Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2011

EF0 tornado, Marvetta, Texas, May 22, 2011

This EF0 tornado ran 0.0 miles across Jack County on May 22, 2011, touching down at 6:20 PM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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 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.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
May 22, 2011
Touchdown
6:20 PM CDT (23:20 UTC)
Lifted
6:21 PM CDT (23:21 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.0 miles (0.0 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Jack County
Touchdown point
33.311, -98.041
Lift-off point
33.311, -98.041
Record number
1105221720-01

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.

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

Numerous supercell thunderstorms developed along a dryline northwest of the Fort Worth County Warning Area and spread east through the evening. A brief tornado damaged trees in Jack County. Hail up to the size of golfballs fell and winds gusted in excess of 60 MPH from these thunderstorms. The severe weather primarily affected locations northwest of a Comanche to Dallas to Bonham line.

An EF-0 tornado occurred approximately 9 miles northeast of Jacksboro. This tornado damaged trees with maximum estimated winds around 80 MPH.

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

The warnings

38 minutes of warning. NWS FWD issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:42 UTC, 38 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:48 UTC and running to 02:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
18:48 UTC02:00 UTCTornado WatchFWD
21:52 UTC22:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWD
22:42 UTC23:30 UTCTornado WarningFWD
22:47 UTC23:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWD
23:25 UTC23:51 UTCTornado WarningFWD
23:39 UTC00:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWD

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 0.05 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 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), 12:00Z

11.3 hours before the tornado, 88 km from the path. May 22, 2011.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2011-05-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 3761 joules per kilogram, CIN -19, lifted condensation level 534 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2011-05-22The 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 240 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 35 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
3761 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-19 J/kg
Surface CAPE
4073 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
534 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
240 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
224 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
3.3
Supercell composite
16.2
0-3 km lapse rate
5.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), 00:00Z

0.7 hours after it, 88 km from the path. May 23, 2011.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 2011-05-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 3311 joules per kilogram, CIN -10, lifted condensation level 1257 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, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 2011-05-23The 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 115 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 35 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
3311 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Surface CAPE
4606 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1257 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
115 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
158 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.6
Supercell composite
13.3
0-3 km lapse rate
6.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 107 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:18 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
21:11 UTCHAIL 1BowieMontague, TX
21:41 UTCHAIL 1.52 Nw MallardMontague, TX
22:03 UTCTSTM WND DMGLake ArrowheadClay, TXROOF BLOWN OFF HOUSE
23:00 UTCTSTM WND GST 60JacksboroJack, TX60 MPH WIND GUST REPORTED IN JACKSBORO.
23:04 UTCHAIL 2.752 Sw WindthorstArcher, TX
23:11 UTCHAIL 2.751 N WindthorstArcher, TX
23:18 UTCHAIL 1ScotlandArcher, TX
23:32 UTCHAIL 1.75HenriettaClay, TX
23:37 UTCHAIL 11 S RinggoldMontague, TXGOLFBALL SIZE HAIL SOUTH OF RINGOLD ON HWY 81.
23:40 UTCHAIL 31 W HenriettaClay, TX
00:30 UTCTSTM WND DMGSpringtownParker, TXA FEW TREES AND LARGE LIMBS DOWN IN TOWN.
00:30 UTCTSTM WND GST 60SpringtownParker, TX60 MPH WIND GUST AND HALF INCH SIZE HAIL IN SPRINGTOWN.
01:00 UTCTSTM WND GST 60DecaturWise, TXESTIMATED 60 MPH WIND GUST WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL IN DECATUR.

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 May 22, 2011

47 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 222:13 PM CDTEF1Hennepin, MN13.6880148$167 million
May 222:33 PM CDTEF1Price, WI to IA, MN3.3600$4,000
May 222:33 PM CDTEF2Howard, IA to MN28.72503$775,000
May 222:38 PM CDTEF0Lafayette, MO0.340$500
May 222:40 PM CDTEF2Iowa, IA3.975$250,000
May 222:52 PM CDTEF0Anoka, MN0.230$50,000
May 222:54 PM CDTEF0Iowa, IA2.025$10,000
May 223:13 PM CDTEF0Bremer, IA0.130
May 223:16 PM CDTEF0Washington, MN2.675$50,000
May 223:25 PM CDTEF0Lafayette, MO0.150
May 223:37 PM CDTEF1Fayette, IA7.970$175,000
May 223:58 PM CDTEF0Lafayette, MO0.150$3,000
May 224:00 PM CDTEF1Barron, WI2.0300$200,000
May 224:01 PM CDTEF0Fayette, IA1.450$10,000
May 224:05 PM CDTEF2Houston, MN to WI13.8150$15 million
May 224:10 PM CDTEF0Labette, KS0.350
May 224:37 PM CDTEF1Jasper, IN0.333$25,000
May 224:47 PM CDTEF1La Crosse, WI8.2125$920,000
May 224:50 PM CDTEF1Saline, MO3.575$230,000
May 225:15 PM CDTEF2Monroe, WI64.58001$7.7 million
May 225:34 PM CDTEF5Joplin tornado, MO21.61,6001581150$2.8 billion
May 225:39 PM CDTEF0Price, WI1.1350$1,000
May 225:52 PM CDTEF0Price, WI1.1400
May 226:01 PM CDTEF0Price, WI2.1350$5,000
May 226:10 PM CDTEF2Newton, MO14.1800$1.0 million
May 226:25 PM CDTEF1Ogle, IL29.1200$150,000
May 226:26 PM CDTEF0Price, WI0.8275
May 226:28 PM CDTEF1Ogle, IL1.7200$50,000
May 226:33 PM CDTEF2Delaware, OK6.7800$1.0 million
May 226:40 PM CDTEF1Ogle, IL0.5100$50,000
May 226:42 PM CDTEF1Wagoner, OK3.5300
May 226:52 PM CDTEF3Delaware, OK to MO17.91,5504$2.0 million
May 226:55 PM CDTEF1Winnebago, IL2.750
May 226:59 PM CDTEF1Winnebago, IL0.950$15,000
May 227:10 PM CDTEF2Stone, MO15.7200$1.1 million
May 227:27 PM CDTEF1Cherokee, OK3.0250$70,000
May 227:33 PM CDTEF0Green Lake, WI0.430$1,000
May 227:47 PM CDTEF0Green Lake, WI4.250$5,000
May 227:50 PM CDTEF0Cherokee, OK0.150
May 228:13 PM CDTEF1Delaware, OK4.7400$25,000
May 228:14 PM CDTEF2Adair, OK4.5200$250,000
May 228:29 PM CDTEF0Delaware, OK1.0100
May 228:30 PM CDTEF2Delaware, OK2.935012$400,000
May 228:36 PM CDTEF1Delaware, OK1.7150
May 228:41 PM CDTEF0Renville, ND0.125
May 228:44 PM CDTEF1Delaware, OK0.5100
May 228:54 PM CDTEF1Benton, AR2.8450$25,000

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.