Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2007

EF0 tornado, Richland, Texas, September 5, 2007

This EF0 tornado ran 0.8 miles across Navarro County on September 5, 2007, touching down at 7:42 AM CDT and reaching 40 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
September 5, 2007
Touchdown
7:42 AM CDT (12:42 UTC)
Lifted
7:46 AM CDT (12:46 UTC)
On the ground
4 minutes
Path length
0.8 miles (1.3 km)
Path width
40 yards (37 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Navarro County
Touchdown point
31.834, -96.472
Lift-off point
31.845, -96.466
Record number
0709050642-01

What the Weather Service recorded

An upper level low lingered in the area creating conditions ripe for flooding. Several instances of flash flooding were reported as a large area of rain persisted through mid-morning.

This brief tornado developed near the community of Richland and moved to the northeast, causing minor tree damage to the west of Highway 14.

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

The warnings

10 minutes of warning. NWS FWD issued a tornado warning for this county at 12:32 UTC, 10 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 13:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
12:32 UTC13:00 UTCTornado WarningFWD
12:57 UTC13:30 UTCTornado WarningFWD
13:06 UTC16:00 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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:31 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.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Fort Worth, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Sep 5, 3:29 AM CDT, 4 hours 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 5, 3:29 AM CDT, 4 hours 13 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
329 AM CDT WED SEP 5 2007

.DISCUSSION...
THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL BE LIFTING OUT TODAY. EARLY MORNING POPS
WILL REMAIN HIGH AS ACTIVITY SLIDES NORTHEAST WITH THE UPPER SUPPORT
AND TAPERS OFF WEST TO EAST FROM LATE MORNING ON. WILL LINGER SLIGHT
CHANCE POPS OVER THE EASTERN COUNTIES OVERNIGHT.

MOISTURE FROM HENRIETTE WILL MOVE THROUGH NORTHWEST MEXICO AND
SPREAD ACROSS WEST TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA THURSDAY AND FRIDAY AS IT
MERGES INTO THE WESTERLIES. THIS WILL KEEP OUR SKIES MOSTLY CLOUDY
INTO THE WEEKEND AND WILL LIKELY RESULT IN SCATTERED CONVECTION
ALONG THE RED RIVER FRIDAY AS A WEAK COLD FRONT NEARS. SOME OF THIS
MOISTURE WILL LINGER OVER THE REGION INTO NEXT WEEK...THUS WILL KEEP
LOW CHANCE POPS GOING OVER THE WEEKEND AND INTO NEXT WEEK FOR MAINLY
AFTERNOON CONVECTION. THE WEAK COLD FRONT SHOULD PUSH SOUTH OF THE
RED RIVER THIS SATURDAY AND MAY EVENTUALLY WORK DOWN INTO THE
I-20/30 CORRIDOR EARLY SUNDAY THEN LIFT OUT SUNDAY EVENING.

NEWEST MODEL RUNS SHOW THAT RIDGING ALOFT WILL DOMINATE OVER THE
REGION FIRST OF NEXT WEEK. WE EXPECT NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES MONDAY
AND TUESDAY WITH LITTLE MORE THAN A SLIGHT CHANCE OF AFTERNOON
CONVECTION.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
DALLAS-FT. WORTH, TX  83  75  92  77  94 / 100  10  20  10  40
WACO, TX              85  75  92  77  92 /  90  10  20  10  10
PARIS, TX             80  72  91  73  91 / 100  20  40  10  40
DENTON, TX            84  75  92  75  95 / 100  10  20  10  40
MCKINNEY, TX          82  73  91  75  92 / 100  10  20  10  40
DALLAS, TX            83  75  91  76  93 / 100  10  20  10  30
TERRELL, TX           82  73  90  76  92 / 100  10  30  10  30
CORSICANA, TX         84  74  91  75  92 /  90  10  20  10  20
TEMPLE, TX            86  74  91  75  92 /  60  10  20  10  10

&&

.FWD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NONE.
&&

58/75
Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 5, 5:12 AM CDT, 2 hours 30 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH TEXAS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
512 AM CDT WED SEP 5 2007

TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-061000-
ANDERSON-BELL-BOSQUE-COLLIN-COMANCHE-COOKE-CORYELL-DALLAS-DELTA-
DENTON-EASTLAND-ELLIS-ERATH-FALLS-FANNIN-FREESTONE-GRAYSON-HAMILTON-
HENDERSON-HILL-HOOD-HOPKINS-HUNT-JACK-JOHNSON-KAUFMAN-LAMAR-LAMPASAS-
LEON-LIMESTONE-MCLENNAN-MILAM-MILLS-MONTAGUE-NAVARRO-PALO PINTO-
PARKER-RAINS-ROBERTSON-ROCKWALL-SOMERVELL-STEPHENS-TARRANT-VAN ZANDT-
WISE-YOUNG-
512 AM CDT WED SEP 5 2007

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...
ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS AND LOCALIZED MINOR FLOODING ARE POSSIBLE
THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON. NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TODAY OR
TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...
THERE IS A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS DAILY THROUGH TUESDAY. THE
POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS DURING THIS TIME PERIOD IS
LOW.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
ISOLATED SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUESTED FOR FLOODING POTENTIAL
THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Sep 5, 6:18 AM CDT, 1 hour 24 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
618 AM CDT WED SEP 05 2007

..TIME..    ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE..    ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0545 AM     FLASH FLOOD      CLEBURNE                32.35N  97.41W
09/05/2007                   JOHNSON            TX   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            HWY 171 IN CLEBURNE COVERED WITH WATER...IMPASSABLE IN
            PLACES. MANY OF THE CITIES LOW WATER CROSSINGS ARE
            CLOSED.
Local storm report, Sep 5, 7:14 AM CDT, 28 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
714 AM CDT WED SEP 05 2007

..TIME..    ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE..    ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0650 AM     FLASH FLOOD      5 N VENUS               32.50N  97.10W
09/05/2007                   JOHNSON            TX   EMERGENCY MNGR

            HIGH WATER RESCUE ON HWY 287 SOUTH OF MANSFIELD IN
            JOHNSON COUNTY
Local storm report, Sep 5, 7:40 AM CDT, 2 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
740 AM CDT WED SEP 05 2007

..TIME..    ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE..    ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0700 AM     FLASH FLOOD      ALVARADO                32.41N  97.21W
09/05/2007                   JOHNSON            TX   EMERGENCY MNGR

            MANY ON GOING HIGH WATER RESCUES ACROSS THE EASTERN PART
            FO THE COUNTY...ESPECIALLY AROUND AVVARADO ADN VENUS.

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

0.7 hours before the tornado, 135 km from the path. September 5, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2007-09-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 151 joules per kilogram, CIN -39, lifted condensation level 553 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 2007-09-05The 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 34 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 28 knots.193958Sfc1 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
151 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-39 J/kg
Surface CAPE
191 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
553 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
34 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
113 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

11.3 hours after it, 135 km from the path. September 6, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 2007-09-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1939 joules per kilogram, CIN -7, lifted condensation level 1087 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 2007-09-06The 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 77 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 20 knots.193958Sfc1 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
1939 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2914 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1087 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
77 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
104 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.3
0-3 km lapse rate
6.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Corsicana (CRS), 22 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
10:53 UTC7674140° 9 kt1011.2
11:29 UTC75.273.4150° 11 kt1011.9
11:53 UTC7674150° 8 kt161011.5+RA BR
12:00 UTC75.273.4160° 6 kt1011.5RA BR
12:10 UTC75.273.4160° 7 kt1011.9-RA BR
12:32 UTC75.273.4160° 5 kt1012.2VCTS +RA BR
12:45 UTC75.273.4150° 7 kt1012.5VCTS +RA BR
12:53 UTC7673210° 16 kt211013.2+TSRA BR
13:01 UTC73.471.6210° 17 kt231013.2+TSRA BR
13:08 UTC73.471.6170° 17 kt221012.9+TSRA BR
13:14 UTC73.469.8180° 15 kt211012.9+TSRA BR
13:21 UTC73.469.8150° 13 kt211012.5TSRA BR
13:31 UTC73.469.8 5 kt1012.9TSRA BR
13:40 UTC71.669.8110° 5 kt1012.5VCTS RA BR
13:50 UTC73.469.80° 0 kt1012.5VCTS RA BR
13:53 UTC73700° 0 kt1012.9TSRA BR
13:59 UTC73.471.6200° 3 kt1012.9+TSRA BR
14:05 UTC73.471.6190° 3 kt1012.5+TSRA BR
14:12 UTC73.471.60° 0 kt1012.2+TSRA BR
14:15 UTC73.471.60° 0 kt1012.2+TSRA BR
14:27 UTC75.273.4240° 17 kt221012.5+TSRA BR
14:31 UTC75.273.4250° 11 kt221012.9TSRA BR
14:38 UTC75.273.4280° 8 kt1012.5VCTS +RA BR

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

The radar

The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 113 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 12:41 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
12:50 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Ese RichlandNavarro, TXPOSSIBLE TORNADO 4 ESE OF RICHLAND WITH BILLBOARD AND POWER LINES BLOWN DOWN...TREES UPROOTED...50 YARD WIDE DAMAGE PATH IN TREE TOPS ALONG INTERSTATE 45. TIME ESTIMATED.
14:20 UTCFLASH FLOODCorsicanaNavarro, TXNUMEROUS LOW WATER CROSSINGS FLOODED
14:25 UTCFLASH FLOODMalakoffHenderson, TXWATER OVER THE ROAD ON CITY STREETS IN MALAKOFF

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 September 5, 2007

4 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 57:47 AM CDTEF2Navarro, TX6.180$40,000
September 511:40 AM CDTEF1Wood, TX1.050$5,000
September 512:54 PM MDTEF0Caribou, ID7.550
September 53:10 PM CDTEF1Bowie, TX3.050$10,000

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.