Tornado, Wharton
- When
- August 12, 5:30 PM CST to 5:32 PM CST
- Where
- Wharton County, El Campo
- Rating
- F0
- Path length
- 0.5 mi
- Path width
- 50 yd
- Property damage
- $40,000
- Coordinates
- 29.200, -96.280
Tornado in Texas, August 12, 1996
Pierce DPS reported eyewitness who saw tornado on the west side of El Campo. Power lines were blown down, small buildings blown over, and boats overturned.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $40,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS HGX wrote it up.
Pierce DPS reported eyewitness who saw tornado on the west side of El Campo. Power lines were blown down, small buildings blown over, and boats overturned.
The radar
The Houston radar (KHGX), 120 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:30 UTC.
Event by event
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Tornado
- A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flash Flood in North Carolina, August 12, 1996
- Flash Flood in North Carolina, August 12, 1996
- Flash Flood in North Carolina, August 12, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Texas, August 12, 1996
- Heavy Rain in New Jersey, August 12 to 13, 1996
- Flood in Florida, August 12, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Texas, August 12, 1996
- Rip Current in Florida, August 12, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Texas, August 12, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Texas, August 12, 1996
- Heavy Rain in Maryland, August 12 to 13, 1996
- Heavy Rain in Pennsylvania, August 12 to 13, 1996
More
Every storm in Texas in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Texas, 1996Warnings in Texas, August 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5565871.