Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 1994

F0 tornado, De Leon, Texas, April 26, 1994

This F0 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Comanche County on April 26, 1994, touching down at 4:52 PM CDT and reaching 10 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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 mphthis tornado

    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.

The record

Rating
F0
Date
April 26, 1994
Touchdown
4:52 PM CDT (21:52 UTC)
Path length
0.1 miles (0.2 km)
Path width
10 yards (9 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Comanche County
Touchdown point
32.030, -98.550
Record number
210

What the Weather Service recorded

A brief tornado touchdown was reported south of De Leon near Downing. 1 W Comanche,26,1611CST,Short,Narrow,0,0,0,0,Tornado (F0) A brief tornado touchdown was reported just west of Comanche.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

The warnings

13 minutes of warning. NWS FWD issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:39 UTC, 13 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:30 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
20:39 UTC21:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWD
21:25 UTC22:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWD
21:39 UTC22:30 UTCTornado WarningFWD
22:26 UTC23:30 UTCTornado WarningFWD
23:27 UTC00:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWD

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 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.

Stephenville/Cla, TX (KSEP), 12:00Z

9.9 hours before the tornado, 47 km from the path. April 26, 1994.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Stephenville/Cla, TX at 12:00Z on 1994-04-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1433 joules per kilogram, CIN -106, lifted condensation level 684 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 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, Stephenville/Cla, TX at 12:00Z on 1994-04-26The 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 64 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 50 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
1433 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-106 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1622 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
684 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
5 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
203 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
1.4
0-3 km lapse rate
5.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Stephenville/Cla, TX (KSEP), 00:00Z

2.1 hours after it, 47 km from the path. April 27, 1994.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Stephenville/Cla, TX at 00:00Z on 1994-04-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 95 joules per kilogram, CIN -357, lifted condensation level 2053 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 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, Stephenville/Cla, TX at 00:00Z on 1994-04-27The 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 -48 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 48 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 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
95 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-357 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2053 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-48 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
102 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.1
0-3 km lapse rate
4.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 1994 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 26, 1994

65 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 266:03 AM CDTF1Story, IA1.030$5,000 to $50,000
April 2612:00 PM CDTF2Washington, MN5.01,3001$500,000 to $5 million
April 2612:50 PM CDTF0Archer, TX0.120
April 261:03 PM CDTF1Dunn, WI4.01,200$50,000 to $500,000
April 261:05 PM CDTF2Archer, TX9.5150$50,000 to $500,000
April 261:10 PM CDTF2Barron, WI4.01,200$50,000 to $500,000
April 261:30 PM CDTF0Carter, OK0.130
April 262:20 PM CDTF2Price, WI12.01,200$50,000 to $500,000
April 262:40 PM CDTF0Montague, TX0.110
April 262:55 PM CDTF0Wise, TX0.110
April 263:07 PM CDTF0Montague, TX2.8100
April 263:25 PM CDTF1Atoka, OK9.080$500 to $5,000
April 263:30 PM CDTF1Montague, TX5.0200$50,000 to $500,000
April 263:30 PM CDTF0Montague, TX0.110
April 263:37 PM CDTF0Cooke, TX0.110
April 263:45 PM CDTF2Cooke, TX16.02008$5 million to $50 million
April 263:46 PM CDTF1Pittsburg, OK3.073$50 to $500
April 263:50 PM CDTF0Cooke, TX1.0100$50,000 to $500,000
April 263:55 PM CDTF1Vilas, WI4.5150$5,000 to $50,000
April 264:02 PM CDTF1Pushmataha, OK12.080$500 to $5,000
April 264:05 PM CDTF0Cooke, TX0.110$500 to $5,000
April 264:10 PM CDTF0Cooke, TX4.0100$5,000 to $50,000
April 265:10 PM EDTF0Hillsborough, FL0.110$500,000 to $5 million
April 264:20 PM CDTF1Latimer, OK6.050$5,000 to $50,000
April 262:30 PM MSTF0Mohave, AZ3.020
April 264:30 PM CDTF0Grayson, TX0.110
April 264:40 PM CDTF0Grayson, TX0.110
April 265:11 PM CDTF0Comanche, TX0.110
April 265:15 PM CDTF0Grayson, TX0.110
April 266:03 PM CDTF0DeSoto, MS3.050$500 to $5,000
April 266:05 PM CDTF0Erath, TX0.110
April 266:18 PM CDTF1Bryan, OK8.540$50,000 to $500,000
April 266:20 PM CDTF2Bosque, TX1.01001$50,000 to $500,000
April 266:35 PM CDTF0Bryan, OK1.540$500 to $5,000
April 266:50 PM CDTF1Greene, MO0.533$5,000 to $50,000
April 266:55 PM CDTF0Polk, MO2.050
April 267:00 PM CDTF0Fannin, TX0.110
April 267:00 PM CDTF2Lamar, TX6.0100$50,000 to $500,000
April 267:05 PM CDTF0DeSoto, MS1.050$50 to $500
April 267:06 PM CDTF0Bosque, TX0.110
April 267:20 PM CDTF0Fannin, TX0.110
April 267:20 PM CDTF0Fannin, TX0.110$5,000 to $50,000
April 267:22 PM CDTF1Laclede, MO2.550$5,000 to $50,000
April 267:25 PM CDTF0Marshall, MS0.523$50 to $500
April 267:25 PM CDTF0Lamar, TX0.110
April 267:45 PM CDTF1Wright, MO1.050$5,000 to $50,000
April 267:50 PM CDTF0Marshall, MS0.210$50 to $500
April 268:20 PM CDTF0Callaway, MO0.620
April 268:30 PM CDTF0Bosque, TX0.110
April 268:35 PM CDTF0Red River, TX0.110
April 268:50 PM CDTF0Erath, TX0.110$5,000 to $50,000
April 269:30 PM CDTF0Douglas, IL1.0100
April 269:31 PM CDTF1Coles, IL3.0130$500,000 to $5 million
April 269:35 PM CDTF0Jefferson, MO0.330$500 to $5,000
April 269:40 PM CDTF1Lake, IL to IN2.020$5,000 to $50,000
April 269:40 PM CDTF0Will, IL3.020$5,000 to $50,000
April 269:43 PM CDTF1Bosque, TX0.110$50,000 to $500,000
April 269:45 PM CDTF1Iroquois, IL1.020$5,000 to $50,000
April 269:45 PM ESTF0Pulaski, IN0.130
April 269:45 PM ESTF2Pulaski, IN20.0440$50,000 to $500,000

All 66 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.