Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2000

F3 tornado, Hughes Spgs to Linden, Texas, April 23, 2000

From Hughes Spgs to Linden, this F3 tornado ran 16.0 miles across Cass County on April 23, 2000, touching down at 4:58 PM CDT and reaching 880 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $170,000 of property damage.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mphthis tornado

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

The record

Rating
F3
Date
April 23, 2000
Touchdown
4:58 PM CDT (21:58 UTC)
Path length
16.0 miles (25.7 km)
Path width
880 yards (805 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$170,000
County
Cass County
Touchdown point
33.050, -94.380
Lift-off point
33.070, -94.070
Record number
119

What the Weather Service recorded

This tornado was one of several which formed over Cass County, TX. Numerous pine and oak trees snapped and broken. No structures were in the path of this tornado. This tornado entered Cass County, TX from Morris County, TX.

Numerous large pines and oaks were snapped and broken. No structures were in the path of this tornado which was one of several that occurred in this county this day.

Tornado developed in a high precipitation supercell as it moved east across the county. This tornado was one of several that occurred. Tornado tracked eastward along Hwy 77 and crossed through downtown Douglassville at Hwy 8 then continued east into the woods before lifting. Several homes, mobile homes, and businesses were damaged including the Post Office.

This tornado developed in a high precipitation supercell as it moved eastward across the county. This was one of several tornadoes that occured. The tornado tracked eastward across wooded territory and farmland. Several barns and 2 cross country electrical towers were toppled.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

The warnings

53 minutes of warning. NWS SHV issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:05 UTC, 53 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
21:05 UTC22:00 UTCTornado WarningSHV
21:55 UTC22:30 UTCTornado WarningSHV

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 19:53 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The air that afternoon

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Shreveport, LA (KSHV), 12:00Z

10.0 hours before the tornado, 78 km from the path. April 23, 2000.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 2000-04-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -69022, lifted condensation level 721 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 2000-04-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 271 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 62 knots.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-69022 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
721 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
62 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
271 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
416 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.8
0-3 km lapse rate
3.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Shreveport, LA (KSHV), 00:00Z

2.0 hours after it, 78 km from the path. April 24, 2000.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Shreveport, LA at 00:00Z on 2000-04-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1042 joules per kilogram, CIN -107, lifted condensation level 1141 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Shreveport, LA at 00:00Z on 2000-04-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 368 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 69 knots.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1042 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-107 J/kg
Surface CAPE
879 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1141 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
69 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
368 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
558 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.0
Supercell composite
11.5
0-3 km lapse rate
5.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Shreveport radar (KSHV), 77 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:55 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2000 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 23, 2000

32 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 232:22 PM CDTF1Pittsburg, OK2.01205$250,000
April 232:41 PM CDTF2Red River, TX12.570
April 232:48 PM CDTF0Hopkins, TX4.01002$30,000
April 233:08 PM CDTF2McCurtain, OK20.1502$40,000
April 233:11 PM CDTF2Pushmataha, OK9.0150$250,000
April 233:25 PM CDTF0LeFlore, OK0.250
April 233:37 PM CDTF2Pushmataha, OK9.0170$30,000
April 233:53 PM CDTF2Titus, TX16.8150$170,000
April 233:58 PM CDTF1McCurtain, OK17.270
April 234:10 PM CDTF2Morris, TX7.0180$10,000
April 234:22 PM CDTF2Cass, TX11.8150
April 234:34 PM CDTF1Harrison, TX4.5100
April 234:39 PM CDTF2Harrison, TX10.6150$8.0 million
April 234:54 PM CDTF1Sevier, AR13.020$2,000
April 234:56 PM CDTF2Cass, TX14.0150$250,000
April 234:57 PM CDTF1Sevier, AR9.750
April 234:58 PM CDTF1Cass, TX12.570
April 235:01 PM CDTF0Howard, AR3.8200
April 235:02 PM CDTF2Harrison, TX17.0100
April 235:10 PM CDTF1Caddo Parish, LA8.0500$1.0 million
April 235:25 PM CDTF0Hempstead, AR2.4200$20,000
April 235:30 PM CDTF1Harrison, TX5.0100
April 235:40 PM CDTF3Caddo Parish, LA32.55003$7.3 million
April 235:40 PM CDTF2Bossier Parish, LA37.2700$2.8 million
April 235:51 PM CDTF1Panola, TX7.050
April 236:28 PM CDTF1Lafayette, AR8.0300$1.2 million
April 236:46 PM CDTF2De Soto Parish, LA8.5150$750,000
April 237:05 PM CDTF3Red River Parish, LA19.3200$2.0 million
April 237:05 PM CDTF1Caddo Parish, LA8.01506$11 million
April 237:16 PM CDTF2Bienville Parish, LA4.3200$120,000
April 238:30 PM CDTF1Jackson Parish, LA2.5301$170,000
April 239:50 PM CDTF2LaSalle Parish, LA2.3150$750,000

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.