Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 1975

F2 tornado, Bowie County, Texas, January 10, 1975

This F2 tornado ran 4.0 miles across Bowie County on January 10, 1975, touching down at 2:00 AM CST and reaching 107 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $50,000 to $500,000 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 mph

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

  3. F2113 to 157 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.

  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
F2
Date
January 10, 1975
Touchdown
2:00 AM CST (08:00 UTC)
Path length
4.0 miles (6.4 km)
Path width
107 yards (98 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$50,000 to $500,000
County
Bowie County
Touchdown point
33.470, -94.270
Record number
8

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.

Shreveport, LA (KSHV), 00:00Z

8.0 hours before the tornado, 120 km from the path. January 10, 1975.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Shreveport, LA at 00:00Z on 1975-01-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1205 joules per kilogram, CIN -13, lifted condensation level 829 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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, Shreveport, LA at 00:00Z on 1975-01-10The 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 151 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 44 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 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
1205 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-13 J/kg
Surface CAPE
432 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
829 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
151 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
214 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.2
Supercell composite
5.9
0-3 km lapse rate
6.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Shreveport, LA (KSHV), 12:00Z

4.0 hours after it, 120 km from the path. January 10, 1975.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 1975-01-10Temperature 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 -14839, lifted condensation level 1025 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 1975-01-10The 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 -725 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 75 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
-14839 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1025 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
75 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-725 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-477 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

This ground now

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The other tornadoes of January 10, 1975

38 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 1012:55 AM CSTF1Washington, AR0.51005$5,000 to $50,000
January 101:30 AM CSTF2Morris, TX0.3213$5,000 to $50,000
January 103:55 AM CSTF1Galveston, TX0.110$5,000 to $50,000
January 104:30 AM CSTF1Hardin, TX0.110$5,000 to $50,000
January 104:30 AM CSTF1Jasper, TX0.110$5,000 to $50,000
January 105:25 AM CSTF1Calcasieu Parish, LA0.527$5,000 to $50,000
January 106:10 AM CSTF1Arkansas, AR0.550$5,000 to $50,000
January 106:30 AM CSTF1Grant Parish, LA0.110$500 to $5,000
January 107:15 AM CSTF1Jefferson Davis Parish, LA7.633
January 107:15 AM CSTF1West Carroll Parish, LA0.5271$5,000 to $50,000
January 107:35 AM CSTF1Acadia Parish, LA13.53718$5,000 to $50,000
January 108:00 AM CSTF1Saint Landry Parish, LA1.0335$5,000 to $50,000
January 108:14 AM CSTF4Pike, MS56.52009210$5 million to $50 million
January 108:48 AM CSTF1Adams, MS11.9150$50,000 to $500,000
January 109:55 AM CSTF2Hinds, MS15.0501$50,000 to $500,000
January 1010:10 AM CSTF2Rankin, MS4.577$5,000 to $50,000
January 1011:15 AM CSTF2Saline, IL2.0587$50,000 to $500,000
January 1011:32 AM CSTF1Gallatin, IL0.110$500 to $5,000
January 1012:25 PM CSTF1Vanderburgh, IN0.550$5,000 to $50,000
January 102:00 PM CSTF1Harrison, MS0.527$50 to $500
January 102:25 PM CSTF1Jackson, MS2.533$50 to $500
January 102:30 PM CSTF1Tuscaloosa, AL0.110$5,000 to $50,000
January 102:30 PM CSTF2Jackson, MS0.170$50,000 to $500,000
January 102:45 PM CSTF1Mobile, AL0.110$5,000 to $50,000
January 102:45 PM CSTF1Marengo, AL0.110$500 to $5,000
January 102:45 PM CSTF2Jefferson, AL2.01004$50,000 to $500,000
January 103:45 PM CSTF1Jefferson, AL0.110$50,000 to $500,000
January 104:00 PM CSTF1Shelby, AL0.25014$50,000 to $500,000
January 104:14 PM CSTF3St. Clair, AL18.8150160$500,000 to $5 million
January 104:15 PM CSTF1Baldwin, AL0.110$500 to $5,000
January 104:45 PM CSTF1Autauga, AL0.110$5,000 to $50,000
January 104:50 PM CSTF2Montgomery, AL2.0100$500,000 to $5 million
January 105:55 PM CSTF1Okaloosa, FL1.0507$50,000 to $500,000
January 106:00 PM CSTF2Macon, AL1.01009$50,000 to $500,000
January 106:30 PM CSTF2Lee, AL0.110$500,000 to $5 million
January 106:30 PM CSTF1Cleburne, AL0.1501$50,000 to $500,000
January 107:30 PM CSTF0Holmes, FL0.110$5,000 to $50,000
January 109:30 PM ESTF2Transylvania, NC4.320$5,000 to $50,000

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.