BRYAN, Texas — The National Weather Service has confirmed that an EF2 tornado touched down northeast of Bryan on Wednesday. The tornado happened at roughly 5pmCDT Wednesday evening and was confirmed Thursday by the weather service.
The storm system inflicted damage near Coyote Run Road in Bryan, crushing cars and toppling metal structures. Brazos County officials are asking residents to avoid that area while cleanup is underway.
National Weather Services crews observing damage near Coyote Run first told a KAGS Crew that the damaged appeared to be that of an EF2 tornado. Subsequently, officials confirmed that assessment.
According to the Brazos County Sheriff's Office, roughly 1100 people were without power near that Coyote Run area after the storm. According to the BTU outage map, most customers once again have power.
A Code Maroon, Texas A&M's campus-wide alert system, was issued for the TAMU Rellis Campus in Bryan at roughly 6:20pmCDT. The alert expired about 40 minutes later.
The storm system moved in around 4pmCDT, bringing hail, heavy rain, straight line winds, and that isolated tornado. There was a threat of winds over 60 mph, hail and significant lighting.
A lighting strike is believed to have caused an Oil Tank in Madison County to catch fire. Crews put the fire out mid-evening.
Severe Thunderstorm warnings were issued for Brazos, Burleson, Robertson, and Milam Counties as of 5:15pmCDT. Tornado warnings and severe thunderstorm warnings all expired as of 7:11pmCDT.
As the threat for severe weather lessens, below is the upcoming forecast, per KAGS Meteorologist Bob French:
The threat of severe weather has diminished for the Brazos Valley, but showers and a few thunderstorms will continue overnight.
As the Wednesday storm system moves off to the east, a weak cold front will slip into the Brazos Valley tonight bringing drier air to the region. That will help temperatures cool down nicely at night and make for sunny, warm and dry days through the weekend. Humidity levels will come back up early next week with a slight chance of showers beginning Tuesday.
THURSDAY: Partly cloudy with a 20% chance of showers early morning becoming mostly sunny. High 79. Winds NW 5-10 mph.
THURSDAY NIGHT: Mostly clear. Low 58. Winds NW 5-10 mph.
FRIDAY: Sunny. High 81. Winds N 5-10 mph.