Texas, 1997

Tornado in Texas, October 23, 1997

October 23, 1997 · NWS LCH · 1 event in 1 county or zone

An F1 tornado touched down in the Ivanhoe subdivision around 6:45 pm, ripping up trees and moved northeast. As it crossed Highway 69, around five miles south of Woodville, it tore the roof off a large barn at a farm, and destroyed the business offices of a sawmill across the street.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
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  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$75,000
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 LCH wrote it up.

An F1 tornado touched down in the Ivanhoe subdivision around 6:45 pm, ripping up trees and moved northeast. As it crossed Highway 69, around five miles south of Woodville, it tore the roof off a large barn at a farm, and destroyed the business offices of a sawmill across the street. Over 100 trees were reported down on the farm. Fortunately, this storm moved across mostly wooded land and farm acreage, causing no injuries.

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 139 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:46 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Tyler

When
October 23, 5:45 PM CST to 5:55 PM CST
Where
Tyler County, Woodville to 7 mi S of Woodville
Rating
F1
Path length
3 mi
Path width
20 yd
Property damage
$75,000
Coordinates
30.700, -94.500

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

More

Every storm in Texas in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Texas, 1997Warnings in Texas, October 1997

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: 5623147.