Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 1989
F1 tornado, Johnson County, Texas, May 16, 1989
This F1 tornado ran 2.5 miles across Johnson County on May 16, 1989, touching down at 7:38 PM CDT and reaching 73 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $5 million to $50 million 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.
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 mphthis tornado
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.
The record
- Rating
- F1
- Date
- May 16, 1989
- Touchdown
- 7:38 PM CDT (00:38 UTC)
- Path length
- 2.5 miles (4.0 km)
- Path width
- 73 yards (67 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $5 million to $50 million
- County
- Johnson County
- Touchdown point
- 32.350, -97.400
- Record number
- 261
The warnings
1 minute of warning. NWS FWD issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:37 UTC, 1 minute before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:15 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00:06 UTC | 01:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD |
| 00:31 UTC | 01:30 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | FWD |
| 00:37 UTC | 01:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | FWD |
| 10:19 UTC | 15:15 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | FWD |
Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.
The forecast that day
The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 06:19 UTC.
SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.
The surface observations
Fort Worth Nas (NFW), 48 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22:45 UTC | 100° 12 kt | 18 | 1006.4 | |||
| 23:00 UTC | 69 | 68 | 90° 10 kt | 16 | 1006.4 | |
| 23:24 UTC | 330° 10 kt | 1008.1 | ||||
| 00:00 UTC | 69 | 67 | 30° 20 kt | 24 | 1006.8 | |
| 00:40 UTC | 10° 12 kt | 29 | 1008.5 | |||
| 01:00 UTC | 68 | 67 | 10° 8 kt | 20 | 1008.1 | |
| 01:22 UTC | 10° 5 kt | 1008.1 | ||||
| 02:00 UTC | 68 | 66 | 90° 10 kt | 19 | 1008.5 |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 1989 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of May 16, 1989
16 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 16 | 11:10 AM MDT | F0 | Quay, NM | 10.0 | 50 | |||
| May 16 | 12:53 PM CDT | F1 | Jones, TX | 1.0 | 100 | |||
| May 16 | 1:54 PM CDT | F1 | Coleman, TX | 0.2 | 10 | |||
| May 16 | 2:55 PM CDT | F1 | Oldham, TX | 3.0 | 80 | 2 | $50,000 to $500,000 | |
| May 16 | 5:20 PM CDT | F0 | Randall, TX | 1.5 | 60 | |||
| May 16 | 5:35 PM CDT | F2 | Randall, TX | 10.0 | 300 | |||
| May 16 | 5:55 PM CDT | F0 | Potter, TX | 3.0 | 50 | |||
| May 16 | 5:55 PM CDT | F0 | Randall, TX | 1.0 | 40 | |||
| May 16 | 6:02 PM CDT | F0 | Potter, TX | 0.1 | 40 | |||
| May 16 | 6:23 PM CDT | F1 | Potter, TX | 0.2 | 110 | $5,000 to $50,000 | ||
| May 16 | 7:00 PM CDT | F1 | Hood, TX | 0.5 | 73 | |||
| May 16 | 7:15 PM CDT | F1 | Hood, TX | 0.5 | 73 | $50,000 to $500,000 | ||
| May 16 | 10:10 PM CDT | F1 | Val Verde, TX | 8.0 | 200 | 1 | $500,000 to $5 million | |
| May 16 | 12:08 AM CDT | F4 | Kinney, TX | 17.0 | 300 | $500,000 to $5 million | ||
| May 16 | 12:10 AM CDT | F1 | Gaines, TX | 2.5 | 60 | |||
| May 16 | 12:29 AM CDT | F0 | Val Verde, TX | 0.2 | 10 |
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.