Tornadoes · United States · Texas

1978 tornadoes in Texas

137 tornadoes touched down in Texas in 1978, 8 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 1 people and injured 2.

1977 1979 The whole country in 1978

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.

F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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 1978

April 3 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
April 3	5:20 PM CST	F0	Hardeman	4.5	10
April 3	5:20 PM CST	F1	Childress	0.2	10	under $50
April 3	6:00 PM CST	F0	Hardeman	0.1	10

April 4 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 4	7:10 PM CST	F1	Briscoe	0.5	30			under $50
April 4	10:30 PM CST	F1	Crosby	0.5	30			$5,000 to $50,000

April 7 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 7	7:05 PM CST	F0	Reeves	4.7	10			under $50

April 8 7 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
April 8	5:37 PM CST	F2	Lubbock	2.0	30	$50,000 to $500,000
April 8	6:20 PM CST	F0	Hale	2.0	30
April 8	6:20 PM CST	F1	Floyd	2.0	30
April 8	6:35 PM CST	F0	Lubbock	1.0	30
April 8	6:50 PM CST	F1	Floyd	4.9	20
April 8	7:05 PM CST	F1	Floyd	5.6	300
April 8	7:40 PM CST	F2	Hale	2.0	100	$500 to $5,000

April 9 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
April 9	1:58 AM CST	F0	Lamb	0.1	10	under $50
April 9	4:15 PM CST	F0	Coke	0.1	10	under $50
April 9	4:30 PM CST	F0	Dawson	0.3	10	under $50
April 9	10:45 PM CST	F0	Concho	0.1	10

April 22 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
April 22	3:50 PM CST	F0	Parker	0.1	10
April 22	4:00 PM CST	F0	Smith	0.1	10	$5,000 to $50,000
April 22	4:25 PM CST	F0	Parker	0.1	10
April 22	4:30 PM CST	F1	Parker	8.2	10	$5,000 to $50,000
April 22	5:50 PM CST	F1	Jackson	0.1	17	$5,000 to $50,000
April 22	6:00 PM CST	F1	Fort Bend	19.0	20	$500 to $5,000

April 23 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 23	3:25 PM CST	F1	DeWitt	0.1	13			$50 to $500

April 24 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 24	9:10 PM CST	F0	Upshur	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000

April 30 9 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
April 30	4:24 PM CDT	F2	Ochiltree	8.6	100	$50,000 to $500,000
April 30	5:28 PM CDT	F3	Lipscomb	14.4	100	$5,000 to $50,000
April 30	6:20 PM CDT	F1	San Saba	5.9	10	$500 to $5,000
April 30	6:35 PM CDT	F1	Mills	5.9	10	$5,000 to $50,000
April 30	7:20 PM CDT	F2	Johnson	2.0	10	$5,000 to $50,000
April 30	7:33 PM CDT	F1	Hamilton	0.1	10
April 30	7:50 PM CDT	F1	Johnson	11.3	10	$5,000 to $50,000
April 30	8:20 PM CDT	F2	Bosque	0.1	10	$500 to $5,000
April 30	8:30 PM CDT	F0	Ellis	0.1	10

May 2 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 2	2:05 AM CDT	F0	Tarrant	0.1	10
May 2	7:42 AM CDT	F0	Lubbock	3.3	60
May 2	9:35 AM CDT	F0	Crane	2.0	30
May 2	7:20 PM CDT	F1	Medina	0.1	13	$500 to $5,000
May 2	10:35 PM CDT	F0	Reagan	2.0	30

May 3 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 3	5:30 PM CDT	F0	Lipscomb	6.5	400			$50,000 to $500,000

May 4 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 4	5:50 PM CDT	F0	Sherman	11.3	60			$50,000 to $500,000

May 5 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 5	3:31 AM CDT	F3	Hunt	29.9	10	$5,000 to $50,000
May 5	6:45 PM CDT	F0	Dallam	4.5	30
May 5	7:30 PM CDT	F0	Dallam	2.0	30

May 11 17 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 11	6:00 PM CDT	F0	Tarrant	0.1	10	$500 to $5,000
May 11	6:15 PM CDT	F1	Ellis	0.1	10	$5,000 to $50,000
May 11	6:26 PM CDT	F3	Hill	7.2	10	$5,000 to $50,000
May 11	6:30 PM CDT	F1	Ellis	0.1	10	$50,000 to $500,000
May 11	7:30 PM CDT	F0	Van Zandt	0.1	10
May 11	7:30 PM CDT	F0	Van Zandt	0.1	10
May 11	7:30 PM CDT	F1	Henderson	0.1	10	$5,000 to $50,000
May 11	7:31 PM CDT	F0	Van Zandt	0.1	10
May 11	7:50 PM CDT	F0	Smith	0.1	10
May 11	8:10 PM CDT	F0	Smith	0.1	10
May 11	8:15 PM CDT	F0	Smith	0.1	10
May 11	8:35 PM CDT	F1	Gregg	0.1	10
May 11	8:39 PM CDT	F1	Gregg	0.1	10
May 11	8:40 PM CDT	F1	Gregg	12.1	10	$50,000 to $500,000
May 11	8:51 PM CDT	F1	Anderson	0.1	10	$500 to $5,000
May 11	9:11 PM CDT	F1	Harrison	0.1	10	$5,000 to $50,000
May 11	11:42 PM CDT	F1	Smith	1.0	10	$5,000 to $50,000

May 12 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
May 12	4:30 PM CDT	F1	Kaufman	0.1	10
May 12	9:05 PM CDT	F0	Houston	0.1	10
May 12	9:05 PM CDT	F0	Houston	0.1	10
May 12	9:05 PM CDT	F0	Houston	0.1	10

May 16 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 16	6:00 PM CDT	F0	Stephens	3.0	10

May 17 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 17	7:32 PM CDT	F0	Coleman	0.1	10

May 18 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 18	9:15 PM CDT	F1	Foard	1.5	20			$5,000 to $50,000

May 19 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 19	5:23 PM CDT	F0	Hale	2.0	30	$500 to $5,000
May 19	5:45 PM CDT	F0	Swisher	4.5	30
May 19	7:40 PM CDT	F0	Hall	6.1	50
May 19	7:50 PM CDT	F0	Cottle	8.9	50	$5,000 to $50,000

May 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 20	12:11 AM CDT	F0	Wheeler	2.0	30

May 25 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 25	7:15 PM CDT	F0	Pecos	2.0	40	$50,000 to $500,000
May 25	7:20 PM CDT	F0	Lubbock	3.6	60	$50,000 to $500,000
May 25	7:25 PM CDT	F0	Deaf Smith	6.1	60	$50,000 to $500,000
May 25	7:35 PM CDT	F0	Lubbock	1.0	30

May 26 10 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Damage
May 26	5:00 PM CDT	F1	Reeves	2.0	60		$50,000 to $500,000
May 26	5:30 PM CDT	F0	Reeves	1.0	30
May 26	7:20 PM CDT	F0	Lubbock	4.5	30
May 26	7:56 PM CDT	F0	Randall	1.0	40
May 26	8:04 PM CDT	F0	Deaf Smith	2.0	30		$50,000 to $500,000
May 26	8:25 PM CDT	F0	Deaf Smith	2.0	50
May 26	11:00 PM CDT	F0	Donley	1.0	40		$5,000 to $50,000
May 26	11:19 PM CDT	F0	Hall	4.5	60	1
May 26	11:38 PM CDT	F0	Hall	1.0	30
May 26	11:40 PM CDT	F0	Hall	1.0	40

May 27 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 27	3:00 AM CDT	F0	Collingsworth	2.0	30
May 27	3:08 PM CDT	F0	Hall	1.0	30

May 28 7 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 28	4:40 PM CDT	F0	Callahan	0.1	10
May 28	5:45 PM CDT	F0	Ellis	0.1	10
May 28	6:00 PM CDT	F0	Ellis	0.1	10
May 28	6:03 PM CDT	F0	Ellis	0.1	10
May 28	7:02 PM CDT	F0	Mitchell	3.3	60	$500 to $5,000
May 28	8:15 PM CDT	F0	Scurry	1.0	30
May 28	9:40 PM CDT	F0	Garza	9.1	90

May 29 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 29	5:20 PM CDT	F2	Harris	0.2	20			$50,000 to $500,000

May 31 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 31	4:35 PM CDT	F0	Deaf Smith	2.0	30
May 31	4:50 PM CDT	F0	Parmer	1.0	30

June 1 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 1	11:15 PM CDT	F0	Bailey	1.0	30

June 4 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
June 4	1:43 AM CDT	F0	Sherman	1.0	60
June 4	9:20 PM CDT	F0	Bailey	0.5	17
June 4	10:42 PM CDT	F0	Hale	0.5	17
June 4	10:43 PM CDT	F0	Lubbock	0.5	20

June 6 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 6	5:52 PM CDT	F1	Harris	7.0	10

June 7 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 7	3:30 PM CDT	F1	Lamar	0.1	10	$5,000 to $50,000
June 7	4:30 PM CDT	F0	Lamar	0.1	10
June 7	9:30 PM CDT	F1	McLennan	0.1	10	$5,000 to $50,000

June 30 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 30	6:45 PM CDT	F1	Wood	2.0	50			$5,000 to $50,000

July 1 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 1	5:20 PM CDT	F0	Sherman	0.4	10

July 3 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 3	4:34 PM CDT	F0	Garza	0.5	10			$50 to $500
July 3	4:50 PM CDT	F2	Taylor	0.1	50			$50,000 to $500,000

July 4 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 4	8:05 PM CDT	F0	Crosby	1.0	50

July 5 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 5	1:28 PM CDT	F1	Orange	1.0	20			$50 to $500
July 5	2:58 PM CDT	F0	Jefferson	0.1	20			$500 to $5,000

July 16 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 16	10:00 PM CDT	F0	Harris	0.2	13

July 18 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 18	3:45 PM CDT	F0	Bailey	0.4	10			$5,000 to $50,000

July 26 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 26	4:55 PM CDT	F1	Llano	0.1	30			$5,000 to $50,000

July 27 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 27	4:08 PM CDT	F1	Galveston	0.1	20			$5,000 to $50,000

July 28 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 28	2:20 PM CDT	F1	Live Oak	1.0	33			$50 to $500
July 28	3:15 PM CDT	F2	Williamson	0.5	30			$5,000 to $50,000

July 31 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 31	2:30 PM CDT	F0	San Patricio	0.1	13			$5,000 to $50,000

August 15 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 15	8:25 PM CDT	F0	Crosby	0.5	30
August 15	8:50 PM CDT	F0	Dickens	0.4	30

August 21 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 21	2:20 PM CDT	F0	Nueces	0.2	17

August 25 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 25	10:00 AM CDT	F0	Nueces	0.1	13

August 27 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 27	6:25 PM CDT	F0	Garza	2.0	27

August 28 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 28	4:20 PM CDT	F1	Hardin	0.3	20			$500 to $5,000

September 11 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 11	2:00 PM CDT	F1	Nacogdoches	0.1	10			$500 to $5,000
September 11	4:35 PM CDT	F0	Aransas	0.2	17

September 13 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 13	7:15 AM CDT	F0	McMullen	0.1	20
September 13	3:00 PM CDT	F0	Tyler	0.1	10

September 14 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 14	6:45 AM CDT	F1	Sabine to LA	9.3	10		2

October 5 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 5	1:45 PM CDT	F1	Galveston	0.1	20			$5,000 to $50,000

November 26 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
November 26	8:00 AM CST	F0	Nacogdoches	0.1	10	$500 to $5,000
November 26	9:00 AM CST	F0	Angelina	0.1	10	$500 to $5,000
November 26	9:05 AM CST	F1	Angelina	1.0	10	$500 to $5,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Texas since 1950 Warnings in force in Texas The 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.