Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2010
EF1 tornado, Mabank, Texas, April 24, 2010
This EF1 tornado ran 0.2 miles across Kaufman County on April 24, 2010, touching down at 1:44 AM CDT and reaching 30 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $50,000 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 24, 2010
- Touchdown
- 1:44 AM CDT (06:44 UTC)
- Lifted
- 1:45 AM CDT (06:45 UTC)
- On the ground
- 1 minutes
- Path length
- 0.2 miles (0.3 km)
- Path width
- 30 yards (27 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $50,000
- County
- Kaufman County
- Touchdown point
- 32.370, -96.103
- Lift-off point
- 32.372, -96.102
- Record number
- 1004240044-01
The damage survey
1 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS FWD, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 80 mph.
- This event happened, but is being added as a test at a much later date
Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.
What the Weather Service recorded
A linear mesoscale convective system developed in Lampasas County and moved northeast through north Texas on the night of Friday, April 23rd into the early morning hours of the 24th. There were some isolated reports of hail up to the size of golfballs, however most of the damage from these storms resulted from strong straight-line winds up to 90 mph. There was a brief tornado in Mabank in far southeastern Kaufman County. Most of the damage associated with the strong winds were downed trees, power poles, and power lines, but some building and residential damage was evident. Thousands of residents lost power during the event.
A brief EF-1 tornado, producing winds of 90 mph, touched down in Mabank and significantly damaged a residential home. The tornado was approximately a quarter mile in length.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.
The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 04:16 UTC and running to 07:55 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 04:16 UTC | 07:55 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | FWD |
| 05:47 UTC | 06:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD |
| 06:37 UTC | 07:21 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm 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, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 05:57 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
6.7 hours before the tornado, 123 km from the path. April 24, 2010.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -73192 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 13 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2449 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 56 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 7 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 54 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 131 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 8.3 K/km
Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), 12:00Z
5.3 hours after it, 123 km from the path. April 24, 2010.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 13 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -232 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 62 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1387 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 77 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 20 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 27 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -41 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.8 K/km
The radar
The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 115 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 06:42 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05:54 UTC | HAIL 2 | 2 E Ennis | Ellis, TX | EGG SIZE HAIL 2 EAST OF ENNIS |
| 05:56 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | 1 Ssw Ennis | Ellis, TX | NICKEL HAIL SSW OF ENNIS. |
| 06:19 UTC | TSTM WND GST 87 | Corsicana | Navarro, TX | 87 MPH WIND GUST RECORDED AT THE CORSICANA ASOS |
| 06:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Corsicana | Navarro, TX | ROOF LIFTED OFF AN APARTMENT BUILDING IN SOUTHWEST CORSICANA. |
| 06:35 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 E Star Harbor | Henderson, TX | A LARGE BOATHOUSE HAD HALF OF ITS ROOF BLOWN OFF EAST OF STAR HARBOR. |
| 06:35 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 Nw Star Harbor | Henderson, TX | IN KEY RANCH ESTATES, SEVERAL HOMES WERE LEFT UNINHABITABLE AFTER TREES FELL ON THEM. SEVERAL RESIDENTS WERE TRAPPED INSIDE BUT NO ONE WAS INJURED. |
| 06:35 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Gun Barrel City | Henderson, TX | THE ROOF COLLAPSED AT A BUSINESS IN A STRIP MALL IN GUN BARREL CITY. OTHER DEBRIS AND DAMAGE TO ROAD SIGNS WAS ALSO REPORTED. |
| 06:35 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Star Harbor | Henderson, TX | IN STAR HARBOR, SOME MINOR ROOF DAMAGE WAS REPORTED AND LARGE TREE LIMBS WERE DOWN. THE TREE LIMBS WERE ESTIMATED TO BE A COUPLE OF INCHES WIDE. |
| 06:35 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Tool | Henderson, TX | SMALL TREE LIMBS WERE KNOCKED DOWN IN TOOL. |
| 06:38 UTC | TSTM WND GST 78 | 5 Se Star Harbor | Henderson, TX | MEASURED IN MALAKOFF |
| 06:42 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Mabank | Kaufman, TX | SEVERAL BUILDINGS WITH SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE IN ONE CITY BLOCK. |
| 06:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Corsicana | Navarro, TX | BROOKSHIRE GROCERY STORE LOST APPROX 30% OF THE ROOF AND SOME TRUSSES WERE BENT. |
| 06:45 UTC | TORNADO | Mabank | Kaufman, TX | A BRIEF EF1 TORNADO OCCURRED IN MABANK. A RESIDENTAL HOME WAS DAMAGED. ESTIMATED WINDS OF 90 MPH AND TRACK OF 1/4 MILE. |
| 07:04 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 W Van | Van Zandt, TX | NUMEROUS MEDIUM SIZE TREES DOWN 2 MILES WEST OF VAN |
| 07:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 W Lindale | Smith, TX | TREE AND POWERLINE DOWN IN HIDEAWAY LAKE COMMUNITY |
| 07:25 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 9 Sw Canton | Van Zandt, TX | DPS TROOP REPORTED POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR PURTIS CREEK PARK...2SE OF ODEM. |
| 08:24 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Corsicana | Navarro, TX | BROOKSHIRE STORE IN CORSICANA LOST PART OF ITS ROOF WITH BENT TRUSSES. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2010 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of April 24, 2010
38 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 24 | 2:31 AM CDT | EF0 | Wood, TX | 4.2 | 100 | 3 | $75,000 | |
| April 24 | 2:45 AM CDT | EF0 | Wood, TX | 1.6 | 70 | $10,000 | ||
| April 24 | 6:57 AM CDT | EF0 | Union Parish, LA | 0.5 | 70 | |||
| April 24 | 8:43 AM CDT | EF1 | Smith, MS | 10.7 | 50 | $40,000 | ||
| April 24 | 9:22 AM CDT | EF2 | Jasper, MS | 22.9 | 1,056 | $1.3 million | ||
| April 24 | 10:44 AM CDT | EF0 | Sumter, AL | 0.1 | 30 | |||
| April 24 | 11:09 AM CDT | EF4 | Yazoo City tornado, Mississippi | 149.0 | 3,080 | 10 | 146 | $386 million |
| April 24 | 11:19 AM CDT | EF1 | Marengo, AL | 8.2 | 200 | 2 | $170,000 | |
| April 24 | 11:20 AM CDT | EF0 | Union, MS | 0.1 | 30 | $25,000 | ||
| April 24 | 11:50 AM CDT | EF0 | Hale, AL | 5.8 | 100 | $60,000 | ||
| April 24 | 12:37 PM CDT | EF0 | Nodaway, MO | 0.1 | 25 | |||
| April 24 | 12:40 PM CDT | EF0 | Nodaway, MO | 0.1 | 25 | |||
| April 24 | 1:40 PM CDT | EF0 | Taney, MO | 0.5 | 70 | $20,000 | ||
| April 24 | 2:05 PM CDT | EF0 | Mississippi, AR | 2.1 | 50 | $3,000 | ||
| April 24 | 2:09 PM CDT | EF2 | Oktibbeha, MS | 7.0 | 800 | $650,000 | ||
| April 24 | 2:28 PM CDT | EF2 | Clay, MS | 1.9 | 300 | $80,000 | ||
| April 24 | 2:40 PM CDT | EF1 | Monroe, MS | 6.5 | 150 | 1 | $350,000 | |
| April 24 | 4:23 PM CDT | EF0 | Christian, KY | 2.0 | 40 | $4,000 | ||
| April 24 | 4:25 PM CDT | EF0 | Saint Louis, MO | 0.6 | 300 | |||
| April 24 | 4:26 PM CDT | EF1 | Decatur, TN | 25.6 | 400 | $1.1 million | ||
| April 24 | 4:27 PM CDT | EF0 | Marion, AL | 7.2 | 200 | $105,000 | ||
| April 24 | 4:30 PM CDT | EF0 | Saint Louis, MO | 4.4 | 325 | |||
| April 24 | 5:40 PM CDT | EF1 | Edmonson, KY | 1.1 | 50 | $30,000 | ||
| April 24 | 6:15 PM CDT | EF1 | Hickman, TN | 1.8 | 100 | $30,000 | ||
| April 24 | 6:57 PM CDT | EF2 | Cullman, AL | 5.8 | 300 | |||
| April 24 | 8:25 PM EDT | EF1 | Mercer, KY | 1.8 | 50 | |||
| April 24 | 7:32 PM CDT | EF1 | Lauderdale, MS | 4.3 | 100 | $450,000 | ||
| April 24 | 7:42 PM CDT | EF0 | Macon, TN | 1.5 | 50 | $16,000 | ||
| April 24 | 8:06 PM CDT | EF1 | Fayette, AL | 6.6 | 200 | $77,000 | ||
| April 24 | 8:21 PM CDT | EF1 | Fayette, AL | 4.6 | 400 | $75,000 | ||
| April 24 | 9:59 PM CDT | EF1 | Blount, AL | 0.9 | 200 | $50,000 | ||
| April 24 | 10:01 PM CDT | EF3 | Walker, AL | 29.6 | 400 | $658,000 | ||
| April 24 | 10:05 PM CDT | EF3 | Marshall, AL | 17.7 | 1,320 | 35 | $14 million | |
| April 24 | 10:35 PM CDT | EF3 | DeKalb, AL | 21.3 | 1,320 | 10 | $3.0 million | |
| April 24 | 11:25 PM CDT | EF3 | DeKalb, AL to GA | 14.3 | 440 | $2.7 million | ||
| April 24 | 12:01 AM CDT | EF4 | Crossville–Collinsville tornado, AL | 16.6 | 880 | 5 | $3.0 million | |
| April 24 | 1:50 AM EDT | EF0 | Monroe, TN | 5.0 | 50 | $25,000 | ||
| April 24 | 1:55 AM EDT | EF1 | Loudon, TN | 8.0 | 100 | $30,000 |
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.