EF2 tornado, Jonesville to Oakland, Texas, April 9, 2009

1. EF065 to 85 mph

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

2. EF186 to 110 mph

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

3. EF2111 to 135 mphthis tornado

   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. EF3136 to 165 mph

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

5. EF4166 to 200 mph

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

6. EF5over 200 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.

Rating

EF2

Date

April 9, 2009

Touchdown

9:48 PM CDT (02:48 UTC)

Lifted

10:45 PM CDT (03:45 UTC)

On the ground

57 minutes

Path length

37.2 miles (59.8 km)

Path width

500 yards (457 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

2

Property damage

$13 million

Counties

Harrison, Caddo and Bossier counties

Touchdown point

32.536, -94.143

Lift-off point

32.476, -93.510

Record number

0904092048-01

A strong upper level storm system along with a surface dry line/front |over northeast Texas moved east during the evening hours of April 9th into the early morning hours of April 10th causing long lived supercell thunderstorms. These thunderstorms caused long track tornadoes to occur across southeast Oklahoma, southwest Arkansas, northeast Texas, and north Louisiana.

A strong upper level storm system along with a surface dry line/front |over northeast Texas moved east during the evening hours of April 9th into the early morning hours of April 10th causing long lived supercell thunderstorms. These thunderstorms caused long track tornadoes to occur across southeast Oklahoma, southwest Arkansas, northeast Texas, and north Louisiana.

This storm developed over eastern Harrison County about 6 miles northwest of Waskom. This tornado first touched down about one half mile west of FM 134, continuing east across FM 9 about 3 miles north of Waskom, before entering western Caddo Parish. Numerous trees were uprooted and snapped, especially east of FM 9, and across Highway 169.|There were some homes damaged from fallen trees and also from the tornado itself near Masters Road in east central Harrison County.

This storm developed over eastern Harrison County about 6 miles northwest of Waskom. This tornado first touched down about one half mile west of FM 134, continuing east across FM 9 about 3 miles north of Waskom, before entering western Caddo Parish. Numerous trees were uprooted and snapped, especially east of FM 9, and across Highway 169. This tornado followed North Lakeshore Drive, with numerous homes damaged, some of which had their roofs partially removed. In addition, one of the homes was moved off of its foundation. Near I-220 and Blanchard Road, 12 empty railroad cars were blown off the track, with intermittent damage along Blanchard Road going into downtown Shreveport. Large tree limbs and power lines were downed, while road signs were downed as well. The tornado crossed the Red River south of the Diamond Jacks Casino, where numerous homes were damaged due to trees between Arthur Ray Teague Parkway and Barksdale Blvd. On Barksdale Blvd itself, numerous power poles were downed, with many businesses damaged, and damage to the west gate of Barksdale Air Force Base. The tornado lifted in eastern Bossier Parish along Highway 157 south of Haughton. This tornado was rated an EF2, with winds of around 120 mph, and the most extensive damage found in the Lakeview Subdivision on the north side of Cross Lake in Caddo Parish. The total path length from Harrison County Texas through Bossier Parish Louisiana was 38.5 miles. The path width fluctuated through this continuous track, varying from between 100 to 400 yards. There were 2 injuries reported in Caddo Parish...the first was in the Lakeview subdivision and the second was a female who was trapped in her car after a tree fell on the automobile.

This storm developed over eastern Harrison County about 6 miles northwest of Waskom. This tornado first touched down about one half mile west of FM 134, continuing east across FM 9 about 3 miles north of Waskom, before entering western Caddo Parish. Numerous trees were uprooted and snapped, especially east of FM 9, and across Highway 169. This tornado followed North Lakeshore Drive, with numerous homes damaged, some of which had their roofs partially removed. In addition, one of the homes was moved off of its foundation. Near I-220 and Blanchard Road, 12 empty railroad cars were blown off the track, with intermittent damage along Blanchard Road going into downtown Shreveport. Large tree limbs and power lines were downed, while road signs were downed as well. The tornado crossed the Red River south of the Diamond Jacks Casino, where numerous homes were damaged due to trees between Arthur Ray Teague Parkway and Barksdale Blvd. On Barksdale Blvd itself, numerous power poles were downed, with many businesses damaged, and damage to the west gate of Barksdale Air Force Base. The storm did 2.5 million dollars worth of damage to the Barksdale Air Force Base itself with the damage including the west gate, the golf course, fitness center and Chapel Two. Approximately 80 trees were uprooted around the main base. The tornado lifted in eastern Bossier Parish along Highway 157 south of Haughton. This tornado was rated an EF2, with winds of around 120 mph, and the most extensive damage found in the Lakeview Subdivision on the north side of Cross Lake in Caddo Parish. The total path length from Harrison County Texas through Bossier Parish Louisiana was 38.5 miles. The path width fluctuated through this continuous track, varying from between 100 to 400 yards.

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

14 minutes of warning. NWS SHV issued a tornado warning for this county at 02:34 UTC, 14 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 03:05 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 02:10 UTC and running to 04:42 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a General Thunderstorms Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:55 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 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.

The Shreveport radar (KSHV), 6 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:49 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.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2009 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

21 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

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