Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 1957

F1 tornado, Travis County, Texas, April 22, 1957

This F1 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Travis County on April 22, 1957, touching down at 2:25 AM GMT-6 and reaching 10 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $50 to $500 of property damage.

The rating scale

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

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mphthis tornado

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    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.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 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.

  7. 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
F1, estimated from the damage record rather than surveyed
Date
April 22, 1957
Touchdown
2:25 AM GMT-6 (08:25 UTC)
Path length
0.1 miles (0.2 km)
Path width
10 yards (9 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$50 to $500
County
Travis County
Touchdown point
30.400, -98.000
Record number
198

This ground now

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The other tornadoes of April 22, 1957

28 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 227:25 AM GMT-6F1Cherokee, TX0.517$500 to $5,000
April 2211:00 AM GMT-7F2Kit Carson, CO0.310$50 to $500
April 2212:15 PM GMT-6F0Gaines, TX0.517under $50
April 2211:30 AM GMT-7F1Perkins, NE0.110$50 to $500
April 221:30 PM GMT-6F0Hitchcock, NE0.110under $50
April 222:00 PM GMT-6F1Floyd, TX7.117under $50
April 222:40 PM GMT-6F2Hall, TX9.2200$5,000 to $50,000
April 223:30 PM GMT-6F0Ector, TX0.110under $50
April 224:00 PM GMT-6F1Panola, TX11.110$50 to $500
April 224:20 PM GMT-6F1Motley, TX0.550$500 to $5,000
April 224:45 PM GMT-6F1Clay, KS4.3300$500 to $5,000
April 224:45 PM GMT-6F1Clay, KS4.3300$500 to $5,000
April 225:00 PM GMT-6F2Pratt, KS0.110
April 225:30 PM GMT-6F2Pratt, KS7.3100$500 to $5,000
April 226:00 PM GMT-6F2Jackson, OK0.110$500 to $5,000
April 225:20 PM GMT-7F2Stark, ND0.5800$500 to $5,000
April 226:30 PM GMT-6F2Greer, OK0.110$500 to $5,000
April 226:35 PM GMT-6F0Barton, KS0.510under $50
April 227:01 PM GMT-6F1Washita, OK0.110
April 228:00 PM GMT-6F0Alfalfa, OK0.150$500 to $5,000
April 228:00 PM GMT-6F3Caddo, OK1.02001$50,000 to $500,000
April 228:15 PM GMT-6F2Caddo, OK30.910$50,000 to $500,000
April 229:00 PM GMT-6F2Kingfisher, OK3.6200$50,000 to $500,000
April 229:00 PM GMT-6F0Lincoln, OK0.110under $50
April 2210:00 PM GMT-6F0Kay, OK0.110$5,000 to $50,000
April 2211:04 PM GMT-6F0Creek, OK0.110under $50
April 2211:30 PM GMT-6F0Tulsa, OK0.110under $50
April 2211:40 PM GMT-6F1Carter, OK0.110

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.