EF3 tornado, Lufkin to Herty, Texas, December 23, 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 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. EF3136 to 165 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. 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

EF3

Date

December 23, 2009

Touchdown

9:56 PM CST (03:56 UTC)

Lifted

10:07 PM CST (04:07 UTC)

On the ground

11 minutes

Path length

4.1 miles (6.5 km)

Path width

300 yards (274 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

2

Property damage

$10 million

County

Angelina County

Touchdown point

31.314, -94.715

Lift-off point

31.369, -94.693

Record number

0912232156-01

A strong upper level storm system moved its way out of the southern Great Basin and into the Southern Plains during the afternoon hours of December 23rd. Strong southerly flow was found ahead of this storm system with dewpoint temperatures in the lower to middle 60s noted northward to the Interstate 20 corridor of northeast Texas and northern Louisiana. Impressive deep layer shear was noted in the warm sector across the region which was conducive for discrete storm cells during the afternoon and evening across northeast Texas. These storms spawned tornadoes and produced large hail across portions of northeast Texas. The storm system moved eastward during the predawn hours of December 24th with again, numerous storms producing tornadoes across southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana. In addition to all the storm damage...these storms were prolific rain makers with numerous reports of flash flooding across the region as well.

An EF3 tornado touched down on the south side of Lufkin, on Loop 287 near Olive Garden just west of the intersections Loop 287 and South Chestnut Street. The tornado then tracked north northeast causing roof and tree damage to several homes behind Morgan Insurance Company on Loop 287. The tornado continued its north northeastward track then crossed South Chestnut causing major damage|to Gibson Funeral Home. It then tracked northward through a residential neighborhood causing more tree and roof damage, before destroying Max Welding Shop on Denman Rd. The tornado crossed Denman Road moving through another residential area causing moderate to major tree and roof damage. The tornado then destroyed the VFW building just before crossing Lufkin Avenue. More residential damage was observed between Lufkin Avenue and Atkinson Drive. The tornado crossed Atkinson Drive causing major damage by tossing several 18-wheelers parked at a trucking|company on Loop 287. The tornado then crossed Loop 287, damaging Goodyear Tires and Jim Walter Homes. The storm then tracked north into a wooded area before reaching Kit McConnico Park and causing moderate to major damage to the park. The|tornado lifted on the northern end of Kit McConnico Park around 10:07 PM.

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

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 02:51 UTC and running to 10:52 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:45 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.

Lufkin/Angelina Co. (LFK), 13 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Shreveport radar (KSHV), 148 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 03:54 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

8 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.