Heavy Rain in the Southern Appalachians; Heat Continues in the West; Monitoring Tropical Storm Erin

Heavy to excessive rain falling over the southern Appalachians may bring areas of flooding into Wednesday. Hot temperatures are in place through Wednesday across parts of the western U.S. and New England. Tropical Storm Erin is forecast to become a Hurricane by late this week as it moves westward across the central Atlantic Ocean. Monitor forecasts for any Puerto Rico or U.S. East Coast impacts. Read More >

Overview

A storm survey conducted in Smith and Wood Counties confirmed that damage, which occurred on February 10th, 2009, was the resulted of an EF1 tornado, with maximum winds of 85 to 90 mph. The National Weather Service would like to thank the media and officials from both the city of Tyler and from Wood County. Thanks also go to local residents for their assistance and stories during the survey.

TOTAL TORNADO COUNT = 1

EF1 = 1

Tornado Table

Graphics

Photos

Damage Map

TOR. #	START POINT	END POINT	RATING	PEAK WIND	START TIME	END TIME	LENGTH/ WIDTH	FATALITIES/ INJURIES	REMARKS
#1	Smith County, TX	Wood County, TX	EF1	85-90 mph	11:16pm CST	11:25pm CST	6.8 miles/ 300 yards	None	The tornado touched down near the intersection of CR 482 and CR 483 in Smith County, where a barn was destroyed, damaging a nearby fence. Numerous cedar trees were also snapped along the road. The tornado cross Old Dallas Shreveport Road and Old Mineola Hwy, damaging a couple of metal buildings and snapping trees. The tornado crossed Hwy 69, uprooting and snapping trees on both sides of the highway, as well as damaging a metal building. Farther northeast in Wood County, the tornado crossed CR 2600, damaging numerous trees and a small shed. Several homes on the north side of Hwy 80, east of Mineola, sustained roof damage where sections of roof were peeled, exposing the homes. Numerous trees were snapped and uprooted as well. The tornado crossed FM 1801, damaging several trees and caused minor damage to a few homes before the storm weakened. The path of the storm was generally 100 to 200 yards wide, but was 300 yards wide at its widest point.

Radar imagery of the tornadic thunderstorm as it passed through Smith and Wood Counties. This is imagery of storm reflectivity, with reds and pinks indicating the more intense thunderstorm activity.

A building was completely demolished, while in the background, several trees were uprooted.

The roof of a home was peeled during the tornado, while limbs of several trees were ripped off.

A large portion of the roof of this home was blown off during the tornado, with some debris landing in the trees behind the house. Several trees in the left of the image were severely damaged during the storm.

Click here to download the survey KMZ file.

This survey data is preliminary and subject to change as more information becomes available. Road accessibility and inconsistencies between mapping and GPS software may limit the accuracy of the tracks plotted on this map. Line widths are not representative of actual tornado widths. The information plotted on this map is intended for general reference use only.

For official post-storm information, use Storm Data from the National Centers for Environmental Information.

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Heavy Rain in the Southern Appalachians; Heat Continues in the West; Monitoring Tropical Storm Erin

February 10, 2009: Tornado in Smith and Wood Counties