Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2024

EF3 tornado, Oak Ridge North, Texas, December 28, 2024

This EF3 tornado ran 10.3 miles across Montgomery County on December 28, 2024, touching down at 12:05 PM CST and reaching 1,675 yards wide. It killed nobody and injured 10.

The rating scale

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

  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.

The record

Rating
EF3
Date
December 28, 2024
Touchdown
12:05 PM CST (18:05 UTC)
Lifted
12:30 PM CST (18:30 UTC)
On the ground
25 minutes
Path length
10.3 miles (16.6 km)
Path width
1,675 yards (1532 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
10
County
Montgomery County
Touchdown point
30.150, -95.330
Lift-off point
30.254, -95.205
Record number
2412281205-01

The damage survey

20 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS HGX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF3. The highest wind the damage implies is 145 mph.

  • Scattered trees uprooted and a few snapped. Some light damage in neighboring residential area (a few fences down. No roof damage). Clear path across this highway. About 75 yards wide here. Likely near or at the end of tornado path.
  • Some signifcant partial roof loss in small group of homes near here. Just behind homes under construction were leveled. Unknown rating there as we don’t know state of those structures. Likely EF1 damage here.
  • Ern edge of track crossing highway 242. Area of trees snapped and uprooted on either side of highway.
  • Pine trees twisted and snapped.

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

What the Weather Service recorded

Multiple tornadic storms occurred during the afternoon on the 28th, producing hail, wind and tornadoes.

A storm spotter initially reported extensive damage from a tornado along FM 1485. They reported mobile homes were heavily damaged or destroyed in the area. A brick home had its roof completely removed. They also reported that the east Montgomery Fire Department was hit, with its bay doors blown in and metal roof peeled back. Texas SOC initial assessments indicated 80 homes with major damage in the Porter Heights area with 10 patients transported to local hospitals. ||The survey team had reported extensive damage across portions of Montgomery county. The damage path began in the Porter Heights area, with numerous homes and buildings damaged or destroyed. The path continue northeast all the way to the Splendora Junior High School, where light damage was found in neighboring areas with a clear damage path indicating where the tornado crossed the highway. ||In the end, the survey team concluded that this was a large tornado that reached EF3 strength, with damage in Porter Heights indicating peak wind speeds of 140 mph. Majority of the damage track was high end EF1 or low end EF2 damage.

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

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Dec 28, 11:48 AM CST, 17 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 28, 11:48 AM CST, 17 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Houston/Galveston TX
1148 AM CST Sat Dec 28 2024

...New AVIATION...

.SHORT TERM...
(Today through Sunday Night)
Issued at 440 AM CST Sat Dec 28 2024

Widespread fog, dense at times, will prevail through this morning as
the warm moist flow continues at the lower/mid levels across the FA.
But the main forecast issue for today is going to be the possibility
of strong to severe thunderstorms with the passage of a strong short
wave and its associated cold front. The primary factors contributing
to this threat remain conditional for SE TX with (based on how quick-
ly the patchy dense fog/low clouds are able to mix out). Models seem
to be targeting our E/NE CWA as the "starting point" for development
this afternoon...with the strong more organized activity likely over
the lower Mississippi Valley/Gulf Coast states through this evening.

In the meantime, the strengthening low-level jet (and WAA) will help
to set things up this morning with showers/isolated thunderstorms be-
coming widespread across the region this morning. Activity will then
start to focus near the surface low over C TX before starting a slow
trek eastward into our CWA this afternoon. So, if conditions here do
become favorable, the best PVA/upper level forcing should be from I-
45 east to the Piney Woods. SPC is keeping our far NE areas (eastern
Houston/Trinity/Polk counties) under an Enhanced Risk (level 3 of 5)
with the next tier of counties generally east of I-45 as Slight Risk
(2/5) and then a line from College Station to Sargent as the western
extend of the Marginal Risk (1/5). The main severe weather threat is
going to be a combination of damaging wind and hail...with tornadoes
not ruled out.

Convection will be ending with the passage of the cold front by this
evening. Cooler/drier air should make its way into the area tonight.
41

&&

.LONG TERM...
(Monday through Friday)
Issued at 440 AM CST Sat Dec 28 2024

Fairly benign wx is anticipated for the remainder of the week. One
last day with highs in the 70s is expected Monday before the next
front pushes through late Monday night & Tuesday morning. This
front should be moisture starved so no precipitation is
anticipated. Seasonable temperatures will then prevail in the
wake of the front. Will probably see some clouds and slight
chances of light rain come back into the picture late Thursday
night & Friday ahead of a reinforcing front. 47

&&

.AVIATION...
(18Z TAF Issuance)
Issued at 1148 AM CST Sat Dec 28 2024

Reduced ceilings and visibilities (MVFR/IFR in the stronger activity)
can be expected as SHRA/TSRA continue to move eastward across the area
this afternoon. Moderate to strong and gusty S winds ahead of these
storms can be expected. Area will be clearing out from W to E as the
afternoon hours progress, and currently anticipate all activity to be
E of our easternmost TAF sites before 29/00Z. Might see fog and low
clouds develop in some spots overnight with light winds and wet grounds
in place. Tomorrow looks quiet after any fog that develops dissipates
with mainly weak N winds.  42

&&

.MARINE...
Issued at 440 AM CST Sat Dec 28 2024

Dense fog will linger into mid morning until onshore winds
increase in strength (gusty at times during the day) ahead of the
next weather system moving into the area. Look for some scattered
showers and thunderstorms...a few could be on the stronger side
east of Freeport. Winds will become west and northwest late in the
day and tonight as a front pushes into the waters. Onshore flow
resumes Monday followed by a stronger front late Monday night and
early Tuesday morning. No significant weather is anticipated with
the second front, though with astronomical tide levels already on
lower side, water levels in the bays could fall slightly below
normal in its wake. 47

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
College Station (CLL)	  76  50  69  51 /  70   0   0   0
Houston (IAH)			  77  53  70  53 /  70   0   0   0
Galveston (GLS)			  72  56  66  60 /  60   0   0   0

&&

.HGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
TX...None.
GM...Small Craft Should Exercise Caution until 6 PM CST this evening
     for GMZ330-335-350-355-370-375.

&&

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Dec 28, 10:28 AM CST, 1 hour 37 minutes before
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Houston/Galveston TX
1028 AM CST Sat Dec 28 2024

TXZ199-212-213-227-281715-
Waller TX-Inland Harris TX-Fort Bend TX-Montgomery TX-
1028 AM CST Sat Dec 28 2024

...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL IMPACT NORTHERN FORT BEND...
SOUTHWESTERN MONTGOMERY...SOUTHEASTERN WALLER AND NORTHWESTERN HARRIS
COUNTIES THROUGH 1115 AM CST...

At 1027 AM CST, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm over
Brookshire, moving northeast at 30 mph.

HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 40 mph and pea size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
         unsecured objects. Minor hail damage to vegetation is
         possible.

Locations impacted include...
Katy, Brookshire, Hockley, Pattison, Cypress, and Willowbrook.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.

A Tornado Watch remains in effect until 500 PM CST for southeastern
Texas.

&&

LAT...LON 2973 9596 2981 9605 3010 9578 2994 9554
TIME...MOT...LOC 1627Z 231DEG 25KT 2981 9594

MAX HAIL SIZE...0.25 IN
MAX WIND GUST...40 MPH

Wood
Local storm report, Dec 28, 10:50 AM CST, 1 hour 15 minutes before
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Local storm report, Dec 28, 11:05 AM CST, 1 hour before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Houston/Galveston TX
1105 AM CST Sat Dec 28 2024

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1055 AM     Tornado          1 W Cypress             29.97N 95.69W
12/28/2024                   Harris             TX   Public

            Sighted near the intersection of Highway 290
            and Spring Cypress Road.

&&

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.

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), 12:00Z

6.1 hours before the tornado, 199 km from the path. December 28, 2024.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 2024-12-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2104 joules per kilogram, CIN -5, lifted condensation level 579 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 2024-12-28The 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 155 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 33 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
2104 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2030 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
579 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
155 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
186 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.7
Supercell composite
11.5
0-3 km lapse rate
5.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), 00:00Z

5.9 hours after it, 199 km from the path. December 29, 2024.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 2024-12-29Temperature 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 -21687, lifted condensation level 973 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 2024-12-29The 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 156 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 99 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
-21687 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
973 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
99 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
156 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
214 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Conroe/Montgomery County Airport (CXO), 22 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
00:00 UTC

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

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 83 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 18:06 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 2024 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of December 28, 2024

76 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 288:22 AM CSTEF1Beauregard Parish, LA1.5100$5,000
December 2810:35 AM CSTEF1Waller, TX10.9150
December 2812:53 PM CSTEF2Brazoria, TX8.930015
December 281:37 PM CSTEF1Galveston, TX7.4850
December 282:26 PM CSTEF3Chambers, TX to LA67.98802$500,000
December 282:55 PM CSTEF1Amite, MS3.150$5,000
December 283:13 PM CSTEF3Franklin, MS26.01,5004$1.3 million
December 283:20 PM CSTEF1Vernon Parish, LA6.3100$5,000
December 283:27 PM CSTEF0Vernon Parish, LA3.350$10,000
December 283:49 PM CSTEF1Vernon Parish, LA1.250$5,000
December 284:16 PM CSTEF1Madison Parish, LA16.2280$250,000
December 284:19 PM CSTEF1Richland Parish, LA5.6130$30,000
December 284:28 PM CSTEF1Madison Parish, LA1.8200$5,000
December 284:49 PM CSTEF1East Carroll Parish, LA to MS17.9300$70,000
December 285:06 PM CSTEF1Evangeline Parish, LA15.4200$5,000
December 285:12 PM CSTEF1Concordia Parish, LA0.480$10,000
December 285:17 PM CSTUnratedCameron Parish, LA4.31
December 285:34 PM CSTEF1Lincoln, MS9.9400$25,000
December 285:37 PM CSTEF1Jefferson, MS9.3750$35,000
December 285:40 PM CSTEF0Pointe Coupee Parish, LA1.950$1,000
December 285:42 PM CSTEF1Wilkinson, MS11.450$5,000
December 285:46 PM CSTEF0Wilkinson, MS4.925$2,000
December 285:54 PM CSTEF1Claiborne, MS4.9300$70,000
December 285:55 PM CSTEF1Jefferson, MS11.1400$45,000
December 285:58 PM CSTEF1Warren, MS4.5500$15,000
December 286:00 PM CSTEF0Wilkinson, MS3.675$1,000
December 286:10 PM CSTEF0Warren, MS4.1250$17,000
December 286:19 PM CSTEF1Hinds, MS9.4350$10,000
December 286:24 PM CSTEF1Simpson, MS4.6350$15,000
December 286:25 PM CSTEF0Lincoln, MS2.7315$10,000
December 286:25 PM CSTEF1Hinds, MS23.6570$105,000
December 286:26 PM CSTEF1Lincoln, MS6.8300$30,000
December 286:28 PM CSTEF1Yazoo, MS1.2250$10,000
December 286:36 PM CSTEF1Copiah, MS13.01,500$50,000
December 286:38 PM CSTEF1Copiah, MS2.7500$20,000
December 286:41 PM CSTEF1Amite, MS0.425$3,000
December 286:42 PM CSTEF1Amite, MS8.6100$5,000
December 286:48 PM CSTEF1Pike, MS6.475$10,000
December 286:49 PM CSTEF1Copiah, MS11.91,200$62,000
December 286:51 PM CSTEF0East Baton Rouge Parish, LA2.850$3,000
December 286:58 PM CSTEF1Yazoo, MS7.3800$35,000
December 287:04 PM CSTEF1Rankin, MS37.5880$1.7 million
December 287:15 PM CSTEF1Jefferson Davis, MS0.3200$35,000
December 287:17 PM CSTEF1Simpson, MS10.5800$500,000
December 287:39 PM CSTEF1Smith, MS3.4200$30,000
December 287:42 PM CSTEF0Smith, MS0.675$3,000
December 287:46 PM CSTEF1Smith, MS13.0700$200,000
December 288:09 PM CSTEF0Jasper, MS1.050$2,000
December 288:09 PM CSTEF0Newton, MS2.2100$5,000
December 288:12 PM CSTEF2Jasper, MS9.1900$500,000
December 288:18 PM CSTEF1Newton, MS4.5700$25,000
December 288:28 PM CSTEF0Newton, MS0.5165$5,000
December 288:34 PM CSTEF1Newton, MS2.6650$40,000
December 288:36 PM CSTEF1Jasper, MS11.8500$87,000
December 288:47 PM CSTEF1Saint Tammany Parish, LA1.250$35,000
December 288:49 PM CSTEF1Oktibbeha, MS2.1300$80,000
December 288:56 PM CSTEF1Clarke, MS0.480$15,000
December 288:59 PM CSTEF0Clay, MS4.6200$40,000
December 289:01 PM CSTEF1Lauderdale, MS9.0630$500,000
December 289:01 PM CSTEF1Lauderdale, MS9.9700$15,000

All 77 of them

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.