Williamson County Facebook page A preliminary Austin tornado map
For a large part of Monday, March 21, Austin, Texas, and surrounding regions were under tornado watches and warnings. Two tornados touched down around the city, leaving damage in their wake. The map below shows a preliminary look at the two tornados’ paths as they traveled through the Austin, Round Rock, and Pflugerville regions.
A Preliminary Map Shows the Tornados’ Projected Path, with a Final Map Being Released Soon
The map below is a preliminary map showing the two tornados’ projected paths. The map was shared by the Williamson County, Texas, Facebook page. This is not a final map, but a depiction showing what preliminary reports are indicating. The two tornados traveled through Williamson County on Monday.
Williamson County, TexasAustin tornado track
On Facebook, one person commented on the “preliminary and not for distribution” notice that the National Weather Service had at the bottom of its image.
The Williamson County Facebook page responded, “I appreciate you pointing that out, but we actually got permission to share as long as the wording made it clear that it was not the final say.”
Two tornados were spotted on Monday. One traveled for approximately 24.62 miles. It began near I-35 and SH 45 N, just barely inside Austin and Travis County. It was just west of Pflugerville, in the Wells Branch community. That tornado traveled northeast, quickly entering Williamson County, and traveling through Round Rock, Hutto, and close to Taylor, before ending its path near Granger. This tornado traveled for 24.62 miles.
The tornado north of it began just north of Georgetown in Williamson County. This one traveled northeast for 11.81 miles, traveling through Jarrell and ending just north of the city.
Heavy was observing the tornados’ formation live on Monday, following live stream coverage from meteorologist Chikage Windler. At the time the tornados formed, the one near I-35 & 45 took many people by surprise. For a time, the tornado near Jarrell appeared to be the most dangerous. It picked up wind speed as it traveled and appeared to be nearing regions that had been hit by the Jarrell tornado outbreak of 1997, live reporting indicated at the time.
Another series of maps, in the tweet below, were released by NWS Austin/San Antonio on Monday night indicating rough predictions of the storms’ locations.
Tomorrow morning we will begin surveying damage from this evening’s storms, including rating any tornadic damage. Please remain patient on the results as several areas will take time to survey. Here are some of the areas we will be surveying over the coming days.
There Are No Recorded Deaths at This Time
The Williamson County page also noted, “Judge Bill Gravell started the Commissioners Court meeting with an update on the estimated path of the two confirmed tornadoes that impacted WilCo. The NWS will be out assessing damage today. So far, there are no recorded deaths, but many downed power lines.”
Here’s a video of a tornado causing damage near Elgin. This was a third tornado not included in the map above. It’s located approximately southeast of the tornadoes in the above map.
Austin American Statesman reported that there were several tornados in the Central Texas region on Monday, including one in Elgin and two in Round Rock and Hutto.
There were no major injuries in Williamson County, but at least three people were injured in Elgin.
Videos have been circulating showing the storms and the damage they left behind.
This first video shows a truck being lifted by a Texas tornado. This video was taken in Elgin, Star-Telegram reported.
On Reddit, u/tasslehawf shared the video of a tornado near their home, which you can see in the link. They wrote, “Tornado didn’t come close enough to us to do any major damage. Worst thing is it pulled my pellet smoker off the deck.”