EF0 tornado, Sapoak to Santo, Texas, April 23, 2008

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.

Rating

EF0

Date

April 23, 2008

Touchdown

6:58 PM CDT (23:58 UTC)

Lifted

7:09 PM CDT (00:09 UTC)

On the ground

11 minutes

Path length

7.2 miles (11.6 km)

Path width

125 yards (114 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$50,000

Counties

Erath and Palo Pinto counties

Touchdown point

32.460, -98.212

Lift-off point

32.537, -98.130

Record number

0804231758-01

North Texas was impacted with a linear mesoscale convective system as well as discrete supercell thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening hours. An EF-2 tornado destroyed several homes in the town of Crowley and several other brief tornadoes were reported as well. Other severe reports included large hail and damaging winds.

A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service in Fort Worth found that a tornado formed near the intersection of CR 120 and CR 125. The tornado moved east causing damage to a shed and a mobile home. Tree limbs were damaged across CR 118. This tornado was rated an EF-0 with maximum sustained winds of 65 MPH.

A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service in Fort Worth found that a tornado developed near the intersection of CR 140 and CR 141 north of Morgan Mill. Large trees were snapped along CR 140 and FM 3208. Tree and sporadic roof damage occurred across FM 2603, and continued northeast into Palo Pinto County. This tornado was rated an EF-0 with maximum winds between 80 and 85 MPH.

The Erath County tornado continued into Palo Pinto County. Tree and sporadic roof damage occurred across FM 2603 to near the intersection of FM 4 and Highway 281 in southeastern Palo Pinto County. This tornado was rated an EF-0 with maximum winds between 80 and 85 MPH.

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

17 minutes of warning. NWS FWD issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:41 UTC, 17 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:37 UTC and running to 03:01 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:55 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.

Stephenville/Clark (SEP), 32 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 82 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:59 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 2008 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

19 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.