Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2007

EF0 tornado, Dalworthington, Texas, April 3, 2007

This EF0 tornado ran 1.0 miles across Tarrant County on April 3, 2007, touching down at 8:20 PM CDT and reaching 20 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $100,000 of property damage.

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 3, 2007
Touchdown
8:20 PM CDT (01:20 UTC)
Lifted
8:24 PM CDT (01:24 UTC)
On the ground
4 minutes
Path length
1.0 miles (1.6 km)
Path width
20 yards (18 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$100,000
County
Tarrant County
Touchdown point
32.700, -97.120
Lift-off point
32.690, -97.108
Record number
0704031920-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A strong cold front and a passing upper level disturbance created an unstable atmosphere over North Texas. There were numerous hail reports and a few wind reports with this event.

A storm survey was conducted by the National Weather Service in Fort Worth. An area of damage was observed just south of Pioneer Parkway and west of Roosevelt Drive along Seville Court. One triplex suffered significant damage due to the loss of part of the roof in two places and collapse of part of the ceiling. Minor damage to adjacent homes was also observed. To the south of the damaged triplex, fences were downed and tree damage was observed just south of Arkansas Lane in the Gardens Park area. Wind speeds were estimated at 85 to 90 MPH with an estimated path length of 50 yards and an average width of 20 yards.

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 22:47 UTC and running to 03:37 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
22:47 UTC03:37 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchFWD
23:25 UTC00:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWD
00:18 UTC01:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWD
01:08 UTC02:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWD
01:23 UTC01:48 UTCTornado WarningFWD

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 Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 01:34 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.

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), 00:00Z

1.3 hours before the tornado, 22 km from the path. April 4, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 2007-04-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 3958 joules per kilogram, CIN -4, lifted condensation level 1051 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 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, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 2007-04-04The 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 -15 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 25 knots.1939Sfc1 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
3958 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Surface CAPE
4275 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1051 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-15 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
33 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
1.4
0-3 km lapse rate
7.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), 12:00Z

10.7 hours after it, 22 km from the path. April 4, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2007-04-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -103165, lifted condensation level 2560 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2007-04-04The 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 61 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 24 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-103165 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2560 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
61 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
231 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4
0-3 km lapse rate
2.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 22 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:18 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
23:44 UTCHAIL 15 E BenbrookTarrant, TXI-20 AND WEST CREEK
23:46 UTCHAIL 0.75EdgecliffTarrant, TXIN EDGECLIFF VILLAGE.
23:51 UTCHAIL 1EdgecliffTarrant, TX
23:55 UTCHAIL 0.75RichardsonDallas, TX
00:05 UTCHAIL 1.25PlanoCollin, TX
00:10 UTCTSTM WND GST 60PlanoCollin, TX
00:20 UTCHAIL 0.75Fort WorthTarrant, TX
00:23 UTCHAIL 1PlanoCollin, TX
00:25 UTCHAIL 0.88CoppellDallas, TX
00:29 UTCHAIL 1EdgecliffTarrant, TX
00:45 UTCHAIL 1.253 W Fort WorthTarrant, TX
00:45 UTCHAIL 2.55 W CrowleyTarrant, TX
00:53 UTCHAIL 25 W CrowleyTarrant, TX
00:57 UTCHAIL 1EulessTarrant, TX
00:58 UTCHAIL 2.75BenbrookTarrant, TX
01:05 UTCHAIL 1ArlingtonTarrant, TX
01:15 UTCTSTM WND DMG10 Ne GranburyHood, TX12 DIAMETER TREE LIMBS BROKEN OFF.
01:15 UTCHAIL 1.75ArlingtonTarrant, TXFIELDER AND I-30

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 3, 2007

12 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 36:54 PM CDTEF1Craighead, AR0.150$250,000
April 36:57 PM CDTEF0Craighead, AR0.025$3,000
April 38:01 PM EDTEF0Taylor, KY1.225$50,000
April 38:23 PM EDTEF1Casey, KY13.8200$85,000
April 38:40 PM EDTEF1Pulaski, KY0.125$15,000
April 39:28 PM EDTEF1Laurel, KY1.850$150,000
April 310:15 PM EDTEF1Claiborne, TN12.01507$1.2 million
April 39:16 PM CDTEF1Cumberland, TN4.8100$145,000
April 310:17 PM EDTEF0Harlan, KY0.350$20,000
April 310:25 PM EDTEF0Harlan, KY1.250$700,000
April 310:24 PM CDTEF0Lincoln, TN to AL9.375
April 311:33 PM CDTEF1Jackson, AL2.6100

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.