EF1 tornado, Pampa to Lefors, Texas, May 15, 2009

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

   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

EF1

Date

May 15, 2009

Touchdown

5:25 PM CDT (22:25 UTC)

Lifted

5:45 PM CDT (22:45 UTC)

On the ground

20 minutes

Path length

6.0 miles (9.7 km)

Path width

440 yards (402 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$40,000

County

Gray County

Touchdown point

35.450, -100.845

Lift-off point

35.389, -100.770

Record number

0905151625-01

Severe thunderstorms producing five tornadoes...large hail and damaging winds moved across the eastern sections of the Texas Panhandle during the late afternoon and evening hours. One person was injured by a tornado...although no fatalities occurred. Numerous homes and windshields were damaged by the hail while the high winds knocked over eighteen wheelers...power poles and trees. The high winds also caused numerous power outages.

The broadcast media reported that the tornado touched down and remained over open country. No damage or injuries were reported. The tornado path length and path width were estimated.

An official National Weather Service storm damage survey team determined that a multiple vortex tornado touched down four miles east northeast of Pampa at 1609 CST. This tornado then moved southeast to five miles east southeast of Pampa where it lifted at 1617 CST. At least one home sustained significant damage from the tornado. In addition...at least four other homes sustained significant damage from downburst winds in close proximity to the tornado...one to three miles east of Pampa along and near U.S. Highway 60. Several other structures and vehicles were also damaged...including a semi truck and a motor home. One injury occurred to the semi truck driver. Trees and power poles also sustained considerable damage.

An official National Weather Service storm damage survey team determined that a multiple vortex tornado touched down two miles northwest of Lefors at 1625 CST which then moved southeast through Lefors before lifting four miles southeast of Lefors at 1645 CST. Several homes and other structures received minor to moderate damage in Lefors due to the tornado and downburst winds throughout the town. No injuries were reported.

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

22 minutes of warning. NWS AMA issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:03 UTC, 22 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:05 UTC and running to 01:42 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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:00 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.

Pampa (PPA), 27 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 84 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:26 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 2009 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

10 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.