Tornadoes in Texas, November 4, 2022

An EF-4 tornado initially touched down near the Fulbright community southwest of Clarksville. An aerial survey confirmed that the tornado damage was to tin metal roof panels that were peeled off of a plant on CR-1200. As the tornado continued northeast, near FM-411, a single family home had all of its walls removed with only the interior room left standing where a family of three sheltered where winds were estimated at 150 mph. After it crossed FM-411, it hit another single family home and collapsed all the walls, injuring a woman who left her vehicle to take shelter inside the home. The tornado continued on to CR-1275 where debarking of a few trees was first observed in addition to thousands of trees that were snapped and uprooted throughout the path of the tornado. It then crossed US-82, CR-2123, CR-2124, and FM-2283. At FM-2283, it destroyed a single family home along with several outbuildings. This area could not be surveyed at this location as debris removal had already begun. The tornado then continued to move along CR-2125 and CR-2030 before taking a more eastward jog across SH-37. At this point, it is estimated that it was about a third of a mile wide and it began to widen further as it demonstrated more widespread tree snaps and isolated debarking throughout the remainder of Red River County. After crossing SH-37, the tornado wiped a single family home off of its foundation north of Clarksville with large portions of the walls and roof carried several hundred yards northeast of the home. This damage was surrounded by widespread tree snaps with isolated debarking. This location was reviewed by a regional Quick Response Team (QRT) that determined the damage at this location was EF-4 with maximum winds of 170 mph. This was based on the construction of the home, the debris field spread 50-200 yards downstream from the home in small pieces, and the slab of the home being wiped clean. Ten people on the property of the home took shelter in an oil drain of a metal outbuilding that was completely destroyed with no injuries. The damage swath widened to approximately 0.6 miles northeast of Clarksville as it approached Acworth and continued to cross the Red River. Before it crossed the Red River, it collapsed all the walls on a single family home and completely destroyed Mount Olive Church. It then lifted a double-wide manufactured home off the ground near FM-1159 and threw it 50 yards with three dogs inside that all survived. The tornado then crossed the Red River into south-central McCurtain County, Oklahoma.

A damage survey team initially found damage east of Pittsburg in Camp County, Texas in association with a northeastward moving supercell thunderstorm which eventually went on to produce four tornadoes through northeast Texas and into southwest Arkansas. This initial EF-1 tornado with estimated maximum winds of 95 mph produced only minor tree damage, beginning near FM-2254 and traveling a few miles through rural areas before ending near CR-4244.

The supercell thunderstorm which produced a brief and weak tornado in eastern Camp County then went on to produce a stronger and longer-lasting tornado from southwestern Morris County and into northwestern Cass County. This EF-3 tornado with estimated maximum winds of 155 mph initially started along FM-144 south of the Cason community and very quickly became quite destructive, producing EF-3 damage to a home, and EF-2 damage to multiple structures before tracking northeast to Texas Highway 11. A few mobile homes were destroyed near the start of the tornado which resulted in several injuries. The tornado continued to track northeast from Texas Highway 11 to Highway 49, doing mostly EF-1 damage for 3 miles before reaching Highway 49. As the tornado crossed Highway 49, two nearby homes were completely destroyed and largely swept from their foundations and at least one injury resulted. This damage was only rated EF-2 because of the pier and beam foundation construction of both homes did not anchor the structures well to the intense wind loading. Behind the homes, some isolated tree debarking was observed with a swath of EF-3 damage with maximum winds of 140 mph. The tornado continued to the northeast, completely destroying a mobile home along CR-3201, where one fatality associated with this tornado occurred. The tornado continued to advance northeastward, doing mainly EF-1 damage to trees and some structures before knocking over and destroying a few large electrical transmission lines near the intersection of CR-3211 and CR-3209. EF-2 level winds at 125 mph were estimated to have caused this structural damage. Finally, the tornado continued on another several miles to the northeast across U.S. Highway 259 before crossing into northwestern Cass County.

This is a continuation of an EF-3 tornado that occurred in Morris County and tracked into extreme northwestern Cass County. This tornado produced mainly EF-1 damage with estimated maximum winds near 105 mph to a mix of trees and structures as it crossed CR-2888 and CR-2738, before lifting shortly after crossing Texas Highway 77.

The supercell thunderstorm which produced a second tornado ending in northwestern Cass County continued on to the northeast and produced another tornado just north of the Sulphur River in southwestern Bowie County. This tornado was determined to be the strongest one produced by this particular thunderstorm and generated a few spots of low end EF-3 damage in several locations along its nearly 16-mile long path, with estimated maximum winds near 140 mph. This tornado first touched down along U.S. Highway 67 to the southwest of Simms and quickly grew in strength and width after tracking a few miles, briefing reaching a width of nearly a half mile at times. Just west of Simms and continuing northeast just past FM-561, the tornado produced many instances of EF-2 damage to both trees and structures. As the tornado crossed FM-561, there were several structures, a few well built, which had roofs and many walls removed, with 140 mph winds estimated here which were just inside the EF-3 threshold. Additionally, near this structural damage, there was a small section of asphalt road removed from FM-561 and the road debris was thrown into one residence. From there, the tornado then tracked northeast nearly four miles through very rural and uninhabited areas west of Texas Highway 98. The tornado finally moved back over Highway 98 and produced another area of considerable damage at the intersection of Highway 98 and CR-1840. In this area, several structures were largely destroyed, including a few small retail buildings, and this again garnered some high end EF-2 and low end EF-3 ratings with no injuries. After this point, the tornado travelled its final seven miles by crossing the southwestern, then western, and then northern portions of the city of New Boston, before ending just west of Highway 8 north of Interstate 30. Damage to structures and trees in these areas was mostly EF-1 caliber, although considerable damage to one or two well-built homes on the western side of New Boston did warrant an EF-2 damage rating.

The tornado first touched down just to the southwest of Hughes Springs and then moved northeast into the city limits, where EF-1 damage was noted. Two single family residences sustained damage to the roofs with partial roof removal. The forest station on Pine Street also sustained damage to the roof and walls. Additionally, numerous large trees were downed along the path. Damage continued along CR-2994, just northeast of Hughes Springs, where two well-built homes sustained substantial roof damage consistent with an EF-2 rating. As the tornado continued on its path, it continued to cause EF-1 damage through more rural areas of Cass County, with a consistent path of snapped and uprooted softwood and hardwood trees. The tornado began to intensify near Cusseta, with a tornado debris signature appearing on radar. Here, the tornado caused widespread EF-2 damage to countless hardwood and softwood trees. Trees were snapped and twisted over an extensive area of ground, with the tornado causing EF-1 damage to an old structure located on a small hill. The tornado began to weaken on the north side of Texas Highway 77 west of Douglassville, but not before snapping more hardwood and softwood trees on both sides of the highway. Through the use of high resolution satellite imagery, the track was found to be continuous in areas that originally could not be surveyed by ground.