Tornado Confirmed Last Week near Mineola

MINEOLA — On January 29, a line of strong to severe thunderstorms moved through East Texas during the evening and early nighttime hours. One of those storms produced a tornado near Mineola around 6:15pm. According to KETK, the National Weather Service Office in Shreveport confirmed that an EF-0 tornado (winds 65-85 mph) occurred on the eastern shore of Lake Holbrook, which snapped tree limbs and peeled the roofs off a few boat houses. No other tornadoes were confirmed in East Texas that evening, but this was not the only area to see damage from the storms. Damaging winds from the storms also caused numerous downed trees as well as power outages. Other significant damage included parts of the roof of the Walmart warehouse in Palestine being torn off, and a couple trailers blown over in Cass County.