EF0 tornado, Andice, Texas, May 21, 2011

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

May 21, 2011

Touchdown

9:00 PM CDT (02:00 UTC)

Lifted

9:05 PM CDT (02:05 UTC)

On the ground

5 minutes

Path length

1.6 miles (2.6 km)

Path width

30 yards (27 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$100,000

County

Williamson County

Touchdown point

30.764, -97.837

Lift-off point

30.786, -97.831

Record number

1105212000-01

An upper level area of low pressure moved across the southern plains and interacted with a dryline to produce severe thunderstorms on successive days. The severe weather was over the eastern part of the forecast area. The strongest storms were on May 21st with a tornado and record setting hail.

The National Weather Service conducted a damage survey near the Andice area in western Williamson County. Talking to several local residents have brought the conclusion that the initial spin up of the weak tornado occurred around 9pm and|lasted probably 5 minutes as it tracked to the North Northeast. Residents to the southeast of Andice reported seeing a lot of circulation under the storm with several different funnels. Damage was first seen just to the south of ranch road 2338 about 1.5 miles SSE of Andice. Minor damage to several mobile homes occurred at this area including a carport and deck which were destroyed. The tornado crossed Ranch Road 2338 and went NNE and crossed county roads 250 and 251. Several areas of tree damage were noted. Two residences along County Road 251 experienced damage including a screened in porch that was tossed over the house. Large hay bales were also found in the road...being rolled many yards from their original location. There were no deaths or injuries. Maximum winds are estimated to have been 80 MPH.

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

33 minutes of warning. NWS EWX issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:27 UTC, 33 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:00 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 18:45 UTC and running to 02:00 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 01:03 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.

Georgetown (Awos) (GTU), 18 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Ft Hood radar (KGRK), 44 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:57 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 2011 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

17 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.