May 28, 2017: Tornadoes & Widespread Wind Damage Across TX & LA

Overview

Severe thunderstorms developed across East Texas during the afternoon of Sunday, May 28, 2017. A large bow echo developed and produced widespread straight-line wind damage across East Texas from Longview east-southeast into and through much of North Central Louisiana. Based on damage surveys, this bow echo produced a large swath of winds between 85 and 95 mph. Numerous large trees were snapped and uprooted along the bow echo's path. Some of these trees fell on homes causing significant damage. Widespread power outages occurred due to trees falling on power lines. Some of the power outages lasted for a few days. AEP-SWEPCO reported that this storm ranked #4 for them in terms of numbers of customers without power at the peak of the outages.

Embedded supercell structures also developed, which produced a few tornadoes. The most notable tornado was near the Longview area. Details of the confirmed tornadoes can be found below. A damage map showing damage reports received as well as the tornado tracks is also available.

This report is PRELIMINARY and subject to change as more information becomes available.

TOTAL TORNADO COUNT = 5

EF1 = 5

Table and Map

Tornado #1: Longview TX

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START POINT	6 miles NW of Longview, Gregg County, TX
END POINT	4 miles SSE of Longview, Gregg County, TX
RATING / PEAK WIND	EF1 / 105 mph
DATE	May 28, 2017
START TIME	4:53pm CDT
END TIME	5:03pm CDT
LENGTH/ WIDTH	10.71 miles/ 800 yards
FATALITIES/ INJURIES	None
Summary: A strong EF1 tornado began along Pine Tree Road just north of West Cheryl Street northwest of Longview. The tornado proceeded south-southeast through the Tenneryville area knocking down numerous trees in the area. The tornado went just west of the Pine Tree ISD campus and continued southeast towards Highway 80 uprooting and twisting numerous trees with several landing on homes. The tornado continued southeast towards Greggton where it damaged a few homes along Willow Springs Drive. The tornado crossed Highway 31 and the West Loop 281 where it began to turn more to the east-southeast. The tornado caused the most visible damage along its path where it collapsed a steel dome owned by Komatsu. The tornado continued to the southeast causing mainly tree damage and then lifted along Huntsman Way south of I-20.

Tornado #2: Easton, TX

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START POINT	2 miles W of Easton, Gregg County, TX
END POINT	2.8 miles E of Easton, Rusk County, TX
RATING / PEAK WIND	EF1 / 90 mph
DATE	May 28, 2017
START TIME	5:07pm CDT
END TIME	5:12pm CDT
LENGTH/ WIDTH	4.86 miles/ 400 yards
FATALITIES/ INJURIES	None
Summary: A weak EF1 tornado touched down 2 miles west of Easton along Highway 2906 where it began to uproot trees. The tornado continued east along Highway 2906 knocking down several trees with the most noticeable damage in the city of Easton. Several trees were uprooted on homes. Numerous more trees were uprooted along County Road 2210 heading east out of Easton before the tornado lifted about 3 miles east of Easton. The tornadic storm transitioned into a very long-lasting straight-line wind event at this point.

Tornado #3: Near Saline Bayou

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START POINT	4 miles SSE of Goldonna, Winn Parish, LA
END POINT	5 miles SSE of Goldonna, Winn Parish, LA
RATING / PEAK WIND	EF1 / 95 mph
DATE	May 28, 2017
START TIME	7:50pm CDT
END TIME	7:53pm CDT
LENGTH/ WIDTH	1.14 miles/ 564 yards
FATALITIES/ INJURIES	None
Summary: An EF1 tornado touched down in the Kisatchie National Forest just east of Saline Bayou. Numerous hardwood and softwood trees were snapped and uprooted as the tornado traveled south-southeast through the forest and roughly parallel to the bayou.

Tornado #4: Southest of Goldonna, LA

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START POINT	4 miles SE of Goldonna, Winn Parish, LA
END POINT	5 miles SE of Goldonna, Winn Parish, LA
RATING / PEAK WIND	EF1 / 95 mph
DATE	May 28, 2017
START TIME	7:52pm CDT
END TIME	7:53pm CDT
LENGTH/ WIDTH	0.12 miles/ 127 yards
FATALITIES/ INJURIES	None
Summary: A brief EF1 tornado touched down in the Kisatchie National Forest between Goldonna and Calvin. Numerous hardwood and softwood trees were snapped and uprooted along both sides of Louisiana State Highway 156 as this tornado traveled southeast.

Tornado #5: Southest of Calvin, LA

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START POINT	4 miles SSE of Calvin, Winn Parish, LA
END POINT	5 miles SSE of Calvin, Winn Parish, LA
RATING / PEAK WIND	EF1 / 95 mph
DATE	May 28, 2017
START TIME	8:07pm CDT
END TIME	8:07pm CDT
LENGTH/ WIDTH	0.13 miles/ 135 yards
FATALITIES/ INJURIES	None
Summary: This brief EF1 tornado touched down in the Kisatchie National Forest west of Winnfield, LA. Numerous hardwood and softwood trees were snapped and uprooted as this tornado traveled from northwest to southeast across U.S. Highway 84.

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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