Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2011

EF1 tornado, Crockett, Texas, April 25, 2011

This EF1 tornado ran 0.2 miles across Houston County on April 25, 2011, touching down at 9:15 PM 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.

  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.

The record

Rating
EF1
Date
April 25, 2011
Touchdown
9:15 PM CDT (02:15 UTC)
Lifted
9:18 PM CDT (02:18 UTC)
On the ground
3 minutes
Path length
0.2 miles (0.3 km)
Path width
30 yards (27 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$50,000
County
Houston County
Touchdown point
31.295, -95.502
Lift-off point
31.294, -95.500
Record number
1104252015-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Severe thunderstorms erupted along the dry line with the help of a shortwave aloft and produced large hail, strong damaging winds and tornadoes.

Tornado destroyed unoccupied mobile home and damaged several others along County Road 3015. Path continued across Route 21 with several large trees uprooted or snapped on a hillside east of Route 21.

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

The warnings

48 minutes of warning. NWS HGX issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:27 UTC, 48 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:43 UTC and running to 04:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
19:43 UTC04:00 UTCTornado WatchHGX
00:46 UTC01:30 UTCTornado WarningHGX
01:27 UTC02:15 UTCTornado WarningHGX
02:08 UTC02:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGX
02:11 UTC03:15 UTCTornado WarningHGX
02:18 UTC03:00 UTCTornado WarningHGX
03:30 UTC04:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGX
04:09 UTC05:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGX

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 Slight Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:32 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.

Shreveport, LA (KSHV), 00:00Z

2.3 hours before the tornado, 211 km from the path. April 26, 2011.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Shreveport, LA at 00:00Z on 2011-04-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 782 joules per kilogram, CIN -155, lifted condensation level 1445 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Shreveport, LA at 00:00Z on 2011-04-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 262 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 45 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
782 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-155 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1515 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1445 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
262 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
553 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
15.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Shreveport, LA (KSHV), 12:00Z

9.7 hours after it, 211 km from the path. April 26, 2011.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 2011-04-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1650 joules per kilogram, CIN -50, lifted condensation level 566 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 2011-04-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 148 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 58 knots.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1650 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-50 J/kg
Surface CAPE
640 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
566 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
58 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
148 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
57 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.5
Supercell composite
7.2
0-3 km lapse rate
4.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Ft Hood radar (KGRK), 190 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:16 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)ReportWhereCountyRemark
00:35 UTCHAIL 0.883 W PalestineAnderson, TXVFD REPORTS NICKEL SIZE HAIL ON US79 JUST WEST OF THE SPLIT.
00:35 UTCTORNADO2 N OakwoodLeon, TX2 SPOTTED. ONE JUST OFF THE GROUND, ONE FULLY ON THE GROUND.
00:38 UTCHAIL 1.75OakwoodLeon, TX
00:56 UTCTORNADO3 E OakwoodLeon, TXTORNADO REPORTED ON THE GROUND 3E OF OAKWOOD ON HWY 79.
00:58 UTCTORNADO2 Ne BuffaloLeon, TXTORNADO SPOTTED ON THE GROUND 2NE OF BUFFALO.
01:00 UTCHAIL 0.885 Sw PalestineAnderson, TXNICKEL SIZE HAIL NEAR ACR 2101 AT LAKEVIEW ENCAMPMENT.
01:04 UTCTSTM WND GST 70KeechiLeon, TX5 TO 10 INCH DIAMETER TREES BLOWN DOWN 1 NNW OF KECCHI.
01:08 UTCHAIL 0.884 Ssw ElkhartAnderson, TXDIME TO NICKEL SIZE HAIL 4 MILES SSW OF ELKHART.
01:27 UTCHAIL 1.75ElkhartAnderson, TXQUARTER TO GOLFBALL SIZED HAIL REPORTED IN ELKHART. 12 INCH TREE ALSO KNOCKED DOWN ACROSS FROM FM861.
01:41 UTCHAIL 11 N GrapelandHouston, TX
01:45 UTCHAIL 11 E GrapelandHouston, TXNICKLE TO QUARTER SIZED HAIL REPORTED.
01:52 UTCHAIL 0.88ElkhartAnderson, TXNICKEL SIZE HAIL IN ELKHART.
01:58 UTCHAIL 1.754 Se ElkhartAnderson, TXGOLFBALL HAIL SE OF ELKHART.
01:58 UTCHAIL 1.754 Sw ElkhartAnderson, TX
01:59 UTCHAIL 0.8812 E GrapelandHouston, TX
02:14 UTCHAIL 1.751 E GrapelandHouston, TXLOTS OF NICKEL SIZED HAIL WITH A FEW HAIL STONES AS LARGE AS GOLF BALLS.
02:18 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Wnw CrockettHouston, TX2 MOBILE HOMES DAMAGED ONE SEVERELY. NO ONE INJURED. TIME ESTIMATED.
02:20 UTCHAIL 1LatexoHouston, TX
02:35 UTCDOWNBURST1 S WellsAngelina, TXA 2 MILE SWATH OF SEVERE WIND DAMAGE IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE REAR FLANK DOWNDRAFT FROM THE WELLS TORNADO. MINOR ROOF DAMAGE OCCURRED TO HOMES ALONG FM 1819. THE OLD REDTOWN SCHOOL AND SENIOR CITIZEN CENTER BOTH LOST PART
02:37 UTCTSTM WND DMG8 Ne CrockettHouston, TXTREES DOWN AND BLOCKING HIGHWAY 21 EAST.
02:37 UTCTORNADOWellsCherokee, TXAN EF1 TORNADO WITH A 10 MILE PATH LENGTH BEGAN IN THE EXTREME SOUTHEAST CORNER OF CHEROKEE COUNTY WHERE IT CAUSED ROOF DAMAGE TO A HOME ALONG CR 2829. THE STORM CONTINUED INTO ANGELINA COUNTY WHERE IT SNAPPED AND UPROOT
02:40 UTCTORNADO4 Ssw WellsAngelina, TXTORNADO ON THE GROUND NORTH OF HWY 103 AND 7.
02:58 UTCTORNADOWellsCherokee, TXSPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO ON THE GROUND NEAR THE COMMUNITY OF WELLS.
04:30 UTCHAIL 0.756 Ne TrinityTrinity, TX
04:51 UTCHAIL 0.8810 Ese TrinityTrinity, TXNEAR FM 356 AT BARRETS LANDING NICKEL HAIL.
05:15 UTCTSTM WND DMGRiversideWalker, TXWALKER COUNTY SHERRIF HAD NUMEROUS REPORTS OF TREES DOWN IN AND AROUND RIVERSIDE.
05:15 UTCHAIL 0.54 E RiversideWalker, TX

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2011 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 25, 2011

45 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 259:05 AM CDTEF0Hempstead, AR7.6100
April 251:55 PM CDTEF0Hood, TX2.5150
April 252:00 PM CDTEF0Hood, TX0.425
April 252:02 PM CDTEF0McCurtain, OK9.275
April 252:55 PM CDTEF1Polk, AR5.850$250,000
April 253:00 PM CDTEF0Somervell, TX0.850
April 253:10 PM CDTEF0Johnson, TX2.6400
April 253:15 PM CDTEF0Johnson, TX0.9150
April 253:32 PM CDTEF1Cherokee, TX8.675$500
April 254:23 PM CDTEF0Hill, TX0.730
April 254:23 PM CDTEF1Christian, KY1.5275$100,000
April 254:24 PM CDTEF1Garland, AR9.3300$600,000
April 254:35 PM CDTEF1Pike, AR11.6800$290,000
April 254:56 PM CDTEF2Garland, AR5.92009$3.0 million
April 255:00 PM CDTEF1Pike, AR4.3300$200,000
April 255:02 PM CDTEF2Garland, AR14.430010$5.0 million
April 255:18 PM CDTEF0McCurtain, OK2.550$5,000
April 255:20 PM CDTEF0Ellis, TX0.550$25,000
April 255:37 PM CDTEF0Sevier, AR7.470
April 255:47 PM CDTEF1Wayne, MO11.8200$25,000
April 255:58 PM CDTEF1Wayne, MO5.9500$70,000
April 256:07 PM CDTEF3Garland, AR16.8300120$23 million
April 256:21 PM CDTEF1Perry, AR6.0300$700,000
April 256:29 PM CDTEF1Pike, AR4.2250$100,000
April 256:30 PM CDTEF1Bollinger, MO2.870$200,000
April 256:48 PM CDTEF1Pulaski, AR1.6400$250,000
April 256:48 PM CDTEF2Pulaski, AR51.32,900416$53 million
April 256:53 PM CDTEF0Limestone, TX1.3100
April 256:59 PM CDTEF0Freestone, TX0.8100
April 257:06 PM CDTEF1Faulkner, AR1.150$100,000
April 257:25 PM CDTEF0Freestone, TX3.5500
April 257:35 PM CDTEF0Leon, TX0.9100
April 257:46 PM CDTEF2Pulaski, AR5.23504$125 million
April 257:53 PM CDTEF1Lonoke, AR21.9800$390,000
April 258:15 PM CDTEF1Prairie, AR6.2100$25,000
April 258:24 PM CDTEF1White, AR8.9100$1.0 million
April 259:37 PM CDTEF1Angelina, TX7.7250$400,000
April 259:45 PM CDTEF1Trinity, TX0.6100$30,000
April 2510:13 PM CDTEF0Angelina, TX0.725$2,000
April 2511:45 PM CDTEF1Weakley, TN to KY15.4225$150,000
April 2511:47 PM CDTEF0Henderson, TN17.0200$20,000
April 2512:30 AM CDTEF0Polk, TX0.120$1,000
April 2512:30 AM CDTEF0Calloway, KY0.8175$80,000
April 2512:37 AM CDTEF1Lyon, KY3.250$150,000
April 2512:40 AM CDTEF1Lyon, KY15.4100$200,000

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.