Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2004

F2 tornado, Taylor County, Texas, March 4, 2004

This F2 tornado ran 10.0 miles across Taylor County on March 4, 2004, touching down at 11:31 AM CST and reaching 440 yards wide. It killed nobody and injured 2, and did $800,000 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 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 mphthis tornado

    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
F2
Date
March 4, 2004
Touchdown
11:31 AM CST (17:31 UTC)
Path length
10.0 miles (16.1 km)
Path width
440 yards (402 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
2
Property damage
$800,000
County
Taylor County
Touchdown point
32.120, -99.920
Lift-off point
32.230, -99.780
Record number
778

The warnings

7 minutes of warning. NWS SJT issued a tornado warning for this county at 17:24 UTC, 7 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 18:15 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
17:24 UTC18:15 UTCTornado WarningSJT

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, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:30 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 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.

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), 12:00Z

5.5 hours before the tornado, 223 km from the path. March 4, 2004.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Midland Regional, TX at 12:00Z on 2004-03-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 622 joules per kilogram, CIN -56, lifted condensation level 477 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Midland Regional, TX at 12:00Z on 2004-03-04The 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 109 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 68 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 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
622 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-56 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
477 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
68 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
109 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
155 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.9
0-3 km lapse rate
4.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), 00:00Z

6.5 hours after it, 223 km from the path. March 5, 2004.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Midland Regional, TX at 00:00Z on 2004-03-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 7 joules per kilogram, CIN -13, lifted condensation level 2461 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Midland Regional, TX at 00:00Z on 2004-03-05The 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 114 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 60 knots.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
7 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-13 J/kg
Surface CAPE
66 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2461 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
60 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
114 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
151 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
9.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Dyess Afb/Abilene (DYS), 27 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
15:55 UTC6860.8180° 21 kt261001.7
16:55 UTC71.660.8180° 25 kt32999.7
17:30 UTC66.260.8 30 kt411002.7+TSRA SHRA
17:55 UTC53.650180° 25 kt341002TSRAGS
18:20 UTC53.651.8280° 17 kt1039.3+TSRA SHRA
18:44 UTC53.651.8270° 17 kt1003.7+TSRA SHRA
18:56 UTC53.648.2280° 19 kt301003.4-TSRA
19:12 UTC53.648.2260° 15 kt221002.4

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

What was reported nearby

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
17:00 UTCTSTM WND GST 0BronteCoke, TXROOF DAMAGE REPORTED
17:00 UTCTORNADO5 Se SweetwaterNolan, TXPOSSIBLE TORNADO DAMAGE AT LAKE SWEETWATER. MANY HOMES WITH ROOF DAMAGE AND TREES DOWNED.
17:15 UTCTSTM WND GST 0AnsonJones, TXROOF OF GROCERY STORE BLOWN OFF.
17:30 UTCTORNADOTuscolaTaylor, TXPOSSIBLE TORNADO DAMAGE. DAMAGE TO HIGH SCHOOL AND CHURCH. SEVERAL SEVERAL SMALLER BUILDINGS DESTROYED. SEVERAL TRACTOR TRAILERS BLOWN OVER.
17:55 UTCTSTM WND GST 0TyeTaylor, TXSEVERAL MOBILE HOMES DAMAGED BY HIGH WINDS.
17:55 UTCTORNADOPotosiTaylor, TXPOSSIBLE TORNADO. BARN DESTROYED
18:00 UTCTORNADOEulaCallahan, TXPOSSIBLE TORNADO. DAMAGE TO EULA FIRE DEPARTMENT BUILDING.
18:05 UTCTORNADOClydeCallahan, TXPOSSIBLE TORNADO DAMAGE. SMALL WATER TANKS FOUND OVER A MILE AWAY. EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO ROOFS AND POWER POLES.
18:45 UTCTSTM WND GST 0WingateRunnels, TXWINDS ESTIMATED AT 60 TO 80 MPH. LARGE TREES UPROOTED.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2004 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of March 4, 2004

24 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 49:25 AM CSTF0Reagan, TX0.575$20,000
March 49:30 AM CSTF0Glasscock, TX0.750$40,000
March 410:28 AM CSTF0Mitchell, TX0.575$120,000
March 410:38 AM CSTF0Mitchell, TX1.0751$280,000
March 410:41 AM CSTF1Tom Green, TX0.350$200,000
March 411:03 AM CSTF1Nolan, TX0.550$100,000
March 411:26 AM CSTF0Taylor, TX0.125$10,000
March 411:51 AM CSTF1Taylor, TX12.0100$300,000
March 412:01 PM CSTF2Haskell, TX1.0440$100,000
March 412:10 PM CSTF0Callahan, TX30.075$200,000
March 412:30 PM CSTF0Shackelford, TX0.125$50,000
March 412:36 PM CSTF0Brown, TX1.0440$50,000
March 412:45 PM CSTF0Stephens, TX0.150
March 41:00 PM CSTF1Young, TX24.0100$500,000
March 41:50 PM CSTF1Parker, TX0.150$10,000
March 42:16 PM CSTF1Parker, TX0.2100$30,000
March 42:25 PM CSTF0Wise, TX0.2100$10,000
March 42:40 PM CSTF0Denton, TX0.150
March 43:10 PM CSTF1Ellis, TX7.0100$150,000
March 43:25 PM CSTF1Ellis, TX7.0100$250,000
March 43:35 PM CSTF1Collin, TX3.06602$150,000
March 45:15 PM CSTF1Smith, TX14.050$30,000
March 45:27 PM CSTF0Sequoyah, OK1.7200$20,000
March 46:12 PM CSTF0Crawford, AR0.225

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.