SAN ANTONIO – Severe thunderstorms swept across South Texas on Wednesday, producing large hail, and damaging winds. Now, we have confirmation that a tornado touched down, too.
While there were reports of strong winds and hail in and around San Antonio, some of the most widespread damage was to the west, in Medina County. Significant hail and wind damage was reported near the Highway 90 corridor, in places like D’Hanis, Hondo, and Castroville.
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Initially, a Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued for Medina County Wednesday evening. The warning was for large hail and damaging, non-tornadic winds. However, the thunderstorm began to show signs of rotation and a Tornado Warning was issued in the 7 o’clock hour Wednesday evening.
The National Weather Service in New Braunfels conducted a damage survey in the area on Thursday and confirmed that an EF-1 tornado with a maximum wind speed of 110 mph lasted for 8 minutes, from 7:33 PM to 7:41 PM. The track of the tornado was 1.82 miles long and it was 600 yards wide.
The damage survey indicates that the tornado touched down west of Highway 173 and began to cause damage. The National Weather Service reports that the tornado was able to “peel back the roof of a barn” and “rolled an RV.”
The tornado then crossed Highway 173 and caused damage to an area of manufactured homes, including removing a home from its foundation.