Tornadoes in Texas, March 16, 2000

A strong weather system produced scattered showers and thunderstorms over Central Texas on the afternoon of Thursday March 16. Funnel clouds were first reported by the public and by the Leander Police Department near 4 pm that afternoon. A small, short-lived F0 tornado struck near the police station near 4 pm, with no significant damage. Shortly after 4 pm, another rope-shaped funnel was observed west of Leander. Photographs of this developing tornado indicate a generally-long and rope-shaped structure that slowly twisted and wound its way to the surface. The tornado touched down in the western part of Mason Creek Subdivision located on the west side of Leander and moved slowly eastward. Damage near the tornado touchdown was F0 level approaching F1. It damaged eaves of roofs, took shingles off roofs and knocked down large tree branches. More significant damage was noted along Greening Way and Mason Creek Boulevard in the west and central part of the subdivision, where several large trees of over 1 foot diameter were uprooted. This indicated damage in the lower levels of the F2 scale. In addition, the tornado had destroyed approximately 30 percent of one home. Again, this indicated minimal F2-level damage. The tornado began to lift as it approached Old Bagdad Road on the eastern side of the subdivision. Most of the damage in this part of the subdivision was at the F0 level. In all, the tornado damaged 24 homes and several outbuildings. The tornado was estimated at 200 yards wide with a path length of 1.5 mile.