Tornado confirmed in Belairre southwest of Houston..........

[WXBUFFJIM]

It's determined that an f1 tornado caused damage in the Belairre section. Significant building damage occurred and cars flipped over in the parking lot at the Bellaire Shopping Center in southwest Houston as well.

Areas east of Houston in Baytown experienced straightline wind gusts over 60 mph.

There was grapefruit sized hail in Magnolia in Montgomery County, TX north of Houston.



The statement on this recent survey near Houston is below
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
330 PM CST MON APR 12 2004

A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STORM SURVEY CREW EXAMINED THE WIND
DAMAGE THAT OCCURRED ON SATURDAY EVENING (APRIL 10TH) IN SOUTHWEST
HOUSTON AND IN BAYTOWN. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT AN F1 TORNADO
PRODUCED THE DAMAGE IN THE SHARPSTOWN AREA (SOUTHWEST HOUSTON).
THE PATH WIDTH AND LENGTH OF THE TORNADO WAS 50 YARDS AND 1/2 MILE,
RESPECTIVELY. THE TORNADO PRODUCED THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE
IN THE SHOPPING CENTER LOCATED AT BELLAIRE AND RANCHESTER WHERE CARS
WERE OVERTURNED AND THERE WAS SIGNIFICANT BUILDING DAMAGE. IN THE
RESIDENTIAL AREA SOUTHWEST OF THE BELLAIRE/RANCHESTER INTERSECTION,
SEVERAL LARGE TREES WERE SNAPPED AND A FENCE WAS BLOWN DOWN.

NOTE: AN F1 TORNADO PRODUCES WIND SPEEDS BETWEEN 73 AND 112 MPH.

THE WIND DAMAGE WHICH OCCURRED AT A BAYTOWN APARTMENT COMPLEX,
LOCATED AT 3800 BAKER DR, WAS DETERMINED TO BE STRAIGHT LINE WIND
DAMAGE. THE WIND SPEED WAS ESTIMATED AT 60 MPH, AND IS RESPONSIBLE
FOR TEARING THE ROOF OFF OF AN APARTMENT BUILDING.


A busy day here tomorrow potentially and I'll keep a close eye on it. Keep an eye out tonight in the southeastern United States for severe wx.

Jim

[Rainband]

Thanks for the Update. I heard this earlier about Baytown but didn't know there was a nado on top of that some place else. texas really got rocked

[WXBUFFJIM]

The storm over Baytown had a more bowing signature on the doppler suggesting straightline winds. As the storm was over bellaire southwest of Houston, it had a hooking signature on the leading edge of the storm suggesting rotation or a possible tornado. Thus the surveys today were directly in line to what was being witnessed on the doppler radar as far as damaging winds and tornadoes are concerned.

Jim

[Garnetcat5]

Yep , that tornado hit a couple of blocks away from my school. I wondered if my portable classroom would still be there this week..hehhe thought maybe school let out early for Garnet Sat. evening was pretty scary at my house...one side blue the other side black...the clouds rolled in FAST! then the wind hit, electricity went out, hail and Garnet was in the hallway with a flashlight hehehhe I'm just glad no one was seriously hurt! Houston has a bad habit of ignoring the weather warnings...

[vbhoutex]

GARNET, HAVEN'T SEEN YOU FOR A WHILE!!! Glad you came out of this ok! It was scary for a lot of people. Visit us more often!!!