December 12-13, 2015: Tornadoes and Damaging Winds

Overview

A line of strong showers with a few embedded thunderstorms developed during the afternoon and evening of December 12, 2015, across East Texas. One of these storms developed into a mini-supercell and produced a series of four tornadoes as it moved northward through Smith, Wood, Franklin, and Red River Counties in Northeast Texas. On the east side of Lindale in Smith County, over 50 homes were damaged, with two homes sustaining major damage. After the first tornado dissipated, this same storm produced another tornado just east of the Hopkins/Franklin County line. Twenty structures were damaged including four mobile homes that were destroyed and four houses which sustained major damage. Two persons were injured in one of the mobile homes.

A second mini-supercell would develop later in the evening and would produce a tornado in McCurtain County in Southeast Oklahoma west of Valliant. This tornado traveled north-northeast and ended very close to Pine Creek Dam. Two persons were injured when their mobile home was destroyed, and another person was injured when their mobile was rolled by the tornado.

During early morning hours of Sunday, December 13, another line of strong showers developed ahead of a cold front. Severe straight-line winds associated with this line of showers produced widespread wind damage across much of the Four State Area as it marched eastward across East Texas and through Southern Arkansas and Northern Louisiana. One area of notable damage occurred on the north side of Lufkin, TX, where 64 empty railroad cars were blown off a railroad track. Some of these were blown off a railroad overpass and onto the highway below.

Storm survey crews were deployed from the National Weather Service in the days following the storms to assess the damage. Below are the results of the surveys. This information is preliminary and subject to change pending final review of the vents and publication in Storm Data.

TOTAL TORNADO COUNT = 5

EF1 = 2

EF2 = 3

Tornado Table

Damage Map

TOR. #	START POINT	END POINT	RATING	PEAK WIND	START TIME	END TIME	LENGTH/ WIDTH	FATALITIES/ INJURIES	REMARKS
DECEMBER 12, 2015
#1	1.34 miles SSE of Lindale, Smith County, TX	1.27 miles ENE of Lindale, Smith County, TX	EF2	110-120 mph	3:25pm CST	3:28pm CST	1.79 miles/ 149 yards	None	This tornado damaged more than 50 homes on the east side of Lindale as it moved NNE. Two homes sustained major damage. Several trees were also uprooted or snapped.
#2	4.44 miles SW of Purley, Franklin County, TX	2.53 miles NW of Purley, Franklin County, TX	EF2	115-125 mph	4:18pm CST	4:28pm CST	5.32 miles/ 775 yards	2 injuries	This tornado moved north just east of the Hopkins/Franklin County line and damaged 20 structures, including four mobile homes that were completely destroyed. Four other homes sustained major damage. Two people were injured in one of the mobile homes.
#3	6 miles SSW of Bogata, Red River County, TX	5 miles SSW of Bogata, Red River County, TX	EF1	95-105 mph	4:59pm CST	5:00pm CST	1.06 miles/ 187yards	None	The tornado traveled north for a little over one miles. Several trees had limbs broken or trunks snapped. The most significant damage occurred when most of the roof was removed from a two-story home.
#4	6 miles NNW of Bogata, Red River County, TX	6 miles NNW of Bogata, Red River County, TX	EF1	95-105 mph	5:14pm CST	5:14pm CST	0.10 miles/ 50 yards	None	A brief EF1 tornado developed near the intersection of Farm-to-Market Road 411 and County Road 1245 NNW of Bogata. Some trees were snapped, and an outbuilding was completely destroyed.
#5	3 miles west of Valliant, McCurtain County, OK	4 miles ESE of Rufe, McCurtain County, OKParish, LA	EF2	110-120 mph	7:17pm CST	7:37pm CST	7.37 miles/ 600 yards	3 injuries	This tornado began just south of U.S. Hwy 70 west of Valliant and travelled NNE for over 7 miles and ended very close to Pine Creek Dam and Pine Creek Lake. Numerous trees were uprooted and snapped. 16 homes sustained significant damage and four mobile homes were completely destroyed. Two persons where injured when their mobile home was destroyed. Another person was injured when their mobile home was rolled by the tornado.
DECEMBER 13, 2015
	3 miles NW of Lufkin, Angelina County, TX	3 miles N of Lufkin, Angelina County, TX	Straight-line wind	80 mph	7:13am CST	7:15am CST	1.8 miles/ 618 yards	None	Damaging straight-line winds associated with a line of strong showers produced a SW to NE swath of wind damage from the exit ramp at North Raguet Street and Hwy 103, across U.S. Hwy 69 to FM 2251. Winds near the initial damage path at North Raguet Street and Hwy 103 were estimated near 65 mph, snapping and uprooting a couple of trees and downing a number of large limbs. These winds accelerated to near 80 mph down the hill on Hwy 103 just NE of Old Mill Road and beneath the railroad overpass, where 64 empty railroad cars were blown off of the track. Some of these fell over the roadway. These winds blew away a few billboards at the intersection of Hwys 103 and 69 before ripping shingles off of several apartment homes at the Timber Pointe Apartments on Ellen Trout Drive. Metal covered parking structures were also blown away, and several trees adjacent to the property were snapped or uprooted. The area of significant wind damage ended on FM 2251 where a number of large trees were snapped or uprooted.
	0.6 miles SE of Lawson, Union County, AR	0.6 miles SE of Lawson, Union County, AR	Straight-line wind	65 mph	11:51am CST	11:51am CST	n/a	Nonw	Damaging straight-line winds associated with a line of thunderstorms produced some sporadic wind damage across Union County, AR. A single-wide manufactured home lost a portion of its metal roof. The damage was located approximately 0.6 miles SE of the community of Lawson on Lawson Road. There were also a few trees uprooted or snapped.

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