EF0 tornado, Eolian to Caddo, Texas, April 9, 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 9, 2008

Touchdown

5:36 PM CDT (22:36 UTC)

Lifted

5:38 PM CDT (22:38 UTC)

On the ground

2 minutes

Path length

1.5 miles (2.5 km)

Path width

70 yards (64 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Stephens County

Touchdown point

32.748, -98.769

Lift-off point

32.761, -98.747

Record number

0804091636-01

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.

Based on ground and aerial surveys...it was determined a tornado formed along FM 576 east of Eolian. The tornado damaged trees and a shed west of FM 576 and FM 3418 and continued to damage a large metal building on FM 3418. In addition, several large storage containers were blown across the road. This tornado was rated an EF-0 with maximum winds of 80-85 MPH.

The second tornado began approximately a half mile west of Highway 183 and south of FM 2231. Power poles were damaged along FM 2231 and Highway 183 and roof and barn damage was noted along Highway 183. The most significant damage occurred at and just west of the Stephens County Airport where several homes had considerable damage along CR 150. Several airport buildings had overhead doors blown in, roof damage, and damage to girders. Power poles were also damaged northeast of the airport near the eastern end of FM 2231. Damage to mobile homes, roofs, power poles, and storage buildings continued across Highway 180 and between Highways 67 and 207. This tornado has been rated as an upper end EF-1 with winds approaching 110 MPH. An estimated 46 homes were damaged in total. Three injuries required hospitalization and there were a few minor ones as well.

Storm chasers observed a brief tornado between Breckenridge and Caddo. The tornado was over open country and no damage was reported.

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

7 minutes of warning. NWS FWD issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:29 UTC, 7 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:27 UTC and running to 01:00 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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 20:05 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.

Breckenridge (BKD), 13 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Dyess AFB radar (KDYX), 52 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:37 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

20 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.