Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2008
EF1 tornado, Glen Rose to Nemo, Texas, April 10, 2008
From Glen Rose to Nemo, this EF1 tornado ran 7.6 miles across Somervell County on April 10, 2008, touching down at 3:03 AM CDT and reaching 75 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $200,000 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.
EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
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
- EF1
- Date
- April 10, 2008
- Touchdown
- 3:03 AM CDT (08:03 UTC)
- Lifted
- 3:11 AM CDT (08:11 UTC)
- On the ground
- 8 minutes
- Path length
- 7.6 miles (12.2 km)
- Path width
- 75 yards (69 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $200,000
- County
- Somervell County
- Touchdown point
- 32.216, -97.789
- Lift-off point
- 32.255, -97.667
- Record number
- 0804100203-01
What the Weather Service recorded
Several rounds of storms moved across north Texas on April 8th through 10th. Numerous reports of large hail were received on Tuesday evening. A lone supercell evolved during the afternoon hours of the 9th, producing tornadoes and large hail along its path. Later that evening and into Thursday morning a squall line tracked across north Texas, producing damaging winds and tornadoes into the morning hours.
A residence west of Glen Rose suffered substantial damage to roofs, a porch, and a well house. About fifty trees were blown down or uprooted. Near Nemo on CR 419, numerous trees were damaged and an RV was destroyed. A front 12' by 50' porch was ripped off a house and numerous outbuildings were destroyed. A school in Nemo lost the roof of its music room. Officials observed that the damage seemed to occur in paths.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
3 minutes of warning. NWS FWD issued a tornado warning for this county at 08:00 UTC, 3 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 08:15 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 03:40 UTC and running to 10:42 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18:27 UTC | 01:00 UTC | Tornado Watch | FWD |
| 03:40 UTC | 10:42 UTC | Tornado Watch | FWD |
| 06:29 UTC | 00:00 UTC | Wind Advisory | FWD |
| 07:41 UTC | 08:20 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD |
| 08:00 UTC | 08:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | FWD |
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 06:01 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.
Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), 00:00Z
8.1 hours before the tornado, 78 km from the path. April 10, 2008.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2061 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -5 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 3204 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 537 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 63 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 237 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 337 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 4.9
- Supercell composite
- 22.7
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 6.1 K/km
Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), 12:00Z
3.9 hours after it, 78 km from the path. April 10, 2008.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -368 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 62 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1122 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 80 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 41 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -216 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -100 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.1 K/km
The radar
The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 55 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 08:03 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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07:40 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 Ne Morgan Mill | Erath, TX | LARGE TREE BLOWN ONTO A HOME IN EXTREME NORTHEAST ERATH COUNTY |
| 07:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 N Stephenville | Erath, TX | STRUCTURAL DAMAGE REPORTED 5 MILES NORTH OF STEPHENVILLE ALONG 108 AND 426. ALSO NUMEROUS TREES DOWN ACROSS THE COUNTY |
| 07:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Lipan | Hood, TX | ROOF PARTIALLY BLOWN OFF A HOUSE |
| 07:55 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 10 Sw Benbrook | Parker, TX | BEDROOM WINDOWS BLOWN INTO HOUSE. |
| 08:00 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Glen Rose | Somervell, TX | NUMEROUS STRUCTURES DAMAGED |
| 08:09 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Glen Rose | Somervell, TX | LARGE TREE DOWN IN GLEN ROSE |
| 08:11 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Aledo | Parker, TX | HOME SUSTAINED DAMAGE...DEBRIS THROUGH WINDOWS |
| 08:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 8 Ne Keene | Johnson, TX | WIDESPREAD DAMAGE BETWEEN I-35 AND LILLIAN. NUMEROUS ROOFS TORN OFF HOUSES AND NUMEROUS TREES DOWN. |
| 08:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Burleson | Johnson, TX | NUMEROUS POWER FLASHES IN BURLESON. POWER POLES DOWN |
| 08:30 UTC | TORNADO | 4.5 N Alvarado | Johnson, TX | SURVEY TEAM CONFIRMED EF-1 TORNADO DEVELOPED NEAR HAPPY HILLS AND TRAVELED NE APPROX 3 MILES TO NEAR PLEASANT POINT. |
| 09:04 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 N Stephenville | Erath, TX | STRUCTURAL DAMAGE REPORTED 5 MILES NORTH OF STEPHENVILLE ALONG 108 AND 426. ALSO NUMEROUS TREES DOWN ACROSS THE COUNTY |
| 09:10 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Hillsboro | Hill, TX | LARGE TREE DOWN OVER COUNTY ROAD 4281 |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2008 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of April 10, 2008
32 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 10 | 1:35 AM CDT | EF1 | Brown, TX | 1.5 | 125 | $150,000 | ||
| April 10 | 3:30 AM CDT | EF1 | Johnson, TX | 2.9 | 50 | $25 million | ||
| April 10 | 4:00 AM CDT | EF1 | Dallas, TX | 2.0 | 40 | $1.0 million | ||
| April 10 | 4:04 AM CDT | EF1 | Collin, TX | 7.2 | 175 | $12 million | ||
| April 10 | 4:05 AM CDT | EF0 | Bell, TX | 6.4 | 100 | $500,000 | ||
| April 10 | 4:29 AM CDT | EF1 | Sharp, AR | 1.0 | 200 | $10,000 | ||
| April 10 | 4:56 AM CDT | EF0 | Sequoyah, OK | 2.0 | 150 | |||
| April 10 | 5:15 AM CDT | EF2 | Adair, OK | 2.8 | 300 | $100,000 | ||
| April 10 | 5:26 AM CDT | EF2 | Adair, OK to AR | 9.0 | 400 | $125,000 | ||
| April 10 | 5:50 AM CDT | EF2 | Washington, AR | 3.0 | 600 | $125,000 | ||
| April 10 | 6:02 AM CDT | EF1 | Madison, AR | 0.8 | 200 | $10,000 | ||
| April 10 | 6:20 AM CDT | EF1 | Madison, AR | 10.7 | 900 | $100,000 | ||
| April 10 | 7:55 AM CDT | EF0 | Douglas, MO | 0.3 | 75 | $40,000 | ||
| April 10 | 8:12 AM CDT | EF2 | Bowie, TX | 5.5 | 200 | 1 | $1.0 million | |
| April 10 | 8:15 AM CDT | EF0 | Howell, MO | 3.3 | 150 | |||
| April 10 | 10:56 AM CDT | EF1 | Grant, AR | 15.1 | 175 | $30,000 | ||
| April 10 | 4:33 PM CDT | EF0 | Wayne, IA | 0.6 | 20 | |||
| April 10 | 4:49 PM CDT | EF0 | Wayne, IA | 0.4 | 20 | |||
| April 10 | 4:57 PM CDT | EF1 | Appanoose, IA | 2.0 | 30 | $75,000 | ||
| April 10 | 5:10 PM CDT | EF1 | Appanoose, IA | 2.9 | 50 | $75,000 | ||
| April 10 | 5:43 PM CDT | EF1 | Mahaska, IA | 3.0 | 50 | $100,000 | ||
| April 10 | 5:55 PM CDT | EF0 | Adams, IL | 9.1 | 50 | |||
| April 10 | 6:16 PM CDT | EF2 | Van Buren, IA | 1.8 | 220 | $150,000 | ||
| April 10 | 6:21 PM CDT | EF1 | Poweshiek, IA | 7.6 | 50 | $100,000 | ||
| April 10 | 6:25 PM CDT | EF1 | Van Buren, IA | 5.3 | 50 | $30,000 | ||
| April 10 | 6:30 PM CDT | EF1 | Hancock, IL | 1.6 | 150 | $100,000 | ||
| April 10 | 6:33 PM CDT | EF0 | Hancock, IL | 0.2 | 50 | $20,000 | ||
| April 10 | 6:35 PM CDT | EF0 | Hancock, IL | 0.8 | 75 | $30,000 | ||
| April 10 | 6:36 PM CDT | EF0 | Poweshiek, IA | 2.4 | 25 | $50,000 | ||
| April 10 | 7:03 PM CDT | EF0 | Keokuk, IA | 1.8 | 100 | $50,000 | ||
| April 10 | 7:05 PM CDT | EF0 | Keokuk, IA | 0.0 | 25 | |||
| April 10 | 8:30 PM CDT | EF0 | Buchanan, MO | 0.3 | 30 | $70,000 |
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.