EF3 tornado, Cee Vee, Texas, April 22, 2010

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 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 mphthis tornado

   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

EF3

Date

April 22, 2010

Touchdown

7:46 PM CDT (00:46 UTC)

Lifted

8:20 PM CDT (01:20 UTC)

On the ground

34 minutes

Path length

12.3 miles (19.7 km)

Path width

975 yards (892 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$300,000

County

Cottle County

Touchdown point

34.169, -100.512

Lift-off point

34.261, -100.329

Record number

1004221846-01

Scattered thunderstorms developed over the central and eastern South Plains region of west Texas during the late afternoon and evening hours of the 22nd. These storms resulted in significant severe weather, including strong tornadoes, as they impacted portions of the extreme southeastern Panhandle and the Rolling Plains. |The severe weather over the South Plains of west Texas on the 22nd was part of a larger tornado outbreak that impacted areas from west Texas northward through western Kansas and eastern Colorado.||Thunderstorms initiated over the central South Plains along and east of a dryline late in the day. These storms, some exhibiting supercell characteristics, initially became severe and produced large hail and damaging winds before 18:00 CST. By 18:20 CST, the first of three tornadoes, two of which were long-lived and significant, developed over northeastern Motley County. The parent supercell thunderstorm produced two damaging and rain-wrapped tornadoes over portions of Motley and Cottle Counties. The initial tornado south of Northfield crossed the Motley and Cottle County line southwest of Cee Vee. This three-quarter mile wide EF-2 tornado destroyed windmills and utility poles as it tracked through rural ranchlands. The second tornado heavily damaged or destroyed three farmsteads south and southeast of Cee Vee (Cottle County). Winds were estimated at approximately 140 mph where one home was destroyed east of that community. No injuries were reported.||A second supercell thunderstorm developed south of the initial tornadic storm, and became tornadic near Swearingen (Cottle County) shortly after 21:00 CST.||In addition to tornadoes, numerous reports of large hail up to the size of baseballs were received. Another Cottle County home was heavily damaged by thunderstorm winds just north of Paducah as convection organized into a linear complex late in the evening. Also, training thunderstorms repeatedly moved over the Tahoka area in Lynn County. This resulted in areas of flooding and portions of two U.S. Highways were rendered impassable.||In all, property damages were estimated at $530,000. No injuries were reported.

Multiple storm chasers observed a large and rain-wrapped tornado that moved east-northeastward across the Motley and Cottle County line south-southeast of Northfield and southwest of Cee Vee during the 18:00 CST hour on the 22nd. ||Doppler radar, along with post-storm ground and aerial surveys, suggest that the tornado developed at approximately 18:20 CST south-southwest of Northfield in Motley County. Storm chasers first obtained a visual confirmation of the tornado at 18:37 CST as it partially emerged from obscuring rain curtains, while still in rural areas of northeastern Motley County. Photographs from that time show a very large wedge-shaped tornado. ||The tornado's maximum intensity, per post storm surveys by private land owners and meteorologists from the National Weather Service and Texas Tech University West Texas Mesonet, occurred in northeastern Motley County where four windmills were destroyed, mesquite trees were severely damaged, and where a number of wooden utility poles were snapped. The damage path was measured to be three-quarters of a mile wide near the Motley and Cottle County line. ||The tornado again became totally obscured by rain and hail within the parent high precipitation supercell storm before it crossed the Motley and Cottle County line approximately 4.8 miles west-southwest of Cee Vee at 18:42 CST. Doppler radar velocity data shows subtle evidence that a mesocyclone occlusion may have occurred, and that the tornado likely dissipated just a few minutes later at approximately 18:45 CST 3.5 miles southwest of Cee Vee. A second tornado, however, quickly developed in a cyclic fashion just southeast of the initial tornado as a new mesocyclone became dominant.||The total path length of the tornado across portions of Motley and Cottle Counties was approximately 9 miles, with a 25-minute duration. Enhanced-Fujita Scale damage indicators for both free-standing metal towers and metal electrical transmission line poles were considered to gauge expected wind speeds for the destroyed windmills observed in northeastern Motley County. The lower bounds for degrees of damage 2 and 5 respectively were accepted, yielding estimated wind speeds between 110 and 115 mph. Winds of at least this magnitude are additionally supported by the expected value for snapped wooden utility poles, which were additionally observed along the damage path. Therefore an EF-2 rating was assigned for this tornado.

A large and rain wrapped tornado tracked from southwest of Cee Vee to just west of U.S. Highway 62/83 east-northeast of Cee Vee between 18:46 and 19:20 CST. A storm spotter observed the tornado as it passed southeast of Cee Vee at approximately 19:05 CST, and described it visually as a large wedge-shaped vortex. A post-storm ground and aerial survey conducted by local emergency management officials and National Weather Service meteorologists concluded that the tornado resulted in significant EF-3 damage.||A number light weight objects and structures, including well-houses, horse stables, utility poles, empty semi-truck trailers, and a partially filled petroleum tank were heavily damaged or destroyed along the initial portions of the tornado's track through ranchland southwest and south of Cee Vee. This includes minor roof damage to a permanent farm home near County Road 172. ||Significant damage first occurred at a farmstead 3 miles east-southeast of Cee Vee, south of Farm to Market Road 1440. At this site, upwards of twenty-percent of the roof was removed from a well-built permanent home. A large metal building was partially collapsed and a well-house was completely destroyed. A horse trailer was blown over and rolled. In addition, several large trees were uprooted.||The tornado continued to move northeastward and impacted a second farmstead four miles east of Cee Vee, just south of Farm to Market Road 1440. The tornado's maximum damage intensity was observed at this site, where a well-built stucco constructed permanant home, a cinderblock two-car garage, and several outbuildings were destroyed. The home's roof was totally removed, and three exterior walls collapsed. A portion of the home's roof and exterior walls were blown downwind and struck the two-car cinderblock garage broadside. This contributed to the complete destruction of that structure with only the frames of two exterior walls remaining. Two outbuildings and a horse stable were completely destroyed, with another unroofed. In addition, an entire stand of more than a dozen large trees were uprooted. A detailed survey by local officials of the site, revealed that the home was well-built, and that the exterior walls were secured to the slab foundation with bolts.||In collaboration with experts at Texas Tech University's Wind Engineering Department, the developers of the Enhanced-Fujita Scale, it was determined that estimated wind speeds at the site of the destroyed residence ranged between 130 and 150 mph. With an average expected wind speed of 140 mph, the tornado was assigned an EF-3 rating based on this damage.||The tornado continued northeastward across Farm to Market Road 1440. It caused light roof damage to a couple of light weight structures before dissipating just west of U.S. Highway 62/83 east-northeast of Cee Vee at approximately 19:20 CST.||Despite damaging three residences, no injuries were reported.

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

32 minutes of warning. NWS LUB issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:14 UTC, 32 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:34 UTC and running to 01:35 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 19:59 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.

The Altus AFB radar (KFDR), 134 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:44 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 2010 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

41 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.