2017 East Texas tornadoes

During the evening hours of Saturday, April 29, 2017, multiple tornadoes, some large, destructive, and deadly, moved through the East Texas counties of Henderson, Van Zandt, Rains, and Hopkins. Over the course of 3 hours and 15 minutes, the tornadoes killed four people, injured over 49, and wrought severe damage across the area. The strongest of the tornadoes were given mid-range EF4, low-end EF3, and mid-range EF2 ratings respectively by the National Weather Service (NWS) in Fort Worth/Dallas, Texas.

Although the environment that day otherwise would not have been in favor of any widespread tornado outbreak, previous thunderstorms left an outflow boundary in the region, which resulted in numerous favorable conditions coming together and allowing thunderstorms along the boundary to rapidly intensify into large tornadic supercells. Two minor EF0 tornadoes first formed in Van Zandt County prior to the strongest tornado of the event, a large, rain wrapped tornado that began in Henderson County. The tornado tracked north/northeastwards, reaching EF2 strength southeast of Eustace before weakening as it entered Van Zandt County. The tornado intensified back to EF2 strength shortly after, damaging or destroying multiple structures as it moved north-northeastwards towards the Canton area. Passing between Phalba and Tundra, the tornado rapidly intensified to EF4 strength, destroying a well-built two story brick home. Weakening to EF3 strength, the tornado began to turn towards the northwest, striking the community of Jackson. The tornado damaged or destroyed numerous structures southwest of Canton before rapidly weakening and dissipating near High, leaving two people dead and 25 more injured.

As the EF4 tornado was ongoing, another supercell produced a separate tornado in Henderson County. The tornado, moving northeastwards, first reached EF1 strength near Stockard. As it moved to the east of Eustace, the tornado intensified to EF2 strength and blew a house off of its foundation. The tornado then gradually weakened, causing tree damage before dissipating south of Big Rock, with multiple injuries attributed to the tornado. The same supercell then quickly cycled and produced another tornado on the Henderson-Van Zandt county border. The tornado moved north-northeastwards, reaching EF1 strength east of Denman Crossroads. Passing to the east of Tundra, the tornado strengthened further to EF2 strength, destroying multiple structures as it continued into the eastern side of Canton. There, many buildings, including a dealership, were damaged or destroyed as the tornado intensified to EF3 strength, and one woman was killed when her vehicle was thrown from the road. Exiting Canton, the tornado weakened back to EF2 strength, causing widespread tree damage. The tornado then turned northeast into Fruitvale, where multiple structures were damaged or destroyed before the tornado exited town and weakened to EF0 strength, turning north-northeastwards into Rains County. The tornado then intensified back to EF1 strength, causing tree damage and isolated damage to structures. The tornado briefly reached EF2 strength southeast of Emory, severely damaging multiple structures before weakening back to EF0 strength. The tornado turned almost due northwards and crossed the Lake Fork Reservoir before dissipating east of Dougherty, leaving two people dead and 24 others injured. Three more weak tornadoes touched down, two EF0 tornadoes in Van Zandt County and an EF1 tornado in Hopkins County.