Keith Lake, TX F2 Tornado – August 5, 1964

SPC Stats

Path length: 0.2 miles

Width: 33 yards

Fatalities: 0

Injuries: 6

Rating: F2

County: Jefferson

Storms produced wind damage and at least one tornado in Jefferson County, TX on August 5, 1964. The tornado had a very short path of less than 1/2 mile near Keith Lake. This is the only tornado recorded on this day. Per Storm Data, there was a total of 6 injuries. A small foreign car was hurled in a ditch. There were 5 passengers. The summary states that 4 of the 5 were injured. There were two other injuries not associated with the tornado in the Groves community. So the 6 injury count may be off. Newspaper accounts state the all five passengers in the car were injured.

There was a frame house near Keith Lake lifted off its foundation by the tornado and numerous homes had roof damage. This event is not listed in Significant Tornadoes by Thomas Grazlis.

Storm Data Entry

Storm data lumps this tornado in wind damage in Jefferson County. There is no path length or width listed.

Here is the full summary:

Strong winds and a tornado injured six persons and caused considerable property damage in the southeast portion of Jefferson County. A tornado in the Keith Lake area, about five miles north of Sabine Pass hurled a small foreign car into a ditch, injuring four of the five passengers. The strong winds battered the Port Arthur area, causing $100,000 damage to a grain elevator, and injuring two person in the Groves community. A small vacant frame house near Keith Lake was lifted off its foundation by the tornado, and a number of rooftops were blown from houses in Sabine Pass. Trees were toppled and power line blown down in the area. Wind gusts of 73 mph were recorded at 602pm at the Weather Bureau Airport Station at Nederland. The Coast Guard station at Sabine Pass recorded wind gusts up to 109mph. Total property damage was estimated at more than $150,000.

Tornado Path

Click Map To Enlarge

SPC coordinates: Start: 29.70 / -93.87

Note: Exact tornado path may not be straight and/or continuous.

Newspaper Clippings

Thu, Aug 6, 1964 – 1 · The Austin American (Austin, Texas) · Newspapers.com

Discrepancies:

We gathered information for this event from the SPC & NCDC Databases and the August 1964 Storm Data Publication and found the following differences:

Path Length:

SPC/NCDC have a 0.2 mile path length.
Storm Data has no path length.
Both Grazulis and Storm Data mention more than one funnel, indication of a family of tornadoes.

Width: