EF2, EF1 tornadoes damage 100 homes in Houston 3 days before Thanksgiving

November isn't prime season for Texas tornadoes, but two touched down in northwest Houston Monday, damaging 100 homes and causing a gas leak.

Dozens of families near Houston are starting to pick up the pieces of their damaged homes after two tornadoes tore through the area just three days before Thanksgiving.

The tornadoes, one EF1 and one EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, tracked across the northwest suburbs of Houston Monday afternoon, damaging 100 homes, local officials said. The National Weather Service confirmed the ratings conducting a damage assessment.

The first EF1 tornado traveled 2.61 miles at 1:23 p.m. CST, 7 miles northwest of Jersey Village, Texas. The next twister, an EF2, was on the ground for 3.83 mils 7 miles southeast of Tomball.

Areas damaged included the Memorial Northwest neighborhood, where drone footage showed trees down and roofs partially removed from homes, and the Riata West Subdivision. Damage was also reported at the Klein Fire Department Administration Complex, where a gas leak was reported. Eyewitnesses described trees "snapping like matchsticks." There were no injuries.

Houston resident Catherine Franco told KHOU, "I heard a whistle, and the wind was just so intense — I’d never heard it like that before,” she said.

The U.S. is in its second severe weather season, although the preliminary number of tornado reports so far this November, 10 after yesterday's storms, is far below the 10-year average of 37, according to the Storm Prediction Center. This November has been quiet compared to 2024, 2022 and 2018, which had between 60 and 65 twisters reported.

Over the last 10 years, Texas has averaged two to three tornadoes each November, but they don't happen every year. Nine twisters were recorded in the state in November 2022.

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