F0 tornado, Whiteface, Texas, June 14, 1997

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.

Rating

F0

Date

June 14, 1997

Touchdown

4:40 PM CDT (21:40 UTC)

Path length

0.2 miles (0.3 km)

Path width

10 yards (9 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$10,000

County

Cochran County

Touchdown point

33.580, -102.620

Lift-off point

33.580, -102.620

Record number

350

Severe thunderstorms developed over the western portions of the South Plains during the afternoon of the 14th. A deputy from the Cochran County Sheriff's Office reported a tornado briefly touched down just south of Whiteface. It destroyed a barn, snapped power lines, and toppled a 160-foot section of a 300-foot radio tower. Golfball-sized hail was also reported with this storm by the public and spotters. During the afternoon, nickel-sized hail was also reported by the public in Parmer County just west of Bovina. Golfball-sized hail was reported by a NWS cooperative observer in Lynn County 6 miles north-northeast of Wilson. During the late afternoon, storms producing very strong winds moved into the South Plains from southeast New Mexico. Winds up to 80 mph in Yoakum County damaged numerous roofs and trees. Uprooted trees, overturned dumpsters, and downed power lines were reported at Yoakum County Park. The Yoakum County Golf Course had numerous trees uprooted or snapped off two to three feet from their base along with damage to golf cart sheds. An awning was damaged at a local car dealership in Denver City. Part of the roof of a Denver City business blew away while the roof at the sheriff's office received major damage as well. These high winds moved east across the South Plains and Rolling Plains during the evening. A sheep barn was destroyed in Lamb County west of Littlefield when it was blown 600 feet into an adjacent field. An outbuilding was destroyed in Hockley County near Whitharral. Throughout the evening, there were numerous reports of downed power poles and trees as strong winds affected virtually the entire area.

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

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:56 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 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.

Lubbock International Airport (LBB), 74 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Lubbock radar (KLBB), 75 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:42 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

The live radar over the trackEvery 1997 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

12 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.