F3 tornado, Cedar Park to Beecaves, Texas, May 27, 1997

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 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 mphthis tornado

   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

F3

Date

May 27, 1997

Touchdown

4:05 PM CDT (21:05 UTC)

Path length

9.2 miles (14.8 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

15

Property damage

$70 million

Counties

Williamson and Travis counties

Touchdown point

30.550, -97.820

Lift-off point

30.430, -97.880

Record number

719

The Cedar Park tornado formed around 3:05 pm CST from a different supercell thunderstorm. It first touched down about 3.5 miles north of Cedar Park at a location 0.6 miles south of CR 178 and 1.4 miles east of the intersection of US 183 and CR 178. The initial damage was to trees, however, the ground survey revealed damage nearby to a church and a trucking company. The aerial survey did not reflect this damage as being in line with the damage path. It is quite possible this damage was caused by strong wind near the tornado. The beginning point was in a relatively open area with damage primarily to a few trees and minor shingle damage to one house.The tornado moved south-southwestward skirting a residential area before it crossed CR 180 immediately east of US 183. A historic train located on the north side of CR 180 just to the east of US 183 was in the direct path of the tornado. While the engine remained on the track, a coal tender converted to hold diesel fuel and weighing approximately 65,000 pounds including the 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel was flipped over and thrown a short distance.Continuing across CR180, it entered a shopping center where it weakened and pushed inward slightly the north wall of a grocery store. It also pushed large metal doors inward that were built to open toward the outside. Damage at this point had been generally F2 with brief F3 as the tornado knocked the train tender off the track and damaged the wall and doors of the food store. It tore off much of a weakly supported roof of a grocery store. The manager of the store, who had been a victim of the Wichita Falls Tornado of 1979, saw the approaching tornado, and made an announcement to all in the store to meet him in the middle of the store. He then led everyone he could gather into the meat locker. This very quick and decisive action probably saved several lives. The tornado crossed US 183 causing additional damage to a number of businesses. One business on the west side of US 183 lost nearly the entire roof. Most damage to other businesses was believed to be minor. After crossing US 183 the tornado moved across Marquis Lane and North Park Circle moving through an area with widely scattered housing and a relative abundance of trees. Again, most damage to structures in this area was minor.From North Park Circle the tornado moved into the northwestern portion of Buttercup Creek, a subdivision of well constructed homes. Damage to homes was irregular with one house losing a roof but the house next door losing only shingles. Two homes in the area were nearly destroyed an one damaged when a pickup truck was lifted and tossed against its front wall. Eleven homes were destroyed, with damage reported to over 100 homes. The damage level ranged from F0 to F2. At this point, the tornado track was taking a gentle right turn as the tornado track became more southwesterly. The tornado moved into a wooded area crossing into Travis County before ending 1.1 miles from Lake Travis. Damage in the wooded area was irregular ranging from near total destruction of all trees to sections with about 10 percent of the trees down.

The Pedernales Valley tornado began on the shore of Lake Travis destroying trees and a floating marina where nearly all of the watercraft were destroyed. While numerous trees were twisted and uprooted in this area, several structures sustained only what appeared to be minor damage that would be no more than F0. The tornado was initially moving westward as it moved into rough terrain. A number of structures sustained varying damage until the tornado reached Bee Creek Road. At that location, a Southwest Bell building housing telephone switching equipment was destroyed. The building was well constructed and was one of several buildings which indicated at F4 rating for this tornado. Bee Creek Road takes a bend close to the telephone building and across the street a house was destroyed with walls knocked down.Approximately 2.2 miles from the lake, the tornado path takes a distinct dog leg turn toward the southwest. The point at which this dog-leg turn occurred also corresponds with a knoll. Trees and buildings at the top of the knoll were destroyed. After the dog-leg turn, the tornado assumed a heading of 250 degrees and crossed a major power distribution line. One steel tower was destroyed bringing all lines to the ground. The tornado remained on the 250 degree heading moving through the area described as the Hazy Hills subdivision. Numerous houses and several mobile homes were totally destroyed. Several houses survived but sustained major damage making them totally uninhabitable.The only death associated with this tornado occurred here when one man was killed. He lived in a mobile home that was demolished and his vehicle was tossed several hundred feet. Other survey team members were unable to learn whether he was in the mobile home or had left it to drive away.The tornado continued west-southwest moving across State Road (SR) 71. A number of well built homes in the Hazy Hills subdivision were heavily damaged or destroyed. Crossing SR 71, the tornado moved into another subdivision with widely separated houses in the Lick Creek valley, a steep walled creek that feeds into the Pedernales River. One stone-walled house located just north of Pedernales Drive and west of SR 71 was completely deroofed. Other structures in this subdivision sustained roof damage in the F2 range. After following the terrain into the creek it climbed another rise in the land before ending shortly after passing the crest of the small hill. As the tornado ended, damage was minimal to trees.

The deaths

1 direct deaths are recorded for this tornado, each with what Storm Data knows of it.

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

35 minutes of warning. NWS EWX issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:30 UTC, 35 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:30 UTC.

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 Moderate Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 06:03 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.

Austin - City/Camp Mabry (ATT), 21 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

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

24 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.