Tornadoes and Hail in Texas, May 15, 1957

Name: Tornadoes and Hail in Texas, May 15, 1957
Start: 1957-05-15T11:00
End: 1957-05-15T23:10
Location: Texas

May 15, 1957 · 11 events in 9 counties and zones

10 tornado, 1 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 22
Injuries: 81
Property damage: $580,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 11

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

Event by event

10 tornado, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Jim Wells

When: May 15, 11:00 AM CST
Where: Jim Wells County
Rating: F0
Path length: 2 mi
Path width: 33 yd
Property damage: $30
Coordinates: 27.900, -98.080

Tornado, Gray

When: May 15, 3:30 PM CST
Where: Gray County
Rating: F1
Path length: 8 mi
Path width: 33 yd
Property damage: $3,000
Coordinates: 35.220, -101.030

Tornado, Gray

When: May 15, 5:20 PM CST
Where: Gray County
Rating: F1
Path width: 33 yd
Property damage: $3,000
Coordinates: 35.720, -100.970

Hail, Lubbock

When: May 15, 5:40 PM CST
Where: Lubbock County
Measured: 1 in hail
Coordinates: 33.700, -101.780

Tornado, Donley

When: May 15, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Donley County
Rating: F3
Path length: 10.2 mi
Path width: 50 yd
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 35.020, -101.050

Tornado, Swisher

When: May 15, 7:25 PM CST
Where: Swisher County
Rating: F3
Path length: 1 mi
Path width: 33 yd
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 34.650, -101.500

Tornado, Yoakum

When: May 15, 7:40 PM CST
Where: Yoakum County
Rating: F1
Path width: 33 yd
Property damage: $250
Coordinates: 32.970, -102.820

Tornado, Yoakum

When: May 15, 7:45 PM CST
Where: Yoakum County
Rating: F2
Path length: 2 mi
Path width: 33 yd
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 33.180, -102.830

Tornado, Floyd

When: May 15, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Floyd County
Rating: F0
Path length: 4.1 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Coordinates: 34.270, -101.380

Tornado, Briscoe

When: May 15, 10:35 PM CST
Where: Briscoe County
Rating: F4
Path length: 17 mi
Path width: 300 yd
Deaths: 21 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 80 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 34.470, -101.300

Tornado, Hale

When: May 15, 11:10 PM CST
Where: Hale County
Rating: F2
Path length: 2 mi
Path width: 17 yd
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 34.180, -101.700

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Tornado, Floyd	1957-05-15				Direct

What these are

Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Texas in 1957 Every state in 1957 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Texas, 1957

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 10118917, 10118918, 10118919, 10118920, 10118921, 10118922, 10118923, 10118924, 10118925, 10118926, 10118927.