Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2007

EF1 tornado, Oglesby, Texas, March 30, 2007

This EF1 tornado ran 3.1 miles across Coryell County on March 30, 2007, touching down at 4:36 PM CDT and reaching 30 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $35,000 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 mph

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

  2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

    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
EF1
Date
March 30, 2007
Touchdown
4:36 PM CDT (21:36 UTC)
Lifted
4:40 PM CDT (21:40 UTC)
On the ground
4 minutes
Path length
3.1 miles (4.9 km)
Path width
30 yards (27 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$35,000
County
Coryell County
Touchdown point
31.348, -97.604
Lift-off point
31.353, -97.552
Record number
0703301536-01

What the Weather Service recorded

An upper low pressure system situated to the west brought large scale lift to north Texas. Southerly winds brought deep rich moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. These and other factors caused numerous thunderstorms to develop. Widespread flooding and wind damage followed, as well as a few tornadoes.

Barns and two homes were damaged. Trees were also blown down.

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

The warnings

44 minutes of warning. NWS FWD issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:52 UTC, 44 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 15:11 UTC and running to 22:34 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
15:11 UTC22:34 UTCTornado WatchFWD
20:03 UTC00:00 UTCFlash Flood WarningFWD
20:43 UTC21:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWD
20:52 UTC21:45 UTCTornado WarningFWD
22:34 UTC05:57 UTCTornado WatchFWD
02:14 UTC06:15 UTCFlash Flood 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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:59 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), 12:00Z

9.6 hours before the tornado, 167 km from the path. March 30, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2007-03-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 905 joules per kilogram, CIN -24, lifted condensation level 565 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 2007-03-30The 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 123 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 35 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
905 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-24 J/kg
Surface CAPE
743 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
565 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
123 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
44 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.2
0-3 km lapse rate
5.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

2.4 hours after it, 167 km from the path. March 31, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 2007-03-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 249 joules per kilogram, CIN -6, lifted condensation level 644 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 2007-03-31The 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 183 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 44 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
249 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Surface CAPE
328 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
644 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
183 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
158 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
0.9
0-3 km lapse rate
6.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Gatesville (GOP), 22 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
19:45 UTC66.266.2170° 25 kt31
20:05 UTC
20:25 UTC
21:05 UTC64.464.4150° 18 kt25
22:05 UTC
22:25 UTC
22:45 UTC
23:05 UTC
23:25 UTC

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

The radar

The Ft Hood radar (KGRK), 72 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:35 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
20:49 UTCFLASH FLOOD7 E LampasasLampasas, TXU.S. 190 CLOSED...WATER OVER ROAD
20:55 UTCTORNADO5 Wsw KilleenBell, TXTORNADO FIRST OBSERVED BY MILITARY 3.5 MILES NW OF KILLEEN GRAY AT 352 PM...OBSERVED ON RUNWAY AT AIRPORT AT 355 PM...DISSIPATED TO ROPE BY 408 PM
20:58 UTCTSTM WND GST 715 Wsw KilleenBell, TXKILLEEN GRAY ASOS MEASURED 71 MPH WITH TORNADO ON RUNWAY
21:00 UTCHAIL 1.75Copperas CoveCoryell, TXMILITARY PERSONNEL REPORTED GOLFBALL HAIL IN COPPERAS COVE
21:36 UTCTSTM WND DMG7 Sw OglesbyCoryell, TXTWO HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED.
21:40 UTCTSTM WND DMGMcgregorMclennan, TXBACK HALF OF BARN DESTROYED AT MCGREGOR RODEO ARENA
22:22 UTCFLASH FLOOD(E)7 Sw OglesbyCoryell, TXHWY. 36 CLOSED
22:31 UTCFLASH FLOODHewittMclennan, TXROADS UNDER WATER IN HEWITT.
22:55 UTCFLASH FLOODWacoMclennan, TXPORTIONS OF I-35 CLOSED DUE TO FLOODING
23:13 UTCFLASH FLOODWacoMclennan, TX3 FEET OF WATER OVER THE ROADS IN SOUTHWEST WACO...30TH STREET.
23:49 UTCFLASH FLOODKempnerLampasas, TXSEVERAL ROAD CLOSURES...HWY. 190

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 March 30, 2007

11 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 3010:03 AM CDTEF0Hays, TX0.250
March 3010:25 AM CDTEF0Hays, TX0.350
March 3011:20 AM CDTEF0Eastland, TX1.030
March 3012:02 PM CDTEF0Nolan, TX7.2751$14,000
March 3012:43 PM CDTEF0Erath, TX1.030
March 303:55 PM CDTEF0Bell, TX2.530
March 304:40 PM CDTEF1McLennan, TX2.030$500,000
March 306:00 PM CDTEF0McLennan, TX0.530
March 309:20 PM CDTEF0Collin, TX0.840$500,000
March 309:28 PM CDTEF0Morris, KS2.820
March 3010:39 PM CDTEF0Douglas, KS2.030

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.