2 Houston tornadoes lasted a minute but brought 100 mph winds

The first tornado struck Waller County, beginning at 5:44 p.m. Thursday, about 5 miles south-southeast of Pine Island. With maximum wind speeds estimated at 100 miles per hour, the tornado lasted only about a minute, cutting a path just 0.71 miles long and 100 yards wide, the weather service said.

But in that brief moment of destructive power, the tornado destroyed a large metal barn, rolled trailers and left metal debris scattered for 1,000 yards to the southeast. Trees fell in different directions, from south to northwest, according to the weather service’s storm survey team.

The second tornado began at 6:08 p.m. Thursday near Cypress, about 8 miles west-northwest of Jersey Village in Harris County. Like the Waller County tornado, this tornado lasted only a minute, but left a trail of damaged structures and property.

The Cypress tornado, with maximum winds of 110 mph, carved a path just 0.77 miles long and 100 yards wide. It landed near the intersection of Tuckerton and Greenhouse roads, before heading southeast through the Highlands Subdivision, the weather service said.

“Many single-family homes had damaged roofs and broken windows,” the investigation team reported, adding that the pattern of damage was well defined.

No deaths or injuries were reported in either tornado.

Weather service survey teams also determined Friday that the strong winds that swept across southeast Texas, uprooting trees and destroying buildings, constituted a derecho event.

Derecho events are widespread storm systems characterized by straight-line winds that occur with bands of fast-moving thunderstorms, such as bow echoes or squall lines. Although the derecho can produce damage similar to that of a tornado, the damage caused by a derecho generally extends in one direction along a relatively straight band, according to the weather service.

The weather service said its findings were preliminary and could be changed pending a final review.