Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2007

EF0 tornado, Del Rio, Texas, April 23, 2007

This EF0 tornado ran 0.2 miles across Val Verde County on April 23, 2007, touching down at 8:06 PM CDT and reaching 20 yards wide. It killed nobody.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

    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 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. 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.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
April 23, 2007
Touchdown
8:06 PM CDT (01:06 UTC)
Lifted
8:08 PM CDT (01:08 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
0.2 miles (0.3 km)
Path width
20 yards (18 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Val Verde County
Touchdown point
29.312, -100.900
Lift-off point
29.312, -100.900
Record number
0704231906-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A supercell thunderstorm produced two tornadoes, along with damaging winds and hail in the Del Rio area.

Staff from Del Rio Fire and Rescue observed a small tornado as it touched down just south of the city of Del Rio. This occurred in an open area with no damage.

A deputy from the Sheriff's Department watched as a rope-shaped tornado lifted up and dropped down as it skipped along a path approximately one mile long just east of the city of Del Rio at the Val Verde Park Estates. The tornado caused minor damage to ten homes and mobile homes. It also knocked over telephone poles and tossed outbuildings along its path.

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

The warnings

5 minutes of warning. NWS EWX issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:01 UTC, 5 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 00:48 UTC and running to 02:33 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
00:45 UTC01:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWX
00:48 UTC02:33 UTCTornado WatchEWX
01:01 UTC01:30 UTCTornado WarningEWX
01:28 UTC02:00 UTCTornado WarningEWX
01:43 UTC03:45 UTCFlash Flood WarningEWX

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 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.

Del Rio, TX (KDRT), 00:00Z

1.1 hours before the tornado, 9 km from the path. April 24, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Del Rio, TX at 00:00Z on 2007-04-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1923 joules per kilogram, CIN -157, lifted condensation level 1353 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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, Del Rio, TX at 00:00Z on 2007-04-24The 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 31 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 57 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
1923 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-157 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2465 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1353 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
31 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
89 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.5
0-3 km lapse rate
6.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Del Rio, TX (KDRT), 12:00Z

10.9 hours after it, 9 km from the path. April 24, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Del Rio, TX at 12:00Z on 2007-04-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2517 joules per kilogram, CIN -46, lifted condensation level 526 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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, Del Rio, TX at 12:00Z on 2007-04-24The 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 203 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 52 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
2517 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-46 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2131 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
526 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
203 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
223 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.9
Supercell composite
10.8
0-3 km lapse rate
4.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Del Rio International (Aut) (DRT), 7 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
23:53 UTC8364150° 18 kt211011.2
00:31 UTC82.464.4140° 10 kt1011.5VCTS
00:53 UTC826550° 5 kt1012.5TS
01:23 UTC69.864.4310° 28 kt371015.6+TSRA SQ
01:29 UTC66.264.450° 22 kt371013.5+TSRA
01:32 UTC64.464.460° 22 kt281013.2+TSRA
01:39 UTC6864.480° 20 kt1012.9TSRA
01:42 UTC69.864.470° 19 kt1012.9-TSRA
01:53 UTC686580° 19 kt241012.9TS
02:15 UTC69.864.480° 14 kt1012.9
02:53 UTC706670° 5 kt1013.5

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

The radar

The Laughlin AFB radar (KDFX), 60 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:05 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.

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
01:06 UTCHAIL 1.754 S Del RioVal Verde, TXFIRE DEPT REPORTED LARGER THAN GOLF BALL
01:06 UTCTORNADO4 S Del RioVal Verde, TX
01:25 UTCHAIL 0.88Del RioVal Verde, TX
01:34 UTCTORNADODel RioVal Verde, TXTOUCHDOWNS NORTH AND SOUTH OF DOWNTOWN DEL RIO
01:38 UTCTSTM WND GST 64Laughlin AfbVal Verde, TX
01:40 UTCTSTM WND DMGLaughlin AfbVal Verde, TXTELEPHONE POLE DOWN
01:40 UTCHAIL 0.88Laughlin AfbVal Verde, TX

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2007 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 23, 2007

24 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 236:14 PM CDTEF0Harper, OK0.230
April 236:51 PM CDTEF0Harper, OK0.230
April 237:43 PM CDTEF0Mitchell, TX4.050$8,000
April 236:47 PM MDTEF1Wallace, KS12.050$2,000
April 237:03 PM MDTEF0Wallace, KS5.075
April 238:04 PM CDTEF0Clark, KS1.450
April 238:04 PM CDTEF0Nolan, TX0.650
April 238:10 PM CDTEF1Clark, KS7.8150
April 238:22 PM CDTEF0Comanche, KS1.775
April 238:34 PM CDTEF0Val Verde, TX1.030$100,000
April 238:37 PM CDTEF0Comanche, KS1.650
April 239:00 PM CDTEF0Nolan, TX0.950
April 239:20 PM CDTEF0Taylor, TX0.350
April 239:38 PM CDTEF0Thomas, KS6.025$48,000
April 239:41 PM CDTEF0Jones, TX0.750
April 239:02 PM MDTEF0Sherman, KS0.510
April 2310:15 PM CDTEF1Thomas, KS13.050$16,000
April 2311:00 PM CDTEF1Rawlins, KS2.550
April 2311:15 PM CDTEF1Rawlins, KS12.5100$305,000
April 2311:44 PM CDTEF1Rawlins, KS6.075$26,000
April 2310:49 PM MDTEF0Yuma, CO0.510
April 2311:00 PM MDTEF0Phillips, CO0.150
April 2311:15 PM MDTEF0Chase, NE0.520
April 2311:16 PM MDTEF0Chase, NE0.320

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.