Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2003

F0 tornado, Hansford County, Texas, June 5, 2003

This F0 tornado ran 4.0 miles across Hansford County on June 5, 2003, touching down at 5:30 PM CDT and reaching 440 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $600,000 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.

  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
June 5, 2003
Touchdown
5:30 PM CDT (22:30 UTC)
Path length
4.0 miles (6.4 km)
Path width
440 yards (402 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$600,000
County
Hansford County
Touchdown point
36.120, -101.200
Lift-off point
36.130, -101.120
Record number
484

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
21:42 UTC22:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMA

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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 19:44 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.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Amarillo, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Jun 5, 4:06 PM CDT, 1 hour 24 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 5, 4:06 PM CDT, 1 hour 24 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
400 PM CDT THU 05 JUN 2003

ANOTHER ROUND OF THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING ASSOCIATED WITH UPPER
LEVEL SYSTEM APPROACHING FROM THE NORTHWEST. MAIN CONCENTRATION WILL
OCCUR DURING THE EVENING THEN MOVING SOUTH AFTER MIDNIGHT. MOISTURE
DEPTH AND STORM SPEEDS SUPPORT HEAVY RAIN PRODUCERS. FLASH FLOOD
WATCH CONTINUES INTO TONIGHT.

FRONTAL BOUNDARY PUSHES MOISTURE SOUTH OF THE AREA ON FRIDAY...BUT
RETURN FLOW WILL REPLENISH LOW LEVELS BY SATURDAY WHEN THE NEXT
FRONT PASSES THROUGH THE PANHANDLES.

RELATIVELY DRY CONDITIONS WILL OCCUR DURING THE EXTENDED PERIOD.

FCSTID = 08

AMARILLO    51 76 54 77 / 100 10 20 20
BEAVER      49 75 56 74 / 90 00 20 20
BOISE CITY  47 75 52 72 / 80 00 20 20
BORGER      51 76 55 76 / 90 10 20 20
BOYS RANCH  49 76 54 76 / 90 10 20 20
CANYON      51 77 54 78 / 100 10 20 20
CLARENDON   56 77 57 78 / 100 10 20 20
DALHART     47 76 52 74 / 90 00 20 20
GUYMON      48 75 54 73 / 90 00 20 20
HEREFORD    51 77 53 78 / 100 10 20 20
LIPSCOMB    53 76 56 76 / 100 10 20 20
PAMPA       53 76 55 77 / 100 10 20 20
SHAMROCK    58 77 57 78 / 100 10 20 20
WELLINGTON  59 77 58 78 / 100 10 20 20

.AMA...
TX...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR ALL ZONES TONIGHT.
OK...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR ALL ZONES TONIGHT.
Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 5, 1:00 PM CDT, 4 hours 30 minutes before
OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-061100-

TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
100 PM CDT THU JUN 5 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA
PANHANDLES.

.DAY ONE...

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TODAY AND TONIGHT
ACROSS THE WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. THE SLIGHT
RISK AREA IS SOUTH AND WEST OF A LINE FROM TEXLINE...TO DUMAS...TO
JUST EAST OF AMARILLO. THE MAIN THREAT IN THIS AREA WILL BE DAMAGING
WINDS...LARGE HAIL AND TORRENTIAL RAINFALL. SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS
WILL BE POSSIBLE EARLY IN THE EVENT...SO TORNADOES ARE A THREAT AS
WELL. AN APPROACHING UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE...AND NUMEROUS OUTFLOW
BOUNDARIES...WILL HELP FOCUS ACTIVITY DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND
NIGHT HOURS. ELSEWHERE...GENERAL THUNDERSTORMS...SOME CONTAINING
HEAVY RAINFALL...WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN
EFFECT FOR THE REGION THROUGH TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL RETURN FOR SATURDAY
ACROSS THE EASTERN THIRD OF THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES.
DAMAGING WINDS...HEAVY RAINFALL...AND LARGE HAIL WILL BE
THE PRIMARY SEVERE WEATHER THREATS.  THERE IS THE POTENTIAL
FOR THUNDERSTORMS TO PERSIST THROUGH SUNDAY. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL
HAVE THE POSSIBILITY OF BECOMING SEVERE...AS WELL THE CONTINUED
POSSIBILITY OF LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS LIKELY TODAY...ESPECIALLY LATE THIS AFTERNOON
AND OVERNIGHT. SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY AGAIN BE NECESSARY ON SATURDAY
AND SUNDAY.

FOX

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 5, 4:12 PM CDT, 1 hour 18 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
412 PM CDT THU JUN 05 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0402 PM    STRATFORD                 TX   65 MPH WIND GUST
06/05/03   SHERMAN                        REPORTED BY LOCAL MEDIA.

0406 PM    STRATFORD                 TX   0.75 INCH HAIL
06/05/03   SHERMAN                        REPORTED BY SHERMAN
                                          COUNTY SO.

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.

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), 12:00Z

10.5 hours before the tornado, 111 km from the path. June 5, 2003.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Amarillo Airport, TX at 12:00Z on 2003-06-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -75258, lifted condensation level 540 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 12:00Z on 2003-06-05The 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 13 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 48 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-75258 J/kg
Surface CAPE
6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
540 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
5 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
192 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), 00:00Z

1.5 hours after it, 111 km from the path. June 6, 2003.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 2003-06-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 729 joules per kilogram, CIN -9, lifted condensation level 743 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 2003-06-06The 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 93 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 53 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
729 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-9 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1189 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
743 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
93 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
142 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
3.9
0-3 km lapse rate
6.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 111 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:29 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.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2003 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 5, 2003

5 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 512:35 PM CDTF0Emmons, ND0.020
June 51:45 PM CDTF0San Jacinto, TX0.220$10,000
June 54:02 PM CDTF0Duval, TX0.550
June 54:15 PM CDTF0Brewster, TX0.250
June 55:45 PM MDTF0Otero, NM0.215

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.