Tornadoes · United States · Texas

1963 tornadoes in Texas

82 tornadoes touched down in Texas in 1963, 35 percent below the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

1962 1964 The whole country in 1963

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 mph

    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.

Every tornado in Texas in 1963

March 10 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 1010:00 PM GMT-6F1Williamson0.5200$50 to $500
March 1010:13 PM GMT-6F1McLennan1.017$500 to $5,000

March 11 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 1112:15 AM GMT-6F3Kaufman2.033$50,000 to $500,000

April 5 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 59:00 PM GMT-6F2Haskell1.033$500 to $5,000

April 22 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 225:30 PM GMT-6F2Collin7.71,760$50,000 to $500,000

April 26 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 263:00 PM GMT-6F1Scurry3.033
April 263:00 PM GMT-6F2Scurry19.067
April 263:00 PM GMT-6F1Fisher13.333

April 28 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 281:30 PM GMT-5F1Collin1.0880$500 to $5,000
April 284:00 PM GMT-5F2Camp0.110
April 284:00 PM GMT-5F0Kendall0.110
April 289:30 PM GMT-5F2Bell0.5503$5,000 to $50,000

May 4 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 44:00 PM GMT-5F0Hutchinson1.010
May 48:00 PM GMT-5F0Hockley1.017

May 5 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 53:00 AM GMT-5F0Hockley0.517
May 51:30 PM GMT-5F0Lamb1.513
May 54:00 PM GMT-5F0Nolan0.110

May 11 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 115:30 PM GMT-5F0Lamb0.150

May 19 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 194:00 PM GMT-5F0Collin0.510

May 21 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 217:11 PM GMT-5F3Bailey5.950$5,000 to $50,000

May 27 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 278:00 PM GMT-5F0Lamar0.110
May 278:00 PM GMT-5F0Dallas0.517

May 29 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 297:00 PM GMT-5F2Hockley1.01,320
May 297:00 PM GMT-5F0Dallas0.517
May 297:30 PM GMT-5F2Hockley10.3671
May 299:20 PM GMT-5F0Hale0.533

May 30 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 302:44 AM GMT-5F0Wichita0.5100

May 31 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 315:00 PM GMT-5F1Hockley1.017
May 315:00 PM GMT-5F1Hockley0.510
May 315:00 PM GMT-5F0Hockley0.510
May 315:00 PM GMT-5F0Hockley1.013

June 2 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 26:30 PM GMT-5F0Hale1.017
June 28:00 PM GMT-5F0Floyd0.810
June 210:30 PM GMT-5F1Hale6.167
June 210:30 PM GMT-5F0Hale1.010

June 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 38:15 PM GMT-5F1Rusk2.033

June 4 9 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 47:30 PM GMT-5F1Lamb1.067
June 49:30 PM GMT-5F0Lamb0.510
June 49:30 PM GMT-5F0Lamb1.017
June 49:32 PM GMT-5F1Hockley0.110
June 410:00 PM GMT-5F0Hockley0.110
June 410:00 PM GMT-5F1Lamb1.533
June 410:00 PM GMT-5F0Lamb0.410
June 410:00 PM GMT-5F0Lamb0.110
June 410:00 PM GMT-5F2Lubbock2.033

June 8 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 85:05 PM GMT-5F0Lamb1.510
June 86:00 PM GMT-5F1Hockley0.640
June 87:00 PM GMT-5F1Hale2.033
June 810:00 PM GMT-5F2Hockley2.050

June 11 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 118:30 PM GMT-5F0Stephens1.017

June 16 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 1610:00 PM GMT-5F0Lamb0.613

June 20 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 209:00 PM GMT-5F0Duval2.0100

June 22 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 225:00 PM GMT-5F0Harris0.733

June 28 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 289:00 AM GMT-5F1Brazoria1.033

June 29 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 293:00 PM GMT-5F2Bee3.033$5,000 to $50,000

July 1 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 17:50 PM GMT-5F1Wood0.3100$500 to $5,000

July 6 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 66:15 PM GMT-5F0Terry0.533

July 11 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 1110:00 PM GMT-5F0Hartley0.833

July 13 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 139:20 PM GMT-5F1Swisher0.533

July 23 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 234:00 PM GMT-5F1Jefferson1.2401

July 24 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 2410:15 PM GMT-5F0Walker0.110

July 25 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 258:50 PM GMT-5F1Kleberg2.0200

July 29 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 296:30 PM GMT-5F1Grayson0.5100

August 8 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 84:00 PM GMT-5F1Johnson2.067$5,000 to $50,000

August 13 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 134:20 PM GMT-5F0Limestone0.513

August 30 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 3010:26 AM GMT-5F1Galveston0.110$5,000 to $50,000
August 302:59 PM GMT-5F2McLennan1.017$5,000 to $50,000

September 5 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 52:30 PM GMT-5F1Shelby0.117$5,000 to $50,000
September 52:31 PM GMT-5F0Dallas0.233

September 6 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 62:30 PM GMT-5F2Montague0.117$5,000 to $50,000
September 63:30 PM GMT-5F2Johnson1.550

September 7 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 72:30 PM GMT-5F2Tarrant0.450$5,000 to $50,000

September 9 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 92:10 PM GMT-5F0San Patricio1.017

October 22 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 228:05 PM GMT-5F0Dawson1.033

October 23 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 231:55 PM GMT-5F0Pecos1.040
October 231:57 PM GMT-5F0Reeves0.550

October 31 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 314:00 PM GMT-6F1Wood1.0440$5,000 to $50,000

November 8 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 811:00 AM GMT-6F3Refugio1.0501$5,000 to $50,000
November 81:00 PM GMT-6F0Refugio0.517
November 81:00 PM GMT-6F1Goliad0.110

November 19 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 1910:00 AM GMT-6F1Montague0.5100
November 1911:00 AM GMT-6F1Cooke0.517

Nearby

Every tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in TexasThe live radar over Texas

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.