EF2 tornado, Dumas to Sunray, Texas, April 21, 2007

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. EF186 to 110 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. EF2111 to 135 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. EF3136 to 165 mph

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. EF4166 to 200 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. EF5over 200 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

EF2

Date

April 21, 2007

Touchdown

7:50 PM CDT (00:50 UTC)

Lifted

8:15 PM CDT (01:15 UTC)

On the ground

25 minutes

Path length

11.9 miles (19.2 km)

Path width

704 yards (644 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$8,000

County

Moore County

Touchdown point

35.680, -101.917

Lift-off point

35.850, -101.881

Record number

0704211850-01

Numerous severe thunderstorms producing large hail...damaging winds...and tornadoes moved north and northeast across the western and central Texas panhandle during the evening hours. The only injuries occurred in Cactus from a tornado...however no fatalities were reported.

This tornado formed ten miles west southwest of Dumas at 1816 CST and tracked northeast for about twenty miles before exiting Moore county one half of a mile north of Cactus at 1840 CST. The tornado continued in Sherman county for about another four miles...before dissipating at 1852 CST. In Moore county...evidence suggested that the tornado was about three quarters of a mile wide as it passed through the town of Cactus. The most significant damage occurred across the northwest half of Cactus...but most homes and businesses received some damage as a result of this tornado. It is estimated that at least ten mobile homes were demolished and many more left uninhabitable. Fourteen people were injured in Cactus...however there were no fatalities. On April 25...Governor Rick Perry declared a State of Emergency in two proclamations for Moore county as a result of the Cactus tornado. The Governor also requested President Bush to declare a Presidential Disaster Declaration for the county.

This tornado developed approximately one to two miles south of Farm to Market Road 1913 about three miles east of Four Way...and likely dissipated near State Highway 152 five miles east of Dumas. Visible damage was limited to five single power poles snapped...fence downed...and large round hay bales were tossed around. No injuries were reported.

This tornado formed four miles east of Dumas at 1945 CST and moved northeast and likely dissipated about four miles south of Sunray at 2000 CST. Minor damage was reported at Texas Beef Feedyard. Damage included double wooden power poles which were snapped near their bases. No injuries were reported.

This tornado formed near the Valero McKee Refinery which is located about six miles southwest of Sunray at 1959 CST. The tornado was rated a strong EF1...with winds approaching one hundred and ten miles an hour. Damage was reported to double wooden power poles that were snapped near their bases. The tornado resulted in minor damage to the southeast side of the Valero property. No injuries were reported.

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

33 minutes of warning. NWS AMA issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:17 UTC, 33 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:56 UTC and running to 03:48 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, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:57 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.

Dumas (DUX), 15 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 62 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:49 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 2007 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

27 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.