Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2024

EF2 tornado, Jasper Bell Arpt to Curtis, Texas, July 8, 2024

Name: EF2 tornado, Jasper Bell Arpt to Curtis, Texas, July 8, 2024
Start: 2024-07-08T16:01:00.000Z
End: 2024-07-08T16:16:00.000Z
Location: Jasper Bell Arpt to Curtis, Texas

From Jasper Bell Arpt to Curtis, this EF2 tornado ran 8.6 miles across Jasper County on July 8, 2024, touching down at 11:01 AM CDT and reaching 400 yards wide. It killed nobody and injured 1, and did $350,000 of property damage.

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.

EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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: EF2
Date: July 8, 2024
Touchdown: 11:01 AM CDT (16:01 UTC)
Lifted: 11:16 AM CDT (16:16 UTC)
On the ground: 15 minutes
Path length: 8.6 miles (13.9 km)
Path width: 400 yards (366 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 1
Property damage: $350,000
County: Jasper County
Touchdown point: 30.861, -94.006
Lift-off point: 30.976, -94.062
Record number: 2407081001-01

The damage survey

10 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LCH, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 115 mph.

Tornado crosses FM 297. Tornado width is around 300 yards. Homes and outbuildings damaged. Pine trees are uprooted and snapped. Power poles snapped.
Tornado crossed County Road 358. Heavy tree damage and damage to some homes. Pine trees uprooted and snapped. A couple of snapped power poles. Tornado width is roughly 300 yards.
Tornado crosses highway 252. A couple of outbuildings destroyed, including a 40 by 40 shop. Double wide modular home was destroyed, most likely due to large trees falling through it. Pine, sweet gum, and oak trees both snapped and uprooted. Tornado width is roughly 300 yards. Power poles snapped.
Heavy tree damage as the tornado entered the south end of Jasper. Hard and soft wood trees snapped and uprooted. Numerous homes damaged along with snapped power poles.

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

Hurricane Beryl moved into Texas during the morning of July 8th. Gusty winds, scattered flooding, and an isolated tornado occurred in deep southeast Texas as the system moved through the region.

A National Weather Service storm survey revealed that an EF-2 tornado impacted areas near Jasper, Texas. The tornado touched down somewhere in the Little Walnut Run Valley and tracked 8.6 miles to the northwest lifting somewhere in the Indian Creek|Valley. The tornado also tracked through the west side of the city of Jasper. Numerous power poles and trees were snapped or uprooted. Numerous homes and outbuildings were heavily damaged. The tornado weakened as it crossed Highway 190 in Jasper, only to regain EF-2 strength as it crossed Houston Street in a wooded area. There was one injury associated with this tornado. The maximum estimated winds were 115 mph.

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 Lake Charles, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Jul 8, 10:35 AM CDT, 26 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 8, 10:35 AM CDT, 26 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Lake Charles LA
1035 AM CDT Mon Jul 8 2024

...New UPDATE...

.UPDATE...
Issued at 1035 AM CDT Mon Jul 8 2024

TC Beryl was downgraded to a high end tropical storm as of the 10
AM advisory...regional 88Ds show the center of the system west of
Houston at this time. KBPT has gusted to 53 knots while KORG has
gusted 35 knots...thus no changes were made to inherited TS
Warning. Outer rain bands continue streaming over mainly our TX
zones this morning...expect these to expand ewd, along with
additional more diurnally-driven convection, through the course of
the afternoon. The tornado threat associated with the storm will
also continue as Beryl inches nwd...and a new tornado watch was
issued for the wrn 1/2 of the forecast area through 22L/03z to
account. All associated public products have been issued for these
hazards, including the going Flood Watch.

Otherwise no changes to inherited grids/zones.
25

&&

.SHORT TERM...
(Today through Wednesday night)
Issued at 502 AM CDT Mon Jul 8 2024

Persistent showers and storms will continue as Beryls bands move
across the area. 24h radar estimated rainfall maximums are in the
3- 5 inch range, with those higher totals in southern Jefferson Co
and Cameron Par. Forecast PWATs today are well over the 90th
percentile, with some near their daily max.

As of 4AM, Beryl made landfall near Matagorda as a category 1
hurricane with sustained wind speeds near 80 MPH. It will continue
to weaken as it moves inland, however we will still have impacts in
our area. Specifically focusing on "inland" impacts, we currently
have a Storm Surge Warning and Tropical Storm Warning in effect
for Lower Jefferson and a Tropical Storm Warning in effect for
Hardin, Tyler, and Upper Jefferson. Then we have a Coastal Flood
Warning in effect for Cameron and a Coastal Flood Advisory for
Southern Orange, Southern Calcasieu, Lower Vermilion, Lower Iberia
and Lower St. Mary. There is a Flood Watch in effect for all of
our SETX Counties. Lastly, as the environment is conducive for
tornadoes, we do have a Tornado Watch in effect for Hardin and
Jefferson.

Additional rainfall amounts over the next 3 days will be in the
2-4 inch range, however for SETX most of that is expected today
with trace amounts days 2&3. Then for parts of coastal LA, those
higher totals are expected over today and tomorrow. It is
certainly worth noting that locally higher amounts will be
possible. As a result, today parts of SETX are in a Moderate Risk
for excessive rainfall with a Slight to Marginal Risk area east of
there. Tomorrow Beryl will be over the ArkLaTx with bands
expected to set up / train along coastal Louisiana. We are
highlighted in a day 2 Slight Risk ERO as a result.

Thanks to rain and overcast skies, highs today will be much cooler
in the low to mid 80s across SETX and parts of west central to
southwestern Louisiana. Unfortunately they will be a bit warmer in
the lower 90s across parts of central to south central Louisiana.
With that and higher dewpoints, it would not be out of the realm of
possibility to see near or above Heat Advisory criteria.

Even with Beryl moving off as an extratropical low going into the
latter half of the period, some moisture will still stick around.
As a result, the area can look forward to showers and storms
mainly in the afternoon to evening timeframe.

Tomorrow and Wednesday temps will be in the low to mid 90s across
the entire area with lows in the 70s. A weak frontal boundary
will help in limiting higher dewpoints during that time, with no
heat hazards expected.

Stigger/87

&&

.LONG TERM...
(Thursday through Monday)
Issued at 502 AM CDT Mon Jul 8 2024

A weakness will persist over the region south of a midlevel
trough extending from the central CONUS into the Great Lakes. The
trough will gradually lift northeast by the weekend, with ridging
over the SE coast building west across the Gulf coast. Shower and
thunderstorm chances will be mainly diurnally driven through the
period, with greater coverage expected Thursday and Friday before
becoming more scattered by the weekend. PWATs, while still
somewhat elevated, are not expected to be as extreme as they were
prior to and during Beryl's landfall. Still, with values hovering
between roughly 1.7 and 2.1 inches, locally heavy rainfall and
flooding will be possible in some locations.

High temperatures along and south of I-10 will be near 90 or into
the lower 90s Thursday and Friday when shower coverage is expected
to be higher. Further north, highs are expected to reach the middle
90s. By the weekend and into early next week, daytime temperatures
will gradually increase as ridging aloft builds, with highs reaching
the middle to upper 90s. A return to Heat Advisory headlines could
be in the works by Sunday and Monday as maximum heat index readings
are forecast to reach 108 to 112 degrees in a few locations.

24

&&

.AVIATION...
(12Z TAFS)
Issued at 647 AM CDT Mon Jul 8 2024

Beryl has made landfall and is moving north through TX. Persistent
showers and storms will continue as Beryls bands move across the
area, with higher rain chances across SETX and western Louisiana.
Outside of showers to some intermittent downpours, strong winds
and gusts will be possible.

&&

.MARINE...
Issued at 502 AM CDT Mon Jul 8 2024

Beryl has officially made landfall this morning. Tropical storm
conditions are expected today over Sabine Lake and Sabine Pass,
Texas and adjacent coastal waters westward, with Small Craft
Advisories further east. As Beryl moves further inland, winds and
seas will gradually subside going into tomorrow.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
AEX  91  74  91  70 /  50  70  40  10
LCH  87  76  90  75 /  90  70  60  30
LFT  93  79  92  77 /  50  60  80  30
BPT  86  74  92  74 / 100  60  50  30

&&

.LCH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
LA...Coastal Flood Warning until 1 PM CDT Tuesday for LAZ073-074.

     Coastal Flood Advisory until 1 PM CDT Tuesday for LAZ241-252>254.

TX...Tropical Storm Warning for TXZ180-201-515-615.

     Coastal Flood Advisory until 1 PM CDT Tuesday for TXZ616.

     Flood Watch through Tuesday morning for TXZ180-201-259>262-515-
     516-615-616.

GM...Tropical Storm Warning for GMZ430-450-470.

     Small Craft Advisory until 1 PM CDT Tuesday for GMZ432-452-455-
     472-475.

&&

SHORT TERM...87
LONG TERM....24
AVIATION...87

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 8, 8:39 AM CDT, 2 hours 22 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Lake Charles LA
839 AM CDT Mon Jul 8 2024

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

0837 AM     Storm Surge      1 SSE Holly Beach       29.77N 93.45W
07/08/2024                   Cameron            LA   Law Enforcement

            Pictures of storm surge into Holly Beach.
            Law enforcement urge Motorists should avoid
            Holly Beach and Hwy 82 near Holly Beach.

&&

Local storm report, Jul 8, 10:30 AM CDT, 31 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Lake Charles LA
1030 AM CDT Mon Jul 8 2024

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

0854 AM     Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 5 SE Sabine Pass        29.68N 93.84W
07/08/2024  M59 MPH          GMZ450             TX   Buoy

            Buoy station TXPT2 Texas Point, TX.

&&

Local storm report, Jul 8, 10:31 AM CDT, 30 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Lake Charles LA
1031 AM CDT Mon Jul 8 2024

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

0935 AM     Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 4 WNW Sea Rim State Par 29.71N 94.12W
07/08/2024  M57 MPH          Jefferson          TX   Mesonet

            Mesonet station FADT2 Mcfaddin.

&&

Local storm report, Jul 8, 10:32 AM CDT, 29 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Lake Charles LA
1032 AM CDT Mon Jul 8 2024

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

0506 AM     Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 3 SW Cameron            29.77N 93.34W
07/08/2024  M45 MPH          GMZ432             LA   Buoy

            Buoy station CAPL1 Calcasieu Pass, LA.

&&

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

4.0 hours before the tornado, 119 km from the path. July 8, 2024.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

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: 583 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -56 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 1281 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 807 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 45 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 250 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 257 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.6
Supercell composite: 6.4
0-3 km lapse rate: 5.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Jasper County-Bell Field Airport (JAS), 4 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

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

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2024 tornado in Texas Every tornado in Texas since 1950 Warnings in force in Texas now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of July 8, 2024

51 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 8	1:57 AM CDT	EF1	Galveston, TX	1.1	100
July 8	12:04 PM CDT	EF1	Cherokee, TX	1.1	105			$50,000
July 8	12:39 PM CDT	EF1	Sabine, TX	2.8	440			$85,000
July 8	12:40 PM CDT	EF1	Nacogdoches, TX	8.1	800			$75,000
July 8	1:06 PM CDT	EF0	Rusk, TX	3.7	390
July 8	1:10 PM CDT	EF1	Shelby, TX	6.7	375
July 8	1:15 PM CDT	EF1	Shelby, TX	2.6	495			$200,000
July 8	1:15 PM CDT	EF2	Sabine Parish, LA	16.3	950			$1.0 million
July 8	1:33 PM CDT	EF2	Sabine Parish, LA	25.0	900			$300,000
July 8	1:39 PM CDT	EF1	De Soto Parish, LA	3.6	100
July 8	1:47 PM CDT	EF1	De Soto Parish, LA to TX	27.5	850		1	$1.1 million
July 8	1:53 PM CDT	Unrated	Mississippi, MO	0.7	25
July 8	2:08 PM CDT	EF0	Gregg, TX	3.1	270			$100,000
July 8	2:15 PM CDT	EF2	Red River Parish, LA	52.9	800	2	1	$706,000
July 8	2:19 PM CDT	EF1	Harrison, TX	9.8	215			$85,000
July 8	2:41 PM CDT	Unrated	Cameron, TX	0.5	20
July 8	2:46 PM CDT	EF1	Harrison, TX	9.7	270
July 8	2:51 PM CDT	Unrated	Natchitoches Parish, LA	2.3	75
July 8	3:18 PM CDT	EF1	Shelby, TX	11.3	650			$300,000
July 8	3:27 PM CDT	EF1	Sabine, TX	5.0	650			$30,000
July 8	3:30 PM CDT	EF1	Bienville Parish, LA	3.3	300
July 8	3:41 PM CDT	EF1	Shelby, TX	5.1	600
July 8	3:42 PM CDT	EF1	Sabine Parish, LA	1.3	400
July 8	3:46 PM CDT	EF1	Bossier Parish, LA	2.7	600			$10,000
July 8	3:59 PM CDT	EF2	Sabine Parish, LA	1.4	164		1	$100,000
July 8	4:00 PM CDT	EF0	Bossier Parish, LA	2.0	50
July 8	4:01 PM CDT	EF1	Webster Parish, LA	1.1	479			$50,000
July 8	4:03 PM CDT	EF1	Lafayette, LA to AR	7.1	300			$75,000
July 8	4:08 PM CDT	EF1	Cass, TX	4.2	325			$30,000
July 8	4:10 PM CDT	EF1	Sabine Parish, LA	9.7	500			$75,000
July 8	4:11 PM CDT	EF1	Webster Parish, LA	1.5	345
July 8	4:11 PM CDT	EF0	Lafayette, AR	1.0	25
July 8	4:19 PM CDT	EF1	Miller, AR	5.4	95			$300
July 8	4:25 PM CDT	EF1	De Soto Parish, LA	2.5	67
July 8	4:37 PM CDT	EF1	Webster Parish, LA	4.8	400			$25,000
July 8	4:42 PM CDT	EF1	Webster Parish, LA	3.9	375			$10,000
July 8	4:44 PM CDT	EF0	De Soto Parish, LA	3.4	250
July 8	4:45 PM CDT	EF1	Miller, AR	2.1	50
July 8	4:48 PM CDT	EF1	Columbia, LA to AR	6.5	300			$35,000
July 8	4:57 PM CDT	EF0	De Soto Parish, LA	0.4	200
July 8	5:17 PM CDT	EF1	Bowie, TX	0.2	240			$75,000
July 8	5:21 PM CDT	EF1	Caddo Parish, LA	1.9	150			$10,000
July 8	6:02 PM CDT	EF1	Natchitoches Parish, LA	5.7	100
July 8	6:46 PM CDT	EF1	Dallas, AR	3.2	75
July 8	6:51 PM CDT	EF1	Dallas, AR	2.4	75
July 8	6:59 PM CDT	EF2	Union Parish, LA	3.2	750			$30,000
July 8	7:42 PM CDT	EF2	Union Parish, LA	1.5	175			$300,000
July 8	7:53 PM CDT	EF1	Ouachita, AR	2.3	50
July 8	8:03 PM CDT	EF1	Nevada, AR	0.5	50			$10,000
July 8	10:28 PM CDT	EF1	Jefferson, AR	3.2	75
July 8	10:42 PM CDT	EF0	Jefferson, AR	5.8	75

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.