EF0 tornado, Dew, Texas, April 28, 2024

1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

   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 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

EF0

Date

April 28, 2024

Touchdown

3:47 PM CDT (20:47 UTC)

Lifted

3:49 PM CDT (20:49 UTC)

On the ground

2 minutes

Path length

0.9 miles (1.5 km)

Path width

50 yards (46 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$15,000

County

Freestone County

Touchdown point

31.593, -96.140

Lift-off point

31.601, -96.128

Record number

2404281447-01

8 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS FWD, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 85 mph.

• Tree damage around 0.25 mi from the road
• A couple of branches damaged in the same area
• Several tree branches down in the same road CO 681
• Several tree damage in the area

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

A shortwave trough, dryline, and Pacific front all worked together to produce multiple rounds of thunderstorms Friday April 26 through Sunday April 28. All modes of severe weather took place across the region, along with multiple instances of flash flooding. 11 tornadoes occurred across McLennan, Hill, and Navarro counties on April 26th, and another 4 tornadoes occurred in Milam, Limestone and Freestone counties on April 28th.

One severe thunderstorm produced two tornadoes near Dew. The first tornado developed along W FM 489 road just west CR 671 and dissipated shortly after crossing CR 681. Several trees sustained significant damage with large limbs and uprooted trees. No other visible damage was found along the path. Maximum estimated winds were 80 mph.

One severe thunderstorm produced two tornadoes near Dew. The second tornado developed on the east side of US Highway 75S near the town of Dew. Multiple tree damage was found along E FM 489 road. The tornado continued to move northeast producing additional tree damage along with significant roof damage to one home near CR 471 and FM 489. The tornado dissipated shortly after crossing this road. Maximum estimated winds were 80 mph.

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

10 minutes of warning. NWS FWD issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:37 UTC, 10 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:28 UTC and running to 02:00 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 19:43 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.

Mexia Limestone (LXY), 36 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Ft Hood radar (KGRK), 154 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:44 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 2024 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

18 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.