EF0 tornado, Lubbock, Texas, March 25, 2007

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.

Rating

EF0

Date

March 25, 2007

Touchdown

12:49 PM CDT (17:49 UTC)

Lifted

1:05 PM CDT (18:05 UTC)

On the ground

16 minutes

Path length

2.0 miles (3.2 km)

Path width

20 yards (18 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Lubbock County

Touchdown point

33.479, -101.850

Lift-off point

33.500, -101.890

Record number

0703251149-01

A pre-existing low level boundary, or weak front, was oriented from southwest to northeast across the west Texas South Plains region during the midday hours of the 25th. As thunderstorms developed in a very moist atmosphere, this feature became a focus for the development of at least four landspout tornadoes. Tornadoes initially developed just southeast of Lubbock during the Sunday lunch hour. These tornadoes were observed by many Lubbock residents, but only resulted in very minor damage to trees and utility lines. |Thunderstorm outflow forced the weak frontal boundary to move northwestward across the central South Plains during the afternoon hours, where it again provided for the development of tornadoes in Swisher and Castro Counties. |Thunderstorms quickly evolved to pose a threat of heavy rainfall and flash flooding by the early evening hours. Flash flooding became widespread over a large section of the central South Plains, with numerous roadways and highways closed due to flooding. At least six automobile mishaps were attributed to the flooding.

Multiple reports were received of a highly visible tornado that developed just southeast of Lubbock shortly before midday on the 25th. This tornado remained largely over open country on the outskirts of the city for more than ten minutes, but eventually did result in downed power lines and tree limbs near the intersection of 98th Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard. No injuries were reported.|

A second landspout tornado quickly developed south of Lubbock shortly after the dissipation of the previously listed event. This tornado persisted over open country immediately west of U.S. Highway 87 south of the city for more than fifteen minutes before it dissipated. No damage was reported.

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

13 minutes of warning. NWS LUB issued a tornado warning for this county at 17:36 UTC, 13 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 18:00 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 16:34 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 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.

Lubbock International Airport (LBB), 20 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Lubbock radar (KLBB), 19 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 17:47 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

3 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.