Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2007

EF0 tornado, Wimberley to Dripping Spgs, Texas, March 30, 2007

From Wimberley to Dripping Spgs, this EF0 tornado ran 0.2 miles across Hays County on March 30, 2007, touching down at 10:03 AM CDT and reaching 50 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
March 30, 2007
Touchdown
10:03 AM CDT (15:03 UTC)
Lifted
10:05 AM CDT (15:05 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
0.2 miles (0.3 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Hays County
Touchdown point
30.143, -98.215
Lift-off point
30.145, -98.218
Record number
0703300903-01

What the Weather Service recorded

An upper level low moving eastward across the Midwest U.S. spawned several supercells as well as short lines of thunderstorms along a north-south aligned cold front as it crossed the Hill Country and approached the IH-35 corridor. The storms produced heavy rainfall, large hail, and two tornadoes.

Officers of the Department of Public observed a small tornado northwest of Wimberley. The tornado touched down very briefly in an open area, then lifted and dissipated without causing any damage.

A second tornado was reported by several members of the public as it touched down in an open field along Mt. Sharp Road about 8 miles southwest of Dripping Springs. The tornado lifted and dissipated quickly. No damage was indicated.

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

The warnings

8 minutes of warning. NWS EWX issued a tornado warning for this county at 14:55 UTC, 8 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 15:30 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
12:00 UTC08:27 UTCFlash Flood WatchEWX
14:39 UTC15:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWX
14:55 UTC15:30 UTCTornado WarningEWX
15:26 UTC15:45 UTCTornado WarningEWX
15:28 UTC19:30 UTCFlash Flood WarningEWX
15:30 UTC19:30 UTCFlash Flood WarningEWX
15:43 UTC15:49 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWX
22:25 UTC06:00 UTCTornado WatchEWX

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 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 12:44 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.

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

3.1 hours before the tornado, 267 km from the path. March 30, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Del Rio, 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 1603 joules per kilogram, CIN -9, lifted condensation level 555 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 2007-03-30The 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 138 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 55 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
1603 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-9 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1791 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
555 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
138 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
216 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.2
Supercell composite
7.7
0-3 km lapse rate
5.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

8.9 hours after it, 267 km from the path. March 31, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Del Rio, 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 2842 joules per kilogram, CIN -3, lifted condensation level 1054 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 2007-03-31The 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 90 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 44 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
2842 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Surface CAPE
3425 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1054 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
90 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
140 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.9
Supercell composite
9.1
0-3 km lapse rate
7.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

San Marcos (Awos) (HYI), 44 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
13:15 UTC69.864.4160° 11 kt1016.6
13:35 UTC69.864.4150° 11 kt161016.6
13:55 UTC71.664.4140° 10 kt181016.9
14:15 UTC69.864.4140° 13 kt1016.9
14:35 UTC69.864.4140° 13 kt1016.6
14:55 UTC69.864.4130° 12 kt1016.6
15:15 UTC69.864.4150° 14 kt1016.6
15:35 UTC69.864.4140° 12 kt1016.3
15:55 UTC69.864.4120° 22 kt1014.6
16:15 UTC69.864.4140° 17 kt261015.6TS
16:35 UTC69.864.4150° 22 kt271015.9TS
16:55 UTC69.864.4140° 17 kt1015.6TS

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

The radar

The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 52 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 15:03 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
15:03 UTCTORNADO14 W WimberleyComal, TXCONFIRMED TOUCH DOWN ON MOUNT SHARP ROAD.
15:10 UTCHAIL 0.8812 Wnw WimberleyHays, TXJUST OFF FM 2325.
15:20 UTCFLASH FLOODBlancoBlanco, TXHWY 32 AND CR 165 ARE COVERED BY WATER.
15:28 UTCHAIL 1.75Dripping SpringsHays, TX
15:30 UTCTORNADOSw Dripping SpringsHays, TXUNCONFIRMED TOUCH DOWN.
15:33 UTCFLASH FLOODBlancoBlanco, TXHWY 165 CLOSED.
16:20 UTCFLASH FLOODDripping SpringsHays, TXMUCH OF HWY 290 UNDER WATER TO AS MUCH AS SIX INCHES DEEP ON BELL SPRINGS ROAD.

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 3010:25 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 304:36 PM CDTEF1Coryell, TX3.130$35,000
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.