO
VARIOUS DEGREES. A CHURCH WAS DESTROYED IN THE COMMUNITY OF STARR. 

EYEWITNESS REPORTS...RADAR INFORMATION...AND DAMAGE PATTERNS SUGGEST
THAT A TORNADO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE. BASED ON
THE SURVEY...THE TORNADO HAS BEEN ASSIGNED AN EF2 ON THE ENHANCED
FUJITA SCALE WITH PEAK WINDS IN THE 110 TO 120 MPH RANGE.