EF2 tornado, Gardendale, Texas, March 18, 2012

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 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. EF2111 to 135 mphthis tornado

   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

EF2

Date

March 18, 2012

Touchdown

12:28 AM CDT (05:28 UTC)

Lifted

12:30 AM CDT (05:30 UTC)

On the ground

2 minutes

Path length

1.0 miles (1.6 km)

Path width

40 yards (37 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

3

Property damage

$1.0 million

County

Ector County

Touchdown point

32.028, -102.339

Lift-off point

32.036, -102.328

Record number

1203182328-01

A big, upper level low was just west of the area near the four corners region of the United States. There was a surface trough across Southeast New Mexico and far West Texas with a retreating dryline across the Permian Basin and the lower Trans Pecos. A Pacific front moved through the area after sunset. The collision of the front with the dryline along with good shear and instability provided a ripe environment for severe thunderstorm development. A line of convection developed, and the storms went on to produce a tornado near Gardendale, TX and severe hail across the Permian Basin.

A line of severe thunderstorms moved into Ector County around 11:20 PM CDT March 18th and progressed eastward. At 12:28 AM CDT March 19th, a tornado touched down in the Gardendale community and remained on the ground for two minutes. This tornado produced damage along County Road 30 (Goldenrod Drive) primarily between Chinaberry Avenue and Alfalfa Avenue. As the tornado developed, it moved just south of an RV Park located near the intersection of County Road 30 and China Berry Ave. This resulted in a large camper being toppled by severe northwest winds flowing into the tornado. One minor injury was noted at this location. As the tornado intensified and progressed northeastward, strong inflow winds from the south resulted in a cinder block fence being blown over to the north. Finally, as the tornado crossed County Road 30 (Goldenrod Drive), it reached its peak intensity. This resulted in significant damage to a residential home, along with a 20' x 30' travel trailer and a barn being destroyed. Widespread damage was noted in this area, which also served as a collection point for a great amount of debris from other locations upwind back to the southwest. South of County Road 30, power poles with broken cross members were noted. This was indicative of EF1 tornado damage. However, the tornado intensified after crossing to the north side of County Road 30 (Goldenrod Drive). There was a home that shifted slightly off its foundation. Also, there was significant loss of roof decking and major shingle loss. Some small pieces of debris became projectiles, sticking into the walls of the home. Based on this information, winds for this event were estimated to be 90-110 mph. The Gardendale tornado at its most intense - north of County Road 30 - was rated as a low end EF-2 tornado.

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

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 03:50 UTC and running to 10:00 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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 00:59 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.

Odessa-Schlemeyer Field (Was E02) (ODO), 13 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Midland/Odessa radar (KMAF), 17 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 05:30 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 2012 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

10 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.