(KXAN) — National Weather Service meteorologists have conducted an exhaustive damage survey of the reported Fayette County tornado near Swiss Alp on May 18.
Through storm chaser reports and video, property owner photos and interviews, and extensive review of radar data, they determined the tornado was four football fields wide, EF-1 intensity with 100 mph winds, and on the ground for more than 3 miles.
Read the full NWS report below.
...NWS DAMAGE SURVEY FOR 05/18/2021 TORNADO EVENT... .FAYETTE COUNTY - SWISS ALP TORNADO... RATING: EF1 ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 100 MPH PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/: 3.34 MILES PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/: 400.0 YARDS FATALITIES: 0 INJURIES: 0 START DATE: 05/18/2021 START TIME: 06:42 PM CDT START LOCATION: 5 N SCHULENBURG / FAYETTE COUNTY / TX START LAT/LON: 29.7593 / -96.9186 END DATE: 05/18/2021 END TIME: 06:52 PM CDT END LOCATION: 7 NNE SCHULENBURG / FAYETTE COUNTY / TX END LAT/LON: 29.79 / -96.8772 SURVEY SUMMARY: THE COMBINATION OF A NWS DAMAGE SURVEY AND STORM CHASER VIDEO/DOCUMENTATION HAS CONCLUDED THAT AN EF1 TORNADO OCCURRED DURING THE EARLY EVENING HOURS OF MAY 18TH NEAR SWISS ALP TX IN FAYETTE COUNTY. THE TORNADO OCCURRED IN A LARGE CLUSTER OF STORMS THAT WERE GENERALLY MOVING EAST ACROSS FAYETTE COUNTY. THERE WERE MULTIPLE MID LEVEL CIRCULATIONS EVIDENT ON RADAR DURING THIS EVENT. SO WHILE A SINGLE TORNADO PATH HAS BEEN CREATED, THERE MAY HAVE BEEN OTHER SMALLER SATELLITE TORNADOES OR VORTICES THAT CAUSED MINOR WIND DAMAGE IN OTHER AREAS OF FAYETTE COUNTY THAT EVENING. STORM CHASER VIDEO DID SHOW A MULTI-VORTEX TORNADO ON THE GROUND NEAR SWISS ALP AND THIS DISCUSSION IS THE BEST CONCLUSION WE HAVE ON THE PATH, WIDTH AND STRENGTH OF THAT TORNADO. BASED ON VIDEO, STORM REPORTS, AND TREE DAMAGE, IT APPEARS THE TORNADO FIRST TOUCHED DOWN AROUND 642 PM IN THE EVENING JUST WEST OF HIGHWAY 77... NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF HIGHWAY 77 AND CR 956. SOME MINOR TREE DAMAGE WAS FOUND IN THIS AREA AS WELL AS POWER POLES SNAPPED ON HIGHWAY 77. AS THE TORNADO CROSSED HIGHWAY 77, IT BECAME LARGER AND MULTI-VORTEX AS IT MOVED NORTHEAST ACROSS OPEN PASTURE AND FARMLAND. AT APPROXIMATELY 648 PM IT CAUSED SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO A CATTLE FARM APPROXIMATELY 1 MILE SOUTH OF FM 1383. METAL ROOFING WAS REMOVED FROM MULTIPLE CATTLE SHADE SHELTERS, THERE WAS ROOF DAMAGE TO THE BUSINESS OFFICE, AND PARTIAL STRUCTURE COLLAPSE AND ROOF DAMAGE TO THE MAIN COVERED BUILDING, AND CATTLE WORKING AREA. SEVERAL TREES HAD SIGNIFICANT TRUNK AND BRANCH DAMAGE ON THE PROPERTY AS WELL. METAL ROOFING MATERIAL WAS FOUND SEVERAL HUNDRED YARDS AWAY. THE TORNADO CONTINUED TO MOVE NORTHEAST AND EVENTUALLY CROSSED BERGER ROAD. SEVERAL TREES WERE SNAPPED ALONG BERGER ROAD AND ADJACENT PROPERTIES. IT IS NOT TOTALLY CLEAR WHERE THE TORNADO DISSIPATED AS SOME SPORADIC/MINOR TREE DAMAGE CAN BE FOUND FARTHER NE BY ABOUT A MILE. DUE TO THE WEAK NATURE OF THE DAMAGE, IT WAS ELECTED TO END THE TRACK JUST EAST OF BERGER ROAD AT 652 PM. BASED ON THE DAMAGE SEEN ON THE GROUND, IT IS ESTIMATED THAT PEAK WINDS WERE NEAR 100 MPH (EF1) AND THE TORNADO WAS SEVERAL HUNDRED YARDS WIDE WHEN IT WAS MULTI-VORTEX. IT WAS ON THE GROUND FOR A LITTLE OVER 3 MILES. && EF SCALE: THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES TORNADOES INTO THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES: EF0...WEAK......65 TO 85 MPH EF1...WEAK......86 TO 110 MPH EF2...STRONG....111 TO 135 MPH EF3...STRONG....136 TO 165 MPH EF4...VIOLENT...166 TO 200 MPH EF5...VIOLENT...>200 MPH NOTE: THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING FINAL REVIEW OF THE EVENT AND PUBLICATION IN NWS STORM DATA.
