1997 Central Texas tornado outbreak

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Central Texas tornado outbreak)
Jump to: navigation, search
1997 Central Texas tornado outbreak
Date of tornado outbreak: May 27, 1997
Duration1: 13.5 hours
Maximum rated tornado2: F5 tornado
Tornadoes caused: 20 confirmed
Highest winds:
Largest hail:
Damages: >$190 million 2005 USD
Fatalities: 30 (1 person died from drowning near Austin)
Areas affected: Central Texas

1Time from first tornado to last tornado
2Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita Scale

The 1997 Central Texas tornado outbreak was an unusual tornado outbreak in Central Texas which occurred on May 27, 1997. The F5 tornado that struck the town of Jarrell, Texas killed 27 people out of 1319 residents.[1] The tornado was 3/4 of a mile (1.2 km) wide and tracked across the ground for 7.6 miles (12.2 km).[2] Double Creek Estates, a subdivision of Jarrell, was literally wiped off the face of the earth with all 38 homes and several mobile homes destroyed.[2]

Contents

Meteorological synopsis [edit]

In the early morning hours of May 27, a large mesoscale convective complex developed over Eastern Oklahoma and Western Arkansas. A "gravity wave" or outflow boundary was generated by this system and stalled out over Central Texas. This was oriented from the northeast to the southwest, causing the movement of the supercells later on to be to the southwest, along with most of the tornadoes, which is extremely unusual. Also unusual on this day was the low wind shear and extreme instability.[2]

Confirmed tornadoes [edit]

Confirmed
Total		 Confirmed
F0		 Confirmed
F1		 Confirmed
F2		 Confirmed
F3		 Confirmed
F4		 Confirmed
F5
20 6 6 3 3 1 1
List of confirmed tornadoes - May 27, 1997
F#
Location
County
Time (UTC)
Path length
Damage
Texas
F2 W of Lorena McLennan 1821 2 miles
(3.2 km)		 The tornado severely damaged several mobile homes and one frame house.[3]
F0 N of Eddy McLennan 1844 0.2 miles
(0.32 km)		 Brief tornado with no damage
F3 Moody area McLennan, Bell 1846 3.7 miles
(5.9 km)		 It did extensive damage to trees, destroyed a house and a barn, damaged another small house, and tossed a car and a pickup truck several hundred feet.[2]
F0 NW of Belton Bell 1916 0.2 miles
(0.32 km)		 Weak tornado with no damage
F3 W of Temple Bell 1927 1.4 miles
(2.2 km)		 The tornado caused significant damage to structures around Lake Belton. 10 homes had severe damage and 100 boats were destroyed.[2]
F1 SW of Belton Bell 1950 0.2 miles
(0.32 km)		 Brief tornado with unknown damage
F1 N of Blooming Grove Navarro 2005 0.5 miles
(0.8 km)		 Damage limited to trees
F1 Prairie Dell area Bell 2007 2.4 miles
(3.8 km)		 Damage to several structures and numerous trees
F2 SW of Prairie Dell Williamson 2025 2 miles
(3.2 km)		 First of three tornadoes touching down near the Jarrell area.
F2 W of Jarrell Williamson 2035 0.5 miles
(0.8 km)		 Second of three tornadoes touching down near the Jarrell area
F1 S of Dawson Navarro 2036 0.5 miles
(0.8 km)		 Damage limited to trees
F5 Jarrell area Williamson 2040[4] 5.1 miles
(8.2 km)		 27 Deaths A weak pencil-like tornado touched down near the Bell-Williamson County line, the funnel rapidly intensified into a 3/4 mile wide multi-vortex storm at around 3:45 PM CDT. The tornado continued on before destroying and sweeping away many of the buildings in Double Creek Estates. As the tornado continued it ripped asphalt off the roads. The tornado pulled grass and soil from the ground to a depth of 18 inches (46 cm) before dissipating near a wooded area outside Jarrell. Jump to section on this tornado
F0 SW of Hubbard Hill 2050 0.2 miles
(0.32 km)		 Brief tornado with no damage
F3 Cedar Park area Williamson, Travis 2105 9.2 miles
(14.7 km)		 1 Death This tornado produced relatively minor damage before moving into Cedar Park. The tornado devastated the downtown area of Cedar Park, specifically an Albertson's Grocery Store. The tornado then moved into the Buttercup Subdivision, severely damaging some homes. One man died here of cardiac arrest while waiting out the tornado in his pickup truck; his death was not counted in the total.[2]
F1 SW of Anderson Mill Travis 2115 0.2 miles
(0.32 km)		 Brief tornado preceding the main Lake Travis tornado.
F4 S of Lake Travis Travis 2150 5.6 miles
(9 km)		 1 Death The tornado initially caused major damage to a marina on Lake Travis. The tornado then severely damaged a reinforced concrete building containing a telephone switching center. It then completely destroyed a stone house, leaving the foundation bare. It then moved into the Hazy Hills subdivision, destroying several homes and mobile homes. This tornado killed one man while he was either blown from his mobile home or truck while attempting to seek safe shelter.[2]
F1 Kyle area Hays 2038 3.5 miles
(5.6 km)		 Damage to trees and power lines
F0 S of Utopia Uvalde 0000 0.2 miles
(0.32 km)		 Brief tornado with no damage
F0 NW of Sisterdale Kendall 0030 0.7 miles
(1.1 km)		 Brief tornado with no damage
F0 E of Moore Frio 0120 1 miles
(1.6 km)		 Brief tornado in open country
Source: Tornado History Project - Storm Data for May 27, 1997

F-5 Jarrell tornado [edit]

House foundation swept clean by the tornado at the Double Creek Estates.

Initially a weak pencil-like tornado near the Bell-Williamson County line, the funnel rapidly intensified into a 3/4 mile wide multi-vortex storm at around 3:45 PM CDT.

Its first damage occurred three minutes later at 3:48 PM CDT in the northwestern portion of Jarrell striking Double Creek Estates, sweeping away the entire neighborhood. It moved to the south-west, which is unusual for tornadoes in North America. It later entered a wooded area before dissipating after damaging numerous trees.[2] Another unusual thing about this tornado is that there was no clear "hook echo" in the radar, which is usually visible in strong tornadoes.

Grass and soil in fields near Jarrell were ripped out of the ground to a depth of 18 in (46 cm), reducing lush fields of grass into wide expanses of mud. When the tornado crossed county roads outside Jarrell, it tore a 500-foot (152 m) length of asphalt from the roads.[2]

About 40 structures were completely destroyed by the tornado and dozens of vehicles were rendered unrecognizable after being thrown great distances, some more than half a mile. Some of the vehicles were pulverized into many pieces and strewn across fields, and others were simply never found.[5] A steel frame recycling plant was completely obliterated, with nothing left of the structure but the foundation and a few mangled steel beams. Telephone poles in the area were snapped off at the base and splintered, and trees in the area were completely shredded and debarked.[5]. Many researchers, after reviewing aerial damage photographs of Double Creek Estates, considered the Jarrell storm to be the most violent tornado, in terms of damage intensity, that they had ever seen. [6] Many of the homes in the tornado's path were well-constructed and bolted to their foundations, but the tornado left only the slab foundations, and there was no debris left in the area. [7] The debris from the destroyed homes was finely granulated into small fragments, and scattered for long distances across the countyside. Several entire families were killed in the tornado, including all five members of the Igo family and all four members of the Moehring family.[8] The tornado's slow movement combined with the high winds is the reason why the tornado was so destructive. The tornado also picked up a lot of loose soil, giving it a sandblasting effect on the houses. Only one person was seriously injured and less than a dozen people suffered minor injuries after the tornado, a testament to the small probability of survival in the Double Creek neighborhood. [9]

There were 27 human fatalities in the Double Creek subdivision. In addition, about 300 cattle were killed by the storm.

About 10 minutes prior to the main event, eye-witnesses spotted additional tornadoes north and west of Jarrell.[4]

F-3 Cedar Park Tornado [edit]

Around the same time as the Jarrell Tornado, another strong tornado formed about 30 miles south in Cedar Park. The tornado formed about 3 miles north of the city causing widespread F-0 and F-1 damage. The tornado continued south until it reached the central business district where it did extensive damage to an Albertson's Supermarket damaging most of the store and severely injuring one person. The manager had put majority of the customers in the walk-in freezers, saving their lives. The tornado then continued south-southwest towards the Buttercup Creek subdivision where the tornado caused damage to 136 homes, all suffering between F-1 and F-3 damage. The tornado killed one person as he waited out the storm in his truck. The tornado then continued to move more southwest and finally dissipated about 1.1 miles away from the northern shore of Lake Travis. The tornado traveled 9.2 miles and had a maximum width of 250 yards

F-4 Lake Travis Tornado [edit]

About 45 minutes after the Cedar Park and Jarrell tornadoes, another strong, violent tornado formed on the southern shore of Lake Travis. The tornado rapidly intensified to a strong F-3 tornado, causing damage to a marina on shore. Then it increased to F-4 intensity, severely damaging a reinforced building containing a telephone switch center and completely destroying a stone house, only leaving the foundation slab behind. The tornado then headed south for a brief period before turning southwest then turning west-southwest, heading towards the Hazy Hills subdivision in the Pedernales Valley in western Travis County. The tornado damaged the subdivision, causing mostly F-3 damage to 45 homes with some of those completely destroyed, showing F-4 damage. This tornado killed one person as he tried to outrun the storm. The tornado then exited the subdivision and dissipating after travelling 5.6 miles with a maximum width of 440 yards.

Overpass Traffic Jam [edit]

Numerous vehicles sought shelter underneath various overpasses as the tornado formed and strengthened, turning Interstate 35 into a virtual parking lot. Texas Highway Patrol worsened the traffic jam by stopping both northbound and southbound traffic in anticipation of the tornado moving southeastward and crossing the highway. Had the tornado abruptly changed direction, the death toll could have been much higher as nearly five miles of traffic and hundreds of people were trapped on the highway with no route of escape. However, the tornado moved parallel to Interstate 35 for nearly its entire lifespan in a south-southwestward direction, a very rare occurrence.

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ May 27, 1997 Severe Weather Event - National Weather Service Forecast Office - WFO, Austin/San Antonio, Texas
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/assessments/pdfs/jarrell.pdf
  3. ^ NCDC: Event Details
  4. ^ a b NCDC: Event Details
  5. ^ a b http://extremeplanet.me/2012/06/26/aerial-damage-from-the-f5-jarrell-tornado-the-most-intense-tornado-damage-ever-photographed/
  6. ^ [1]
  7. ^ Jarrell, Texas Tornado Damage - May 27, 1997
  8. ^ [2]
  9. ^ [3]

External links [edit]

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1997_Central_Texas_tornado_outbreak&oldid=556642050"