Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2007

EF0 tornado, Pampa, Texas, May 5, 2007

This EF0 tornado ran 2.0 miles across Gray County on May 5, 2007, touching down at 11:40 PM CDT and reaching 300 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $47,000 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 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
May 5, 2007
Touchdown
11:40 PM CDT (04:40 UTC)
Lifted
11:46 PM CDT (04:46 UTC)
On the ground
6 minutes
Path length
2.0 miles (3.2 km)
Path width
300 yards (274 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$47,000
County
Gray County
Touchdown point
35.479, -101.033
Lift-off point
35.499, -101.008
Record number
0705052240-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Severe thunderstorms produced large hail and tornadoes across the eastern Texas Panhandle during the evening and early morning hours. One tornado did cause extensive damage in Gray County and another tornado which traveled from northeastern Collingsworth County into southeastern Wheeler County caused damage to a stand of trees. Another tornado in Collingsworth County caused no damage. No injuries were reported from the storms.

The tornado developed about five miles southwest of Pampa at 2240 CST and tracked northeast for about two miles before dissipating at 2246 CST three miles southwest of Pampa. An off-duty National Weather Service employee...who was chasing in the area...saw a power flash about 2241 CST. Although no injuries were reported...damage occurred at the National Oilwell Varco Plant to three buildings which also had windows blown out and several oil rigs were blown around.

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 03:01 UTC and running to 07:52 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
17:19 UTC03:01 UTCTornado WatchAMA
03:01 UTC07:52 UTCTornado WatchAMA
04:45 UTC05:16 UTCTornado WarningAMA
05:33 UTC06:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMA
06:28 UTC07:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMA
19:01 UTC00:46 UTCTornado WatchAMA

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 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:59 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.

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), 00:00Z

4.7 hours before the tornado, 68 km from the path. May 6, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 2007-05-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -57304, lifted condensation level 3236 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 2007-05-06The 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 84 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-57304 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1009 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3236 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
84 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
157 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2
0-3 km lapse rate
9.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), 12:00Z

7.3 hours after it, 68 km from the path. May 6, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Amarillo Airport, TX at 12:00Z on 2007-05-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -79331, lifted condensation level 3065 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 12:00Z on 2007-05-06The 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 52 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 61 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-79331 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3065 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
61 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
5 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
272 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Pampa (PPA), 14 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
02:47 UTC71.666.2170° 17 kt221003
03:07 UTC71.666.2170° 17 kt271003.4
03:27 UTC71.666.2180° 18 kt241004.1
03:47 UTC71.666.2180° 18 kt221004.7
04:07 UTC71.666.2170° 23 kt281004.7
04:27 UTC71.666.2170° 20 kt271004.1TS
04:47 UTC62.651.8290° 14 kt1005.1TS
05:07 UTC55.450120° 5 kt1006.4-RA
05:27 UTC5951.8300° 9 kt1005.8TS
05:47 UTC55.450300° 8 kt1005.8VCTS
06:07 UTC55.450300° 5 kt1005.4VCTS
06:27 UTC55.450320° 9 kt1005.8VCTS

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

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 69 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 04:41 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
04:57 UTCHAIL 11 W PampaGray, TX
05:00 UTCTORNADO4 Sw PampaGray, TXBRIEF TOUCHDOWN AT NATIONAL OILWELL VARCO PLANT WITH MINOR DAMAGE...POWER FLASHES ALSO REPORTED BY OFF-DUTY NWS EMPLOYEE
05:57 UTCHAIL 0.88AshtolaDonley, TXNICKEL SIZE HAIL

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 5, 2007

96 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 51:21 AM CDTEF1Barton, KS5.5100$2.0 million
May 51:28 AM CDTEF1Barton, KS6.2125$57,000
May 51:46 AM CDTEF1Barton, KS5.2100$40,000
May 52:06 AM CDTEF0Ellsworth, KS0.540$13,000
May 512:23 PM CDTEF1Custer, NE20.6150$150,000
May 511:57 AM MDTEF0Logan, CO0.150
May 51:03 PM CDTEF1Custer, NE40.7220$40,000
May 52:05 PM CDTEF1Brown, NE14.3220$40,000
May 53:48 PM CDTEF0Knox, NE11.4100$10,000
May 53:57 PM CDTEF1Keya Paha, NE16.71001$100,000
May 54:31 PM CDTEF1Miner, SD0.150$2,000
May 54:33 PM CDTEF2Bon Homme, SD3.5100$50,000
May 54:35 PM CDTEF2Miner, SD1.0100$20,000
May 54:43 PM CDTEF2Bon Homme, SD4.0100$100,000
May 54:48 PM CDTEF0Pratt, KS1.430
May 54:58 PM CDTEF1Saline, NE18.3400
May 54:59 PM CDTEF1Pratt, KS11.1150
May 55:00 PM CDTEF0Hutchinson, SD0.250
May 55:10 PM CDTEF0Hutchinson, SD0.150
May 55:15 PM CDTEF0Knox, NE1.5200
May 55:16 PM CDTEF1Hutchinson, SD5.0100
May 55:17 PM CDTEF0Knox, NE3.0100
May 55:20 PM CDTEF1Hanson, SD1.9100$10,000
May 55:24 PM CDTEF0Knox, NE5.3150
May 55:28 PM CDTEF1Knox, NE8.9440
May 55:36 PM CDTEF0Stafford, KS4.5100
May 55:41 PM CDTEF1Hanson, SD0.5100$10,000
May 55:43 PM CDTEF2Knox, NE5.55003$1.0 million
May 55:45 PM CDTEF0Knox, NE3.5100
May 55:50 PM CDTEF0Davison, SD3.550
May 55:52 PM CDTEF0Yankton, SD0.150
May 55:52 PM CDTEF1Yankton, SD1.01001$100,000
May 55:59 PM CDTEF2Osborne, KS7.57511$150,000
May 56:00 PM CDTEF0Edwards, KS2.475
May 56:05 PM CDTEF3Aurora, SD4.0200$300,000
May 56:09 PM CDTEF0Rice, KS0.340
May 56:15 PM CDTEF1Sanborn, SD0.5100$20,000
May 56:15 PM CDTEF0Rice, KS1.540
May 56:17 PM CDTEF2Yankton, SD0.5100$100,000
May 56:30 PM CDTEF0Gregory, SD0.150
May 56:30 PM CDTEF0Gregory, SD0.150
May 56:33 PM CDTEF0Comanche, KS1.930
May 56:35 PM CDTEF0Charles Mix, SD0.150
May 56:40 PM CDTEF1Brule, SD0.5100
May 56:45 PM CDTEF0Barton, KS0.150
May 56:54 PM CDTEF0Barton, KS0.240
May 57:01 PM CDTEF2Edwards, KS2.775
May 57:02 PM CDTEF0Kiowa, KS7.875
May 57:09 PM CDTEF0Mills, IA4.080
May 57:20 PM CDTEF0Collingsworth, TX2.8100
May 57:22 PM CDTEF2Kiowa, KS26.9880
May 57:23 PM CDTEF2Hanson, SD10.5400$60,000
May 57:26 PM CDTEF0Kiowa, KS1.350
May 57:27 PM CDTEF1Collingsworth, TX7.0200
May 57:32 PM CDTEF1Barton, KS4.0100$60,000
May 57:40 PM CDTEF0Roger Mills, OK0.8100
May 57:47 PM CDTEF1Miner, SD0.2100$10,000
May 57:47 PM CDTEF0Miner, SD0.150
May 57:50 PM CDTEF1Edwards, KS1.550
May 57:50 PM CDTEF1Fremont, IA11.3200

All 97 of them

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.