‘Uncommon’ winter storm leads to tornado near Cooper

Image
  • A former hay barn lays as a twisted heap of metal in a field behind the Emblem Church/ Staff photo by Taylor Nye
    A former hay barn lays as a twisted heap of metal in a field behind the Emblem Church/ Staff photo by Taylor Nye
Subhead

Emblem had damaged property

Body

Hopkins County residents experienced severe weather on Friday, according to the National Weather Service. 

NWS confirms there was a tornado touchdown in Cooper with a category of EF0 and wind speeds of 80 mph as well as a tornado touchdown in Enlo with wind speeds of 70 mph, according to DFW meteorologist on duty David Bonnett. 

“It seems like it’s not common because usually it’s a springtime scenario where we get severe weather, but this far south we get severe weather in the wintertime. It’s not as uncommon as we think,” Bonnett said.

However, he said “this particular system was uncommon due to how strong the winds were.” 

Local Northeast Texas stormchaser Alex Ferrell, of Birthright, called it a “spring time storm system in January.”

“Weather has already been acting strange due to the warm temperatures lately, then [a] short burst of cold weather,” Ferrell said.

Emblem residents were among some in Hopkins County who suffered storm damage. Resident Marna Martinez suffered property damage, but none of the high-speed winds hit her house. 

“We were blessed,” she said.