EF0 tornado, Hyman to Sterling City, Texas, April 7, 2012

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

April 7, 2012

Touchdown

4:38 PM CDT (21:38 UTC)

Lifted

4:53 PM CDT (21:53 UTC)

On the ground

15 minutes

Path length

2.3 miles (3.7 km)

Path width

40 yards (37 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Counties

Mitchell and Sterling counties

Touchdown point

32.090, -101.030

Lift-off point

32.074, -101.049

Record number

1204071538-01

A dryline was present across the Permian Basin and Trans Pecos region with plentiful low level moisture to the east of this feature. Heating of the higher terrain of the Davis Mountains and Trans Pecos along with a mid-level shortwave helped to create lift and instability over southwest Texas. A cold front had moved into the area during the afternoon and evening hours and helped to create additional lift and instability. This contributed to the development of severe thunderstorms along the Trans Pecos and Permian Basin with many hail reports and a tornado.

A stalled frontal boundary across the Concho Valley and the Big Country, resulted in the development of severe thunderstorms. These storms produced isolated tornadoes, damaging winds and large hail. One of the storms became a long tracked supercell that tracked from north of Sterling City south through Crockett County.

A severe thunderstorm moved over Mitchell County and produced a tornado eighteen miles south of Westbrook. This tornado remained over ranch land adjacent to and west of State Highway 163. No damage was identified with this tornado, and it was rated as an EF-0.

A severe thunderstorm moved over Mitchell County and produced a tornado eighteen miles south of Westbrook. This tornado remained over ranch land adjacent to and west of State Highway 163. No damage was identified with this tornado, and it was rated as an EF-0.

A tornado was reported on the Sterling and Mitchell County line. It was relayed through the National Weather Service Office in Midland by several trained spotters.

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

22 minutes of warning. NWS MAF issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:16 UTC, 22 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:45 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 20:01 UTC and running to 02:46 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. 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.

Big_spring (BPG), 48 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

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 2012 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

3 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.