Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2007
EF0 tornado, Miami, Texas, May 23, 2007
This EF0 tornado ran 2.0 miles across Roberts County on May 23, 2007, touching down at 9:28 PM CDT and reaching 100 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.
EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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
- May 23, 2007
- Touchdown
- 9:28 PM CDT (02:28 UTC)
- Lifted
- 9:32 PM CDT (02:32 UTC)
- On the ground
- 4 minutes
- Path length
- 2.0 miles (3.2 km)
- Path width
- 100 yards (91 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Roberts County
- Touchdown point
- 36.037, -101.046
- Lift-off point
- 36.037, -101.046
- Record number
- 0705232028-01
What the Weather Service recorded
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.
This tornado developed over open country about thirty-three miles northwest of Miami at 2028 CST. The tornado traveled northeast for about two miles before dissipating at 2032 CST. No damage or injuries were reported.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
58 minutes of warning. NWS AMA issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:30 UTC, 58 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:30 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:35 UTC and running to 03:50 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20:35 UTC | 03:50 UTC | Tornado Watch | AMA |
| 20:50 UTC | 21:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA |
| 21:31 UTC | 22:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | AMA |
| 22:00 UTC | 22:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | AMA |
| 01:24 UTC | 02:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA |
| 01:30 UTC | 02:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | AMA |
| 02:28 UTC | 03:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA |
| 02:29 UTC | 03:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | AMA |
| 03:50 UTC | 06:36 UTC | Tornado Watch | AMA |
| 04:01 UTC | 07:00 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | AMA |
| 04:42 UTC | 05:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA |
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 0.10 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 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.
Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), 00:00Z
2.5 hours before the tornado, 107 km from the path. May 24, 2007.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1239 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -37 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 2959 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1675 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 49 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 16 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 96 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 251 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.4
- Supercell composite
- 11.4
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 8.6 K/km
Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), 12:00Z
9.5 hours after it, 107 km from the path. May 24, 2007.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -79211 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 937 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 50 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 3 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 58 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 332 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 3.4 K/km
The radar
The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 108 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:26 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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23:33 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | 2 Nw Sanford | Hutchinson, TX | |
| 23:36 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | Stinnett | Hutchinson, TX | |
| 23:37 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | 2 W Stinnett | Hutchinson, TX | |
| 23:40 UTC | TORNADO | 13 Wsw Lipscomb | Lipscomb, TX | |
| 23:51 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | Stinnett | Hutchinson, TX | |
| 23:55 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Wolf Creek Park | Ochiltree, TX | TREE FELL OVER AND DAMAGED A CAR. |
| 23:55 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | Wolf Creek Park | Ochiltree, TX | TREE LIMBS BREAKING OFF. |
| 23:55 UTC | HAIL 1.5 | Wolf Creek Park | Ochiltree, TX | |
| 00:00 UTC | TORNADO | 4 Se Wolf Creek Park | Ochiltree, TX | |
| 00:09 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 10 S Booker | Lipscomb, TX | |
| 00:10 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | 2 W Stinnett | Hutchinson, TX | |
| 00:16 UTC | TSTM WND GST 61 | Stinnett | Hutchinson, TX | |
| 00:18 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Stinnett | Hutchinson, TX | ANTENNA AT RESTAURANT BLOWN DOWN |
| 00:25 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | Stinnett | Hutchinson, TX | PENNY SIZE HAIL |
| 00:29 UTC | HAIL 1 | 6 N Stinnett | Hutchinson, TX | |
| 00:45 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | 10 Nne Stinnett | Hutchinson, TX | PENNY SIZE HAIL |
| 01:01 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | 10 Ne Pringle | Hutchinson, TX | FELL ON HUTCHINSON AND HANSFORD COUNTY LINE ON HIGHWAY 207. |
| 01:01 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | 11 Ne Pringle | Hansford, TX | FELL ON THE HUTCHINSON AND HANSFORD COUNTY LINE ON HIGHWAY 207 |
| 01:15 UTC | HAIL 1 | 4 N Perryton | Ochiltree, TX | REPORTED ALONG HIGHWAY 83 |
| 02:03 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | 23 Nw Miami | Roberts, TX | PENNY SIZE HAIL |
| 02:05 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 20 S Perryton | Ochiltree, TX | AT INTERSECTION OF HWY 70 AND 281 |
| 02:06 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | 20 Nw Miami | Roberts, TX | NICKLE SIZE HAIL |
| 02:10 UTC | HAIL 1 | 7 Sw Spearman | Hansford, TX | |
| 02:10 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 22 S Perryton | Ochiltree, TX | REPORTED ALONG HIGHWAY 70 ON OCHILTREE AND ROBERTS COUNTY LINE |
| 02:10 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 23 S Perryton | Roberts, TX | REPORTED ALONG HIGHWAY 70 ON OCHILTREE AND ROBERTS COUNTY LINE |
| 02:11 UTC | HAIL 2 | 22 S Perryton | Ochiltree, TX | |
| 02:11 UTC | HAIL 2 | 23 S Perryton | Roberts, TX | |
| 02:12 UTC | HAIL 1 | 20 Se Spearman | Roberts, TX | QUARTER SIZE HAIL AT RIVER RD WEST AND LIPPS RD |
| 02:15 UTC | HAIL 2.75 | 20 S Perryton | Ochiltree, TX | BASEBALL SIZE HAIL REPORTED ONE MILE SOUTH OF HIGHWAYS 281 AND 70 |
| 02:19 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 21 S Perryton | Ochiltree, TX | FM281 JUST EAST OF HIGHWAY 70 |
| 02:19 UTC | HAIL 2.75 | 23 S Perryton | Roberts, TX | |
| 02:30 UTC | TORNADO | 23 Nw Miami | Roberts, TX | MULTIPLE OBSERVERS INCLUDING DOPPLER ON WHEELS SIGHTED TORNADO IN CANYON LANDS WEST OF HWY 70 ABOUT 5 MILES SOUTH OF OCHILTREE COUNTY LINE |
| 02:52 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | Spearman | Hansford, TX | GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL OCCURRED BETWEEN 952 PM AND 10...00 PM |
| 02:58 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | Spearman | Hansford, TX | GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL OCCURRED BETWEEN SPEARMAN AND 8 MILES WEST OF SPEARMAN |
| 03:00 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 20 S Perryton | Ochiltree, TX | POWER POLES SNAPPED |
| 03:00 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 35 Nw Miami | Roberts, TX | HAIL DENTED VEHICLE IN EXTREME NORTHWESTERN ROBERTS COUNTY |
| 03:19 UTC | HAIL 1 | Gruver | Hansford, TX | QUARTER SIZE HAIL |
| 03:20 UTC | TORNADO | 24 Sse Perryton | Ochiltree, TX | INTERMITTENT OBSERVATION OF TORNADOES BACKLIT BY LIGHTNING ALONG HWY 281 IN SOUTHERN OCHILTREE CO. BETWEEN HWY 70 AND HWY 83 |
| 03:25 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | 16 Wsw Lipscomb | Lipscomb, TX | HAIL FELL ON THE OCHILTREE AND LIPSCOMB COUNTY LINE 5 MILES NORTH OF U.S. HIGHWAY 83. |
| 03:25 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | 17 Wsw Lipscomb | Ochiltree, TX | HAIL FELL ON THE OCHILTREE AND LIPSCOMB COUNTY LINE 5 MILES NORTH OF U.S. HIGHWAY 83 |
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 May 23, 2007
16 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 23 | 4:10 PM CDT | EF0 | Goodhue, MN | 2.0 | 50 | |||
| May 23 | 4:28 PM CDT | EF0 | Roberts, TX | 0.2 | 25 | |||
| May 23 | 5:25 PM CDT | EF0 | Ochiltree, TX | 1.0 | 50 | |||
| May 23 | 5:39 PM CDT | EF0 | Ochiltree, TX | 1.0 | 50 | |||
| May 23 | 5:56 PM CDT | EF0 | Lipscomb, TX | 1.0 | 50 | $6,000 | ||
| May 23 | 6:14 PM CDT | EF0 | Ochiltree, TX | 2.0 | 50 | |||
| May 23 | 6:40 PM CDT | EF0 | Edwards, KS | 0.6 | 30 | |||
| May 23 | 6:40 PM CDT | EF0 | Ochiltree, TX | 2.0 | 50 | |||
| May 23 | 6:42 PM CDT | EF0 | Edwards, KS | 1.3 | 50 | |||
| May 23 | 7:39 PM CDT | EF0 | Lipscomb, TX | 2.0 | 50 | |||
| May 23 | 8:15 PM CDT | EF0 | Hutchinson, TX | 0.1 | 25 | |||
| May 23 | 8:17 PM CDT | EF0 | Hutchinson, TX | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| May 23 | 9:43 PM CDT | EF1 | Ochiltree, TX | 3.0 | 880 | $9,000 | ||
| May 23 | 10:40 PM CDT | EF2 | Lipscomb, TX | 7.0 | 440 | $23,000 | ||
| May 23 | 10:55 PM CDT | EF1 | Lipscomb, TX | 4.0 | 150 | $13,000 | ||
| May 23 | 11:11 PM CDT | EF2 | Lipscomb, TX | 8.0 | 528 | $36,000 |
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.