F0 tornado, Gail, Texas, June 5, 2005

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 5, 2005

Touchdown

6:33 PM CDT (23:33 UTC)

Path length

0.8 miles (1.3 km)

Path width

75 yards (69 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Borden County

Touchdown point

32.720, -101.270

Lift-off point

32.700, -101.270

Record number

849

An outbreak of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes affected parts of west Texas during the afternoon and evening of the 5th. Thunderstorms developed along a stationary frontal boundary over the western low rolling plains and the northeastern Permian Basin during the late afternoon. These storms evolved into supercells, and one storm produced a series of tornadoes across southern Borden and northern Howard Counties. By mid evening, a small cluster of organized severe storms evolved and produced more widespread hail, damaging winds, and heavy rainfall. Damages to agricultural interests across the region were significant, and accounted for a majority of the estimated $2.2 million worth of losses reported.

The first of six tornadoes to strike the northeastern Permian Basin during the late afternoon and evening of the 5th was observed in rural areas of eastern Borden County shortly after 17:30 CST. Law enforcement officials reported that the tornado remained in open range land south of U.S. Highway 180. Although the tornado persisted for nearly five minutes, no damage was reported.

The Borden County Sheriff's Office reported that a second tornado developed within a few minutes of the previous entry dissipating. This tornado also remained over open country south of U.S. Highway 180, and it was reported to be short-lived in nature.

The third tornado of the family developed near the west shores of Lake J.B. Thomas. The tornado affected open range land just west of Farm to Market Road 1205 for more than five minutes. The tornado was photographed by storm spotters and the public as it remained over open range land. It caused no damage.

Eye witnesses observed a brief tornado that developed along Farm to Market Road 669 just north of that highway's intersection with Farm to Market Road 1785. Local law enforcement officials and the Texas Department of Transportation reported that highway road signs were "missing" along the tornado's short track along Farm to Market Road 669. The signs were believed to be lofted by the tornadic winds and deposited in adjacent mesquite fields. This tornado developed along the flanking line of the cyclic tornadic supercell. The following tornado was associated with the storm's mesocylone, and formed east of this event.

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

2 minutes of warning. NWS MAF issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:31 UTC, 2 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:28 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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 22:15 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.

Snyder (SNK), 30 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Lubbock radar (KLBB), 117 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:32 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 2005 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

14 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.