Early Spring Heat Wave in the Southwest U.S.; Critical Fire Weather in the Central Rockies and Plains

An unusual early Spring heat wave will continue much above-normal temperatures over the Southwest U.S. through early next week. Periods of critical fire weather will persist from the central Rockies to the central Plains through the weekend as gusty winds and low relative humidity continue. Read More >

Overview

A strong upper level storm system moved across the Southern Plains and affected the Four State Region on December 19, 2017. For much of the day, the system brought heavy rainfall to much of the area along and north of Interstate 20. This was much needed rainfall as many counties and parishes across Southwest Arkansas, Northeast Texas, and Northern Louisiana were under burn bans. Severe to extreme drought conditions were ongoing across the entire area.

During the afternoon and evening hours of December 19, thunderstorms intensified and became severe across portions East Texas and Northwest Louisiana as the upper trough moved northeast across the region and pushed a cold front across the area. Several reports of wind damage, funnel clouds, and possible tornadoes were received from the Rusk, Reklaw, and Cushing areas of East Texas. Other reports of wind damage were also received from the Quitman and Campti areas in Northwest and North Central Louisiana.

Survey teams from the National Weather Service office in Shreveport were deployed to East Texas on December 20, 2017, to investigate the damage. Additional surveys may be conducted in the coming days, and this web site will be updated as information becomes available.

This report is PRELIMINARY and subject to change

TOTAL TORNADO COUNT = 2

EF1 = 1

EF2 = 1

Table & Map

Rainfall Totals

Tornado #1: South of Rusk, TX

*CLICK TO VIEW ON MAP*
START POINT	4.8 miles SW of Rusk, Cherokee County, TX
END POINT	2.32 miles S of Rusk, Cherokee County, TX
RATING / PEAK WIND	EF2 / 115 mph
DATE	December 19, 2017
START TIME	6:50pm CST
END TIME	7:06pm CST
LENGTH/ WIDTH	3.1 miles/ 691 yards
FATALITIES/ INJURIES	None
Summary: Damage consisted of downed trees and power poles and structural damage to outbuildings and roofs.

Tornado #2: SE of Quitman, LA

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START POINT	2.29 miles ESE of Quitman, Jackson Parish, LA
END POINT	3.02 miles ESE of Quitman, Jackson Parish, LA
RATING / PEAK WIND	EF1 / 104 mph
DATE	December 20, 2017
START TIME	1:02am CST
END TIME	1:07am CST
LENGTH/ WIDTH	0.97 miles/ 110 yards
FATALITIES/ INJURIES	None
Summary: A tornado moved across portions of Jackson Parish early Wednesday morning snapping several hardwood trees and pushing a single-wide mobile home off of its foundation.

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.

24-hour Observed Precipitation from 12am December 19 to 12am December 20

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Early Spring Heat Wave in the Southwest U.S.; Critical Fire Weather in the Central Rockies and Plains

December 19, 2017: Severe Weather in East Texas & Northwest Louisiana