Tornadoes · United States · North Dakota · 2014

EF2 tornado, Watford City, North Dakota, May 26, 2014

Name: EF2 tornado, Watford City, North Dakota, May 26, 2014
Start: 2014-05-27T00:46:00.000Z
End: 2014-05-27T00:56:00.000Z
Location: Watford City, North Dakota

This EF2 tornado ran 0.5 miles across McKenzie County on May 26, 2014, touching down at 7:46 PM CDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody and injured 9, and did $2.5 million of property damage.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
EF2111 to 135 mphthis tornado
Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.
EF3136 to 165 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
EF5over 200 mph
Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.
Unrated
The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

The record

Rating: EF2
Date: May 26, 2014
Touchdown: 7:46 PM CDT (00:46 UTC)
Lifted: 7:56 PM CDT (00:56 UTC)
On the ground: 10 minutes
Path length: 0.5 miles (0.7 km)
Path width: 100 yards (91 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 9
Property damage: $2.5 million
County: McKenzie County
Touchdown point: 47.710, -103.280
Lift-off point: 47.710, -103.270
Record number: 1405261846-01

The damage survey

1 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS BIS, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 118 mph.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

What the Weather Service recorded

Several supercell thunderstorms formed in eastern Montana and moved into northwest North Dakota late in the afternoon. Storms initially produced large hail and heavy rain. Early in the evening, reports of rotating wall clouds and possible funnel clouds were received from various locations in McKenzie County. A confirmed EF2 tornado touched down six miles south of Watford City, and resulted in extensive damage to an RV park that was serving as a semi-permanent housing facility. Storms then transitioned into a linear convective system before weakening across Dunn County.

Thirteen campers, serving as homes, were completely destroyed and two more were damaged by this tornado. Other damage included a snapped wooden power line pole, automobiles, and fences, both wooden and metal. One automobile was tossed sixty feet and flipped onto its roof, with a trailer parked next to its initial location also flipped and completely destroyed. About a dozen other vehicles were damage, some destroyed. Eye witness reports indicated two other funnel clouds in the immediate area.||Of all the damage surveyed by the National Weather Service the absolute worst corresponded to EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. From that it was determined that the peak wind speeds in the tornado were on the order of 120 mph. ||There were nine direct injuries.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Bismarck, ND wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at May 26, 6:40 PM CDT, 1 hour 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 26, 6:40 PM CDT, 1 hour 6 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
640 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2014

.UPDATE...
ISSUED AT 636 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2014

THIS UPDATE TO FOCUS IN THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE NORTHWEST.
TRIMMED POPS SOUTH AND EAST FOR THE EVENING AND LOWERED CLOUDS
ALSO.

UPDATE ISSUED AT 518 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2014

SEVERAL STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE IMPACTING NORTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA
AND ADDED LARGE HAIL TO THE WEATHER GRIDS FOR SEVERAL HOURS EARLY
THIS EVENING. OTHERWISE WILL CONTINUE TO UPDATE POPS THROUGH THE
EVENING WITH THE LINE AS IT MOVES EAST.

&&

.SHORT TERM...(THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TUESDAY)

ISSUED AT 252 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2014

THE MAIN FORECAST CHALLENGE WILL BE THE CONVECTIVE POTENTIAL OVER
WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...AND AGAIN OVER
WESTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA TUESDAY.

CONVECTION IS ALREADY FIRING OVER NORTHEASTERN MONTANA ALONG A
SURFACE TROUGH. THE ENVIRONMENT IS CHARACTERIZED BY SFC-BASED CAPE
AROUND 1400 J/KG AND 0-6 KM WIND SHEAR AROUND 40 KNOTS. SOME OF
THESE STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE LATER THIS AFTERNOON AS THEY MOVE
INTO NORTHWESTERN NORTH DAKOTA...WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
WINDS BEING THE PRIMARY THREATS. ADDED SEVERE MENTION TO THE
NORTHWESTERN ZONES FOR LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS A
RESULT.

ONGOING CONVECTION IS EXPECTED TO SLOWLY MOVE EAST INTO CENTRAL
NORTH DAKOTA TONIGHT. HOWEVER...THUNDERSTORM INTENSITY SHOULD
DECREASE AS THE BOUNDARY LAYER STABILIZES DUE TO LOSS OF DAYTIME
HEATING.

BY TUESDAY...THE SURFACE TROUGH IS PROGGED TO STALL OVER CENTRAL
NORTH DAKOTA. INCREASING MUCAPE VALUES AROUND 1500 J/KG COMBINED
WITH A WEAK UPPER WAVE WILL GENERATE CHANCE TO LIKELY POPS OVER
CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA TUESDAY AFTERNOON. HOWEVER...IT LOOKS LIKE
THE BEST DEEP LAYER SHEAR WILL LIFT NORTH INTO CANADA TUESDAY
AFTERNOON. GIVEN THE MARGINAL DEEP LAYER SHEAR...REMOVED SEVERE
MENTION FROM TUESDAY'S FORECAST...CONSISTENT WITH THE LATEST SPC
DAY 2 OUTLOOK. HOWEVER...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL STILL BE
POSSIBLE WITH SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS POSSIBLE IN THE STRONGER
STORMS.

.LONG TERM...(TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY)

ISSUED AT 252 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2014

FORECAST HIGHLIGHTS IN THE LONG TERM PERIOD WILL BE WARM
TEMPERATURES WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY FOLLOWED BY A COOL DOWN FRIDAY
THROUGH THE WEEKEND...ALONG WITH CHANCES FOR STRONG TO SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY...THURSDAY...AND FOR PORTIONS OF THE AREA
FRIDAY.

FOR TUESDAY EVENING...UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS OVER NORTHERN
TEXAS AND THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WITH AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE EXTENDING
FROM THE DESERT SOUTHWEST NORTHEAST INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS.
POSSIBLE STRONG TO SEVERE CONVECTION FROM TUESDAY AFTERNOON WILL BE
ONGOING OR EXITING OVER MY EASTERN COUNTIES TUESDAY EVENING AS AN
EMBEDDED S/WV IMPULSE TRACKS EAST ACROSS NORTH DAKOTA. RIDGE AXIS
BUILDS NORTH ACROSS THE DAKOTAS LATER TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY
MORNING...AND SHOULD ACT TO STEER ANY OTHER EMBEDDED WAVES NORTHERLY
ACROSS EASTERN MONTANA...PERHAPS GRAZING WEST OR NORTH CENTRAL NORTH
DAKOTA DURING THE AM HOURS. WE ARE THEN VERY MUCH CAPPED DURING THE
DAY WEDNESDAY WITH STRONG SOUTHERLY FLOW/WAA ACROSS THE REGION. BEST
CHANCES FOR STORMS WEDNESDAY NIGHT WILL BE ACROSS THE WEST CLOSER TO
SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT AND NEAR A SFC TROUGH NEARING THE MT/ND
BORDER.

SFC TROUGH MOVES SLOWLY EAST ACROSS WESTERN INTO CENTRAL NORTH
DAKOTA THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND THURSDAY NIGHT...AND WILL BE THE FOCUS
FOR DIURNALLY DRIVEN THUNDERSTORMS...SOME POTENTIALLY SEVERE GIVEN
THE INSTABILITY ADVERTISED. MID LEVEL SUPPORT UNCERTAIN. ANOTHER
ROUND OF STORMS POSSIBLE OVER MY SOUTHEAST ON FRIDAY AS THE SFC
TROUGH STALLS ACROSS THE FAR SOUTH CENTRAL...NORTHEAST THROUGH THE
JAMES AND RED RIVER VALLEYS.

UNCERTAINTY RAMPS UP FOR THE COMING WEEKEND AND INTO EARLY NEXT
WEEK...WITH MODELS DISAGREEING ON THE EVOLUTION OF AN AREA OF UPPER
LEVEL LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPING OVER THE DESERT SOUTHWEST AND THE
TIMING AND TRACK OF THIS FEATURE AS IT IS EVENTUALLY EJECTED NORTH
AND EAST. WHICHEVER MODEL VERIFIES...COOLER TEMPERATURES ARE
FORECAST THROUGH THE WEEKEND...AND EVENTUALLY WILL SEE PRECIPITATION
CHANCES INCREASE AS THE LOW APPROACHES AND MOVES THROUGH THE REGION.
ALLBLEND MODEL GUIDANCE WAS USED FOR NOW.

&&

.AVIATION...(FOR THE 00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z TUESDAY EVENING)
ISSUED AT 636 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2014

MAIN HAZARD TO AVIATION TONIGHT WILL BE THUNDERSTORMS. A COLD
FRONT ACROSS EASTERN MONTANA WILL MOVE EAST TONIGHT. THE FRONT
WILL BE THE FOCUS FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. THE MOST LIKELY
AREAS TO BE IMPACTED THIS EVENING INCLUDE KISN-KDIK THROUGH
04Z...AND KISN-KDIK-KMOT AFTER 06Z. THREAT OF THUNDERSTORMS
DECREASES AFTER 10Z...THEN BECOME MORE NUMEROUS AGAIN BETWEEN
KMOT-KBIS AFTER 16Z TUESDAY.

&&

.BIS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NONE.
&&

UPDATE...WAA
SHORT TERM...TM
LONG TERM...NH
AVIATION...WAA

Hazardous weather outlook, May 26, 5:41 PM CDT, 2 hours 5 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
541 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2014

NDZ004-012-272245-
BOTTINEAU-MCHENRY-
541 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2014

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL
NORTH DAKOTA.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

A FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR THE SOURIS RIVER NEAR WESTHOPE...
BANTRY...AND TOWNER...AND FOR THE WILLOW CREEK NEAR WILLOW CITY.

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TONIGHT. A FEW STRONGER
STORMS COULD PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN AND SMALL HAIL...BUT THE
THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER IS LOW.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY.

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA
TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND INTO THE EARLY EVENING. SMALL HAIL...GUSTY
WINDS...AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL ARE THE PRIMARY THREATS. THERE IS
A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY EVENING AND NIGHT...POSSIBLY
STRONG TO SEVERE. THE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUES THURSDAY
INTO THE WEEKEND.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.

&&

MORE INFORMATION...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND
CLIMATE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND...AT WEATHER.GOV/BIS

NDZ001-002-009-010-017-018-031-032-272245-
DIVIDE-BURKE-WILLIAMS-MOUNTRAIL-MCKENZIE-DUNN-GOLDEN VALLEY-
BILLINGS-
541 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2014 /441 PM MDT MON MAY 26 2014/

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST NORTH
DAKOTA AND SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTHWESTERN
NORTH DAKOTA THIS EVENING. A FEW STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS ARE
POSSIBLE. THE MAIN THREATS WILL BE LARGE HAIL...ISOLATED WIND
GUSTS AROUND 60 MPH...AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY.

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS CENTRAL INTO SOUTHWEST NORTH
DAKOTA TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND INTO THE EARLY EVENING. SMALL
HAIL...GUSTY WINDS...AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL ARE THE PRIMARY
THREATS. THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY EVENING AND
NIGHT...POSSIBLY STRONG TO SEVERE. THE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS
CONTINUES THURSDAY INTO THE WEEKEND.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.

&&

MORE INFORMATION...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND
CLIMATE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND...AT WEATHER.GOV/BIS

NDZ003-005-011-013-019>021-033-034-040>044-272245-
RENVILLE-ROLETTE-WARD-PIERCE-MERCER-OLIVER-MCLEAN-STARK-MORTON-
SLOPE-HETTINGER-GRANT-BOWMAN-ADAMS-
541 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2014 /441 PM MDT MON MAY 26 2014/

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL
NORTH DAKOTA...SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA AND SOUTHWEST NORTH
DAKOTA.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHWESTERN AND CENTRAL
NORTH DAKOTA THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. A FEW STRONG TO SEVERE
STORMS ARE POSSIBLE. THE MAIN THREATS WILL BE LARGE
HAIL...ISOLATED WIND GUSTS AROUND 60 MPH...AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY.

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS CENTRAL INTO SOUTHWEST NORTH
DAKOTA TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND INTO THE EARLY EVENING. SMALL
HAIL...GUSTY WINDS...AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL ARE THE PRIMARY
THREATS. THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY EVENING AND
NIGHT...POSSIBLY STRONG TO SEVERE. THE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS
CONTINUES THURSDAY INTO THE WEEKEND.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.

&&

MORE INFORMATION...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND
CLIMATE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND...AT WEATHER.GOV/BIS

NDZ022-023-025-035>037-045>048-050-051-272245-
SHERIDAN-WELLS-FOSTER-BURLEIGH-KIDDER-STUTSMAN-SIOUX-EMMONS-LOGAN-
LA MOURE-MCINTOSH-DICKEY-
541 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2014

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL
NORTH DAKOTA AND SOUTHEAST NORTH DAKOTA.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY.

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS CENTRAL INTO SOUTHWEST NORTH
DAKOTA TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND INTO THE EARLY EVENING. SMALL
HAIL...GUSTY WINDS...AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL ARE THE PRIMARY
THREATS. THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY EVENING AND
NIGHT...POSSIBLY STRONG TO SEVERE. THE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS
CONTINUES THURSDAY INTO THE WEEKEND.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.

&&

MORE INFORMATION...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND
CLIMATE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND...AT WEATHER.GOV/BIS

WA

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 26, 7:13 PM CDT, 33 minutes before

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Local storm report, May 26, 7:19 PM CDT, 27 minutes before

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Local storm report, May 26, 7:24 PM CDT, 22 minutes before

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Local storm report, May 26, 7:31 PM CDT, 15 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
731 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2014

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0630 PM     HAIL             3 SW ZAHL               48.54N 103.74W
05/26/2014  E1.00 INCH       WILLIAMS           ND   PUBLIC

            HAIL LASTED A FEW MINUTES AT MOST.

&&

JP MARTIN

Local storm report, May 26, 7:40 PM CDT, 6 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
740 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2014

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0739 PM     HAIL             NW ALEXANDER            47.84N 103.64W
05/26/2014  M1.00 INCH       MCKENZIE           ND   LAW ENFORCEMENT

&&

ABELING

Local storm report, May 26, 7:41 PM CDT, 5 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BISMARCK ND
741 PM CDT MON MAY 26 2014

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0740 PM     HAIL             ALEXANDER               47.84N 103.64W
05/26/2014  M1.00 INCH       MCKENZIE           ND   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

AJ

The air that afternoon

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Bismarck Municip, ND (KBIS), 00:00Z

0.8 hours before the tornado, 221 km from the path. May 27, 2014.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 283 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -7 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 914 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1448 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 24 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 2 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 74 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1
0-3 km lapse rate: 7.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Watford (S25), 10 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Gust (kt)	Pressure (mb)	Weather
00:00 UTC

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Minot AFB radar (KMBX), 195 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:44 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2014 tornado in North Dakota Every tornado in North Dakota since 1950 Warnings in force in North Dakota now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 26, 2014

10 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 26	11:46 AM CDT	EF0	Bastrop, TX	0.5	30	$10,000
May 26	1:50 PM EDT	EF0	Aroostook, ME	0.2	180
May 26	3:38 PM CDT	EF0	Martin, TX	0.6	200
May 26	4:20 PM CDT	EF0	San Patricio, TX	0.1	50
May 26	5:38 PM CDT	EF2	Howard, TX	1.0	400	$45,000
May 26	5:52 PM CDT	EF0	Hockley, TX	2.0	30	$500
May 26	5:57 PM CDT	EF0	Glasscock, TX	1.3	500
May 26	6:26 PM CDT	EF0	Glasscock, TX	0.7	200
May 26	6:42 PM CDT	EF0	Glasscock, TX	0.8	300
May 26	6:47 PM CDT	EF0	Sterling, TX	0.2	40

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.