EF2 tornado, Booker to Darrouzett, Texas, May 23, 2007

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 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. EF2111 to 135 mphthis tornado

   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

EF2

Date

May 23, 2007

Touchdown

11:11 PM CDT (04:11 UTC)

Lifted

11:26 PM CDT (04:26 UTC)

On the ground

15 minutes

Path length

8.0 miles (12.9 km)

Path width

528 yards (483 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$36,000

County

Lipscomb County

Touchdown point

36.314, -100.320

Lift-off point

36.389, -100.269

Record number

0705232211-01

Severe thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening hours produced numerous tornadoes...large hail...prolonged flooding and flash flooding...and damaging winds across the central and northeastern Texas Panhandle. No injuries were reported.

The tornado developed just north of County Road Z and just east of State Highway 23 or about nineteen miles south of Booker at 2140 CST. The tornado traveled north northeast causing damage to trees...power poles...barns...and full oil drums. The tornado was confirmed by photographs. The tornado dissipated about twelve miles west of Lipscomb or north of Farm to Market Road 3260 and east of State Highway 23. No injuries were reported.

This tornado developed over open country about three miles southwest of Lipscomb at 2155 CST. The tornado traveled northeast for about four miles damaging a farm and trees. The tornado dissipated at 2205 CST just northwest of Lipscomb. No injuries were reported.

The tornado developed over open country about eight miles south of Darrouzett and traveled northeast and then north for about eight miles. The tornado crossed Uncle Sam Road just west of State Highway 305 and then near the intersection of County Road J and U.S. Highway 305. Severe damage was reported to recently built barns of which the contents were vacated and relocated downstream...damage to many power poles...trees...outbuildings...and a four thousand pound combine...which was lifted over a fence. No injuries were reported. The tornado dissipated at 2226 CST about four miles southeast of Darrouzett just south of where County Road 17 ends...or just southeast of the intersection of State Highway 305 and State Highway 15.

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

33 minutes of warning. NWS AMA issued a tornado warning for this county at 03:38 UTC, 33 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 04:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 03:50 UTC and running to 06:36 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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 20:06 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.

Perryton/Ochiltree County Apt (PYX), 41 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 159 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 04:11 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

16 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.