Houston Tornado - July 4th, 2023

(All times are presumed to be in the afternoon on the CDT time zone)

And the Storm Began
July 4th of 2023 was just like all other 4th of July's. The Weather Channel had reported a severe chance of thunderstorms across SE Texas, the majority of Louisiana, and southern portions of Mississippi and Alabama. The likely hood of a tornado was at a moderate level.

On the Ground
The smaller events started kicking off at about 9:00 to leave time for the Freedom Over Texas event, which started Fireworks at 9:35 in Downtown Houston. At 9:57 July 4th, a tornado watch was put into effect for Harris County ending at 3:00, July 5th. All events set up by the city were canceled at 10:00 due to the watch. At 10:13 rotation was reported above Highway 90 in the Richmond area southeast of downtown Houston with storm moving Northeast at 56 MPH. 10:21 a funnel cloud has formed in Meadows place just north of Interstate 69. 10:25 a tornado touches the ground near the intersection of Weslayan Street and Westpark Drive.

Path of Destruction
The tornado, later know as the Houston Roman Candle (HRC), crosses Interstate 69 onto Richmond Drive in the Greenway/Upper Kirby area. From there the tornado continues to travel across the town to Welch Park on Dunlavy Street. Eventually the tornado crosses the Buffalo Bayou at the Eleanor Tinsley Park, this is where Freedom Over Texas is held. After crossing the bayou, HRC moves to East Houston near Ley Road and Mesa Drive and dissipates.

Effects of The Houston Roman Candle
The twister that touched down in Houston caused roughly $2.8 million in damage to infrastructure. The same disaster took the life of 1,268 people due to the estimated 60,000 tourists and 2.3 million residents throughout the Houston area. The Houston Roman Candle would be the deadliest and costliest tornado in US history. The tornado would later be deemed an EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.