NWS survey team confirms Winona tornado as EF-1

WINONA, Texas — The National Weather Service has confirmed the tornado that touched down in Winona Monday was an EF-1. 

A team from NWS Shreveport came out to the Winona area Tuesday to survey damage after previously confirming a tornado touched down at the Winona High School football field Monday. 

NWS said the tornado had wind speed of 95 mph. 

The cyclone led to trees falling down and houses getting damaged. 

At 10:25 a.m. Monday, the tornado moved through the area, creating structural damage to one building in the Hussey Circle area.

Smith County Pct. 4 Constable Josh Joplin said the cyclone took down a fence perimeter of the city water tower, destroyed a modular building, and threw football equipment from the football field into a nearby pasture. He also spotted a portable building lying in the middle of Johnson Road.

NWS said during a news conference said the tornado started at 10:26 a.m. and ended at 10:30 a.m. The twister was 3.8 miles long and 200 yards wide.

“It was a very brief, short-lived tornado,” the NWS representative said. 

He said the survey team reviewed damages, such as how the trees fell or snapped, to determine what level of tornado to label the one in Winona.