F0 tornado, Plains, Texas, May 5, 2006

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

May 5, 2006

Touchdown

7:05 PM CDT (00:05 UTC)

Path length

0.1 miles (0.2 km)

Path width

40 yards (37 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Yoakum County

Touchdown point

33.270, -102.830

Lift-off point

33.270, -102.830

Record number

472

May 5 Severe Thunderstorm Event Summary...Another outbreak of severe thunderstorms affected parts of the west Texas South Plains region during the afternoon and evening hours of the 5th. This activity was part of a widespread severe weather event across much of west Texas, including the Permian Basin where at least one significant tornado occurred. Severe convection erupted during the late afternoon hours along a warm front that was oriented west-to-east over the southern portions of the South Plains. These storms quickly evolved into supercells, and produced large hail, damaging winds, and at least four tornadoes. Although the tornadoes remained over open farmland, tornadic winds destroyed to center-pivot irrigation systems northwest of Brownfield (Terry County). This resulted in property losses of half a million dollars.The supercellular convection evolved into a cluster of severe multicell storms by early evening as it continued to propagate eastward along the boundary. A small linear complex characterized by a mini bow-shaped radar echo produced a locally intense downburst near Lake Alan Henry in southeastern Garza County. Winds estimated to exceed 90 MPH destroyed a number of mobile homes and vehicles near the lake, and injured one resident.Total economical losses sustained over the South Plains region during the outbreak were estimated to just under $1 million.

The local broadcast media relayed reports of a brief tornado north of Plains. No damage was reported.

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

9 minutes of warning. NWS LUB issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:56 UTC, 9 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 21:26 UTC and running to 01:49 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:43 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.

Seminole (GNC), 68 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Lubbock radar (KLBB), 103 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:04 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.

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

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

The live radar over the trackEvery 2006 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

17 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.