Tornado touches down in southwest Houston, National Weather Service says

HOUSTON — The National Weather Service on Friday confirmed that five tornadoes touched down in the Houston area a day after Christmas.

Those tornadoes were from a system that moved across the area, from Wharton County to Liberty County.

The NWS confirmed that an EF-1 tornado touched down in southwest Houston. They said the tornado caused some damage to homes as it came through with 90 mph winds. This tornado’s path was less than a tenth of a mile.

Later Friday afternoon, the NWS confirmed four more tornadoes.

• A tornado in El Campo was an EF-1 with 95 mph winds causing structural damage to a barn. Its path was a half a mile.
• An EF-0 tornado touched down in the north Liberty area with 76 mph winds causing structural damage to at least one home. Its path was nearly 7 miles long.
• Another EF-0 tornado touched down in the northwest Dayton area with 60 mph winds. Its path was 1.1 miles.
• Another EF-0 with 60 mph winds touched down in the Lake Houston/Huffman area. Its path was 2.1 miles.

More details on the tornadoes, including path widths and lengths, will likely be released in the coming days.

In Wharton County, where the first tornadoes were reported, the sheriff’s office said there were sightings at Loop 183 and County Road 428, FM 960 and FM 961 and in the area of Highway 59 and the El Campo truck stop heading northeast towards Pierce.

Later Thursday afternoon, there were sightings around Lake Houston and in the Atascocita area. In Liberty County, there were multiple reports of tornadoes as the storms moved out of the area.

In Houston, tornadoes can happen at any time of day, during any season, month or day of the year. Although the statistics show that they are more likely in late fall, winter and spring, there really is no “off-season” for severe weather and tornadoes in Houston.

Staying weather alert in Houston is a full-time job for all of us. This starts with knowing what the weather forecast is so you and your family don’t get caught off guard. Sign up for notifications on your phone. An old-school NOAA weather radio is a great way to always have the latest updates too. Make sure your family knows where to go to take shelter from an approaching storm, and where you’ll meet up afterward.

The Enhanced Fujita, or EF Scale classifies tornadoes into the following categories: