Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2013
EF0 tornado, Converse to Selma, Texas, May 25, 2013
From Converse to Selma, this EF0 tornado ran 0.4 miles across Bexar County on May 25, 2013, touching down at 5:25 AM CDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $100,000 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.
EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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 25, 2013
- Touchdown
- 5:25 AM CDT (10:25 UTC)
- Lifted
- 5:27 AM CDT (10:27 UTC)
- On the ground
- 2 minutes
- Path length
- 0.4 miles (0.6 km)
- Path width
- 100 yards (91 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $100,000
- County
- Bexar County
- Touchdown point
- 29.550, -98.348
- Lift-off point
- 29.555, -98.348
- Record number
- 1305250425-01
What the Weather Service recorded
An upper level trough moved across Texas and combined with deep low moisture to produce heavy rain on consecutive days that produced flash flooding. The city of San Antonio was hit the hardest with portions of the city seeing significant flash flooding, flooded homes, and even a few fatalities. In addition, a few small tornadoes were reported.
The brief tornado did minor damage to homes near the intersection of Judson Rd. and Woodsrim St. in Live Oak. The stucco and wood facade of a medical building on Judson Rd. was completely pulled off. Several power poles were snapped with trees uprooted and limbs twisted off several mature Oak trees. The Northeast Methodist Hospital had damage to the air conditioning units on its roof and had some broken windows and doors. An aluminum storage shed behind one house was blown clearly over two houses before landing in the backyard of a third house. Maximum winds are estimated to be 80 mph.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17:45 UTC | 19:30 UTC | Flood Advisory | EWX |
| 18:32 UTC | 21:30 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | EWX |
| 19:03 UTC | 21:00 UTC | Flood Advisory | EWX |
| 21:35 UTC | 23:30 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | EWX |
| 09:04 UTC | 11:00 UTC | Flood Advisory | EWX |
| 10:34 UTC | 12:30 UTC | Flood Advisory | EWX |
| 11:06 UTC | 14:00 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | EWX |
| 11:06 UTC | 11:25 UTC | Tornado Warning | EWX |
| 13:49 UTC | 20:30 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | EWX |
| 14:01 UTC | 01:38 UTC | Flash Flood Watch | EWX |
| 14:42 UTC | 17:30 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | EWX |
| 14:58 UTC | 07:12 UTC | Flood Warning | EWX |
| 15:59 UTC | 18:00 UTC | Flood Advisory | EWX |
| 16:51 UTC | 20:00 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | EWX |
| 17:46 UTC | 14:19 UTC | Flood Warning | EWX |
| 19:03 UTC | 13:50 UTC | Flood Warning | EWX |
| 19:18 UTC | 01:49 UTC | Flood Warning | EWX |
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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:39 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.
Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), 00:00Z
10.4 hours before the tornado, 225 km from the path. May 25, 2013.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1837 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -1 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 2656 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 692 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 15 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 6 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 12 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 27 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 0.6
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 7.1 K/km
Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), 12:00Z
1.6 hours after it, 225 km from the path. May 25, 2013.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1868 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -4 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 2596 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 612 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 28 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 17 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 14 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 44 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 6.0 K/km
The surface observations
Randolph Afb (RND), 7 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08:33 UTC | 71.6 | 71.6 | 90° 7 kt | 1017.6 | ||
| 08:42 UTC | 71.6 | 71.6 | 80° 7 kt | 1017.6 | ||
| 08:51 UTC | 71.6 | 71.6 | 90° 6 kt | 1017.6 | ||
| 08:58 UTC | 71.6 | 71.6 | 110° 7 kt | 1017.6 | ||
| 09:16 UTC | 71.6 | 71.6 | 120° 15 kt | 21 | 1017.3 | |
| 09:19 UTC | 69.8 | 69.8 | 130° 17 kt | 22 | 1017.3 | -RA |
| 09:28 UTC | 68 | 68 | 140° 10 kt | 22 | 1017.3 | -RA |
| 09:37 UTC | 69.8 | 69.8 | 170° 8 kt | 1016.9 | +RA BR | |
| 09:44 UTC | 73.4 | 73.4 | 120° 13 kt | 18 | 1017.3 | RA BR |
| 09:48 UTC | 73.4 | 73.4 | 120° 10 kt | 18 | 1017.3 | -TSRA BR |
| 09:53 UTC | 71.6 | 71.6 | 130° 7 kt | 18 | 1016.9 | -TSRA BR |
| 09:58 UTC | 72.32 | 72.32 | 130° 5 kt | 1016.9 | -TSRA BR | |
| 10:03 UTC | 71.6 | 71.6 | 110° 5 kt | 1016.9 | -RA BR | |
| 10:07 UTC | 71.6 | 71.6 | 100° 8 kt | 1016.9 | -TSRA | |
| 10:16 UTC | 71.6 | 71.6 | 90° 10 kt | 1017.3 | -TSRA | |
| 10:25 UTC | 73.4 | 73.4 | 90° 11 kt | 1016.9 | -TSRA | |
| 10:34 UTC | 73.4 | 73.4 | 110° 11 kt | 1016.9 | -TSRA | |
| 10:41 UTC | 73.4 | 73.4 | 140° 12 kt | 1017.3 | -TSRA | |
| 10:50 UTC | 73.4 | 73.4 | 140° 15 kt | 19 | 1017.3 | -TSRA |
| 10:58 UTC | 72.86 | 72.86 | 150° 15 kt | 23 | 1017.3 | -TSRA |
| 11:04 UTC | 73.4 | 73.4 | 130° 11 kt | 23 | 1017.3 | -RA VCTS |
| 11:19 UTC | 73.4 | 73.4 | 120° 11 kt | 1017.6 | -TSRA | |
| 11:34 UTC | 73.4 | 73.4 | 140° 12 kt | 1018.3 | -RA | |
| 11:36 UTC | 73.4 | 73.4 | 140° 11 kt | 1018.3 | -TSRA | |
| 11:45 UTC | 73.4 | 73.4 | 140° 11 kt | 1018.3 | -TSRA BR | |
| 11:52 UTC | 71.6 | 71.6 | 140° 11 kt | 1018.3 | -RA VCTS | |
| 11:58 UTC | 71.6 | 71.6 | 130° 9 kt | 1018.3 | -DZ VCTS | |
| 11:59 UTC | 71.6 | 71.6 | 130° 9 kt | 1018.3 | VCTS |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 35 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 10:23 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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Live Oak | Bexar, TX | SEVERAL WINDOWS BLOWN OUT AT THE NORTHEAST METHODIST HOSPITAL...LIGHT POLE BLOWN DOWN AT A MEDICAL OFFICE BUILDING NEARBY...SEVERAL UTILITY POLES BLOWN DOWN ON JUDSON ROAD NEAR THE HOSPITAL...TREE AND SHINGLE DAMAGE TO S |
| 10:25 UTC | TORNADO | 1 Wsw Live Oak | Bexar, TX | EFO...TREES DOWN...POWER LINES DOWN...MINOR BUILDING DAMAGE |
| 12:00 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | San Antonio | Bexar, TX | THE USGS RIVER GAGE OLMOS CREEK AT DRESDEN HAS RISEN TO 12.7 FEET WHICH IS JUST ABOVE MAJOR FLOOD STAGE |
| 12:15 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | San Antonio | Bexar, TX | SAN ANTONIO RIVER AT LOOP 410 HAS RISEN TO 27.8 FEET DUE TO FLASH FLOOD RAINS...THIS IS 1.7 FEET ABOVE MAJOR FLOOD STAGE |
| 12:15 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 7 | 1 Ene Balcones Heights | Bexar, TX | SEVEN INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN SINCE MIDNIGHT |
| 12:19 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | San Antonio | Bexar, TX | SEVERAL ROADS CLOSED DUE TO FLASH FLOODING RAINS INCLUDING WEIDNER RD AND LOOKOUT RD |
| 13:00 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 8.77 | 1 Sse Castle Hills | Bexar, TX | 8.77 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN IN THE PAST 24 HOURS...4 INCHES OR MORE FELL IN OVER SIX HOURS |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2013 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of May 25, 2013
2 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
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.