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Florida Braces For Hurricane Milton

Hurricane Milton is forecast to make landfall along the West Coast of the Florida Peninsula late Wednesday night. Destructive, potentially catastrophic storm surge, very heavy rainfall and a few tornadoes along the West Coast will begin during the day Wednesday. Please continue to monitor the National Hurricane Center webpage for the latest updates. Read More >

Overview

A mini-supercell quickly developed over Northeast Texas during the afternoon of April 13, 2015. This supercell produced a very brief, but significant EF2 tornado in Titus County between Winfield and Mount Pleasant. A damage survey team from the National Weather Service office in Shreveport, LA, investigated the damage on April 14.

The tornado struck the Mid America Pet Food Plant just north of Interstate 30. Cars were tossed by the tornado, and several vehicles were damaged or destroyed. This brief, yet intense, tornado also lofted two large metal trash dumpsters. One dumpster was tossed nearly 150 yards and 40 feet high and was deposited on the top of a warehouse. A second dumpster hit the edge of another building 75 yards away and landed on top of a pickup truck parked below. The truck had just arrived within seconds of the tornado. The dumpster crushed the passenger side of the truck, but the driver, who was in the vehicle, was uninjured. Part of a warehouse was completely destroyed when the tornado's winds entered the open doors and lifted the roof.

The mini-supercell was moving northeast. However, the damage survey indicated that the tornado was actually moving northwest. This often happens when a tornado occludes.

Details from the survey can be found below. The survey information should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

TOTAL TORNADO COUNT = 1

EF2 = 1
 
TOR. # START POINT END POINT RATING PEAK WIND START TIME END TIME LENGTH/
WIDTH
FATALITIES/
INJURIES
REMARKS
#1 2.44 miles ESE of Winfield, Titus County, TX 2.34 miles ESE of Winfield, Titus County, TX EF2 110-120 mph 1:54pm CDT 1:56pm CDT 0.10 miles/
19 yards
None None

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