 View of the Jarrell tornado as it moved near the Double Creek Estates area | |
| Meteorological history | |
|---|---|
| Date | May 27, 1997 |
| Formed | May 27, 1997, 3:40 pm. CDT (UTC−05:00) |
| Dissipated | May 27, 1997, 3:53 pm. CDT (UTC−05:00) |
| Duration | 13 minutes |
| F5 tornado | |
| on the Fujita scale | |
| Highest winds | >261 mph (420 km/h) |
| Overall effects | |
| Fatalities | 27 |
| Injuries | 12 |
| Damage | $40.1 million (1997 USD) |
| Areas affected | Jarrell, Texas and areas near Prairie Dell, Texas |
| [1] | |
Part of the 1997 Central Texas tornado outbreak and tornadoes of 1997 | |
On the afternoon of May 27, 1997, a deadly and powerful F5 tornado produced catastrophic damage across portions of the Jarrell, Texas area. The tornado killed 27 residents of the town, many in a single subdivision, and inflicted a total of $40.1 million (1997 USD) in damages in its 13-minute, 5.1 miles (8.2 km) track. It occurred as part a tornado outbreak across central Texas; it was produced by a supercell that had developed from an unstable airmass and favorable meteorological conditions at the time, including high convective available potential energy (CAPE) values and warm dewpoints.
Several weaker tornadoes prior to the Jarrell tornado touched down and inflicted damage in nearby areas, particularly in Travis and Williamson counties. The Fort Worth branch of the National Weather Service issued several tornado watches and warnings as a result, and later issued a tornado warning for the area encompassing Jarrell as the tornado-producing supercell approached the town. Shortly thereafter, within the Williamson County line, the tornado touched down as an indistinct multi-vortex swathed in dust, which then strengthened rapidly as its width grew. As the tornado moved through a neighborhood near Jarrell, it began to slow down, before stopping completely over the area while reaching its maximum width and retaining intense winds. The tornado stalled over the neighborhood for approximately 3 minutes, producing some of the most extreme tornadic wind damage ever recorded. As the tornado left the subdivision, it began to weaken, before dissipating in a forested area. In total, 27 residents of Jarrell were killed,[note 1] and the tornado left behind a path of devastation, including multiple buildings swept off of their foundations.
As of 2024, this tornado is Texas' most recent F5 or EF5 tornado. The tornado was the fourth-deadliest of the 1990s in the United States, only being surpassed by the 1990 Plainfield tornado that killed 29, the 1998 Birmingham tornado that killed 32, and the 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado that killed 36. It was the only F5 tornado of 1997, and the next F5-rated tornado would occur on April 8 of the following year.
- ^ Toohey, Marty (May 26, 2017). "Power and devastation of the Jarrell tornado, by the numbers". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved October 30, 2024.
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