KFDM COOP Posted November 8, 2007 Report Posted November 8, 2007 Fifty years ago, tornadoes touched downBy Debby SchamberThe Orange LeaderToday marks the 50th anniversary of a day some Southeast Texans would rather forget when three tornadoes ripped their way through the area. One tornado in particular hit the Bridge City area. The F-4 tornado remains the largest tornado recorded in Southeast Texas. “An F-4 in this area is extremely rare,†said Sam Shamburger, forecaster for the National Weather Service. Other areas hit include Groves, Port Arthur and Beaumont.In Orange County there was one person killed, with 50 reported injuries. About 180 houses were destroyed with 250 more suffering damages. About 115 destroyed houses were in the Riverside Housing Project. Houses were not the only things displaced by the tornadoes, nine ships and three barges were torn form their moorings. A moderate El Nino event was in progress on November 7, 1957, Shamburger said. The tornado outbreak that included three areas of Louisiana came together quite rapidly with numerous factors in place such as a large and deep positively tilted trough of low pressure in the upper levels of the atmosphere located over the western US. The trough moved quickly eastward and took on a negative tilt as it reached the central US by the evening hours. Deep gulf moisture was in place with dew points in the upper 60s and lower 70s. As the day progressed to the evening hours the wind shear and instability levels were favorable for tornadic supercells, according to the National Weather Service. Although the tornadoes were intense, they were not as intense as the tornadoes that frequent the Plain States and the Midwest. The local tornadoes had relatively small path widths and lengths. “The result was five separate tornadoes with fatalities,†Shamburger said. More than 47 years later, similar weather conditions would happen again, but without the deadly consequences.
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