Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 1967

F1 tornado, Medina County, Texas, September 20, 1967

This F1 tornado ran 1.0 miles across Medina County on September 20, 1967, touching down at 10:00 PM GMT-5 and reaching 300 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $5,000 to $50,000 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
September 20, 1967
Touchdown
10:00 PM GMT-5 (03:00 UTC)
Path length
1.0 miles (1.6 km)
Path width
300 yards (274 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$5,000 to $50,000
County
Medina County
Touchdown point
29.130, -98.920
Record number
764

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.

Del Rio, TX (KDRT), 00:00Z

3.0 hours before the tornado, 188 km from the path. September 21, 1967.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Del Rio, TX at 00:00Z on 1967-09-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -2526, lifted condensation level 1530 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
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.
HodographHodograph, Del Rio, TX at 00:00Z on 1967-09-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 27 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 13 knots.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2526 J/kg
Surface CAPE
255 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1530 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
27 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-1 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
7.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Del Rio, TX (KDRT), 12:00Z

9.0 hours after it, 188 km from the path. September 21, 1967.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Del Rio, TX at 12:00Z on 1967-09-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 243 joules per kilogram, CIN -7, lifted condensation level 716 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
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.
HodographHodograph, Del Rio, TX at 12:00Z on 1967-09-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 112 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 27 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
243 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Surface CAPE
240 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
716 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
112 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
111 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 1967 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of September 20, 1967

68 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 204:00 AM GMT-5F1Victoria, TX0.1101$5,000 to $50,000
September 204:10 AM GMT-5F2Calhoun, TX15.4101$500 to $5,000
September 205:00 AM GMT-5F0Goliad, TX0.110
September 205:00 AM GMT-5F0Goliad, TX0.110
September 205:00 AM GMT-5F0Goliad, TX0.110
September 205:00 AM GMT-5F0Goliad, TX0.110
September 205:00 AM GMT-5F0Goliad, TX0.110
September 205:00 AM GMT-5F0Goliad, TX0.110
September 205:20 AM GMT-5F1Calhoun, TX0.1101$5,000 to $50,000
September 206:00 AM GMT-5F1Colorado, TX0.110$5,000 to $50,000
September 206:00 AM GMT-5F3Matagorda, TX1.010047$5,000 to $50,000
September 206:28 AM GMT-5F0Bexar, TX0.110
September 206:30 AM GMT-5F1Jackson, TX0.110$5,000 to $50,000
September 206:30 AM GMT-5F1Jackson, TX0.110$5,000 to $50,000
September 208:00 AM GMT-5F1Fort Bend, TX0.110$500 to $5,000
September 208:00 AM GMT-5F0Kleberg, TX0.110
September 209:00 AM GMT-5F1Jackson, TX0.110$500 to $5,000
September 209:00 AM GMT-5F1Wharton, TX0.1102$5,000 to $50,000
September 209:00 AM GMT-5F0Victoria, TX0.110
September 209:00 AM GMT-5F0Victoria, TX0.110
September 209:00 AM GMT-5F0Victoria, TX0.110
September 209:00 AM GMT-5F0Jackson, TX0.110
September 209:00 AM GMT-5F0Kleberg, TX0.110
September 209:00 AM GMT-5F1Matagorda, TX1.033$50 to $500
September 209:00 AM GMT-5F0Matagorda, TX0.110$50 to $500
September 209:00 AM GMT-5F1Wharton, TX0.110under $50
September 209:00 AM GMT-5F3Jackson, TX0.1103
September 209:20 AM GMT-5F2Brazoria, TX13.810$500 to $5,000
September 209:50 AM GMT-5F0Matagorda, TX0.110
September 2010:00 AM GMT-5F1Jackson, TX0.1101$5,000 to $50,000
September 2010:15 AM GMT-5F1Lavaca, TX0.1103$5,000 to $50,000
September 2010:20 AM GMT-5F1Wharton, TX0.11011$5,000 to $50,000
September 2010:30 AM GMT-5F1Jackson, TX0.110$50 to $500
September 2010:30 AM GMT-5F1Jackson, TX0.110$50 to $500
September 2010:30 AM GMT-5F1Jackson, TX0.110$50 to $500
September 2011:00 AM GMT-5F1Travis, TX0.5331$500 to $5,000
September 2011:00 AM GMT-5F0Travis, TX0.133$500 to $5,000
September 2011:00 AM GMT-5F0Travis, TX0.133$500 to $5,000
September 2011:00 AM GMT-5F0Travis, TX0.133$500 to $5,000
September 2011:00 AM GMT-5F1Travis, TX1.033$500 to $5,000
September 2011:15 AM GMT-5F0DeWitt, TX0.110
September 2011:15 AM GMT-5F1Bee, TX0.110$5,000 to $50,000
September 2011:20 AM GMT-5F1Jackson, TX0.1101$5,000 to $50,000
September 2011:35 AM GMT-5F1Karnes, TX0.110$50 to $500
September 2011:45 AM GMT-5F0Hays, TX0.110under $50
September 2011:45 AM GMT-5F1Hays, TX0.110$50 to $500
September 2012:00 PM GMT-5F1Gonzales, TX7.710
September 2012:00 PM GMT-5F1Gonzales, TX0.110$500 to $5,000
September 2012:07 PM GMT-5F3Lavaca, TX4.33334$500,000 to $5 million
September 201:25 PM GMT-5F0Mason, TX0.110
September 201:30 PM GMT-5F1Gonzales, TX0.1101$50,000 to $500,000
September 202:15 PM GMT-5F1Guadalupe, TX0.110$500 to $5,000
September 202:30 PM GMT-5F0Galveston, TX0.110
September 203:00 PM GMT-5F3Comal, TX5.067$50,000 to $500,000
September 203:11 PM GMT-5F0Wilson, TX0.110
September 204:00 PM GMT-5F3Lavaca, TX2.01673$5,000 to $50,000
September 204:30 PM GMT-5F0DeWitt, TX0.110
September 205:40 PM GMT-5F1Victoria, TX0.110$50 to $500
September 205:55 PM GMT-5F1Republic, KS3.010$500 to $5,000
September 206:00 PM GMT-5F1Guadalupe, TX0.110$50 to $500

All 69 of them

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.