HOUSTON – The National Weather Service has confirmed that six tornadoes touched down in southeast Texas during storms Wednesday.
Pearland, Brenham and Madison County each saw one EF0 tornado, while Huntsville had two EF0 twisters. An EF1 tornado hit Caldwell.
The tornado in Pearland hit businesses along F.M. 518 near Highway 35. The rest of the damage was due to straight-line winds.
The National Weather Service said the EF0 tornado had winds between 65 and 85 mph and cut a path about 200 yards long and 75 yards wide.
About five businesses and nearly 20 homes near Main Street were damaged. No injuries were reported.
A brief EF0 tornado also touched down just north of Brenham Municipal Airport Wednesday shortly after 7 a.m.
The tornado and straight-line winds caused damage within Brenham and across areas to the north and east of FM 50 to near Independence. Residents spent Thursday cleaning up the mess.
January Tornadoes Rare For Southeast Texas
Even though six tornadoes also struck southeast Texas on Jan. 9, tornadoes in January are rare for southeast Texas.
November is the area's peak tornado month, according to weather data from 1992 to 2010. May comes in second. January ties with December for the sixth most common time for tornadoes.
Harris County has only had tornadoes twice before in January since 1950.
On Jan. 18, 1991, four tornadoes hit and five tornadoes touched down in Harris County on Jan. 27, 1997.
National Weather Service meteorologists said unseasonably warm conditions are to blame for the activity.
"It's almost like it's springtime," said Gene Hafele, a NWS meteorologist. "We had warm conditions and high dew points ahead of the system, much like in the spring."