WACO, Texas (KWTX) – The work week ended with an historic severe weather outbreak across the Central Plains and Midwest. There were nearly 180 severe weather reports on Friday, April 26th with 83 of those being tornadoes… We even had numerous tornadoes reported in our area. The National Weather Service out of Fort Worth came to Central Texas Saturday to conduct damage surveys in those areas impacted by Friday’s severe weather. Here are the results from those conducting the survey’s:
Two different tornadoes impacted the China Spring area in McLennan County around lunchtime Friday. The first was a brief EF-0 tornado that occurred along Wisdom Court. This tornado had max winds of 80 MPH and was on the ground for 0.15 miles with a width of 30 yards. Thankfully there was no major damage from that first tornado with only some downed fences and large tree limbs that were broken. The second tornado developed from the same supercell. This tornado was stronger and had max winds of 95 MPH – Making that an EF-1 tornado. This tornado was on the ground for 0.88 miles with a width of 100 yards. There was more significant damage from that tornado. Damage was seen in neighborhoods on either side of Wortham Bend Road near China Spring Road. The damage mostly consisted of broken trees, downed fences, broken windows, and some minor roof damage. There was one home though that lost most of the front part of its roof, with a few homes impaled by fence panels that were picked up by the tornado and thrown into those homes.
The third tornado confirmed in Central Texas was another EF-0 northwest of Tours in McLennan County with max winds of 75 MPH. This EF-0 tornado was brief, but still managed to cause damage to trees west of Heritage Parkway and south of Easy Road, which is northwest of the town of Tours. This twister was on the ground for 0.18 miles and had a width of 15 yards. One of the strongest tornadoes of Friday’s event was also near the Tours area. A powerful EF-2 tornado developed north of Tours, west of Berger Road. This tornado had maximum winds of 115 MPH, a path length of 5.68 miles, and a width of 165 yards. The tornado initially caused damage to trees and a shed, but strengthened as it crossed over Czech Hall Road. The tornado would cause more significant damage to a barn and shop on someone’s property near County Line Road. Heavy farm material was also seen scattered across a field to the east after the tornado passed.
Southwest of the Penelope area in Hill County is where the 5th tornado was confirmed. Another EF-1 with maximum winds of 105 MPH occurred near FM 339 southwest of the town Penelope. The tornado quickly developed in a field and would go on to hit residences before quickly dissipating afterwards. The twister was on the ground for 0.20 miles with a width of 55 yards. Two houses were damaged – One had metal panels ripped off the roof and the other was shifted off its cinder blocks by about 8 inches! Unfortunately, winds were able to get in the garage and lift the roof off of the second house, which then made the back half of the house collapse as the walls bucked in. Additional tree limbs were broken on the property as well.
The 6th and final tornado in our area occurring just before 2 PM was near Abbott in Hill County. An EF-1 tornado occurred near Abbott and would reach max winds of 95 miles per hour. The tornado was on the ground for 2.40 miles and had a width of 200 yards. The tornado first developed west of I-35 and County Rd. 2341 where uprooted and damaged trees were first found. The tornado caused a semi-truck to roll over on the interstate – Causing a huge traffic jam. The tornado would continue northeast and cause some damage to a few homes near County Rd. 3106.
To sum it all up for you – 6 tornadoes occurred across Central Texas Friday afternoon. Families and communities are still cleaning up the mess this weekend, but thankfully there were NO reports of any injuries or fatalities across Central Texas.
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