Areas of Excessive Rainfall and Fire Weather Today; Wildfire Smoke Bringing Unhealthy Air Quality to the Pacific Northwest

In southeast Texas, the coastal Carolinas, and much of New Mexico today, showers and thunderstorms may bring excessive rainfall which could lead to areas of flooding. Dry, gusty winds will contribute to scattered areas of elevated to critical fire weather today in the western U.S. Wildfire smoke is causing unhealthy air quality today in parts of the Pacific Northwest and central Plains. Read More >

NWS damage survey crews have investigated the tornadic storm damage across Jewell and Mitchell Counties and have rated the tornado an EF3 at its strongest point. The tornado set down near Glen Elder Dam the night of May 29, 2008 and tracked to the northeast. The tornado had a path length of nearly 18 miles and a width up to one half mile.

The city of Jewell and areas around the city were hit especially hard with major structural damage in the city of Jewell. The water tower was destroyed/collapsed and multiple businesses including the Jewell CAFE and Bourbon Trucking were completely destroyed. Several houses in and south of Jewell sustained major damage.

Additional tornadoes may have occurred in Jewell and Mitchell Counties and this will be investigated over the next few days.

A map of the tornado path and photos of the damage are included below.