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.

  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 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)ExpiredProductOffice
17:45 UTC19:30 UTCFlood AdvisoryEWX
18:32 UTC21:30 UTCFlash Flood WarningEWX
19:03 UTC21:00 UTCFlood AdvisoryEWX
21:35 UTC23:30 UTCFlash Flood WarningEWX
09:04 UTC11:00 UTCFlood AdvisoryEWX
10:34 UTC12:30 UTCFlood AdvisoryEWX
11:06 UTC14:00 UTCFlash Flood WarningEWX
11:06 UTC11:25 UTCTornado WarningEWX
13:49 UTC20:30 UTCFlash Flood WarningEWX
14:01 UTC01:38 UTCFlash Flood WatchEWX
14:42 UTC17:30 UTCFlash Flood WarningEWX
14:58 UTC07:12 UTCFlood WarningEWX
15:59 UTC18:00 UTCFlood AdvisoryEWX
16:51 UTC20:00 UTCFlash Flood WarningEWX
17:46 UTC14:19 UTCFlood WarningEWX
19:03 UTC13:50 UTCFlood WarningEWX
19:18 UTC01:49 UTCFlood WarningEWX

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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Corpus Christi, TX at 00:00Z on 2013-05-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1837 joules per kilogram, CIN -1, lifted condensation level 692 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 00:00Z on 2013-05-25The 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 12 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 15 knots.1939Sfc1 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), 12:00Z

1.6 hours after it, 225 km from the path. May 25, 2013.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 2013-05-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1868 joules per kilogram, CIN -4, lifted condensation level 612 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 2013-05-25The 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 14 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 28 knots.193958Sfc1 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Randolph Afb (RND), 7 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
08:33 UTC71.671.690° 7 kt1017.6
08:42 UTC71.671.680° 7 kt1017.6
08:51 UTC71.671.690° 6 kt1017.6
08:58 UTC71.671.6110° 7 kt1017.6
09:16 UTC71.671.6120° 15 kt211017.3
09:19 UTC69.869.8130° 17 kt221017.3-RA
09:28 UTC6868140° 10 kt221017.3-RA
09:37 UTC69.869.8170° 8 kt1016.9+RA BR
09:44 UTC73.473.4120° 13 kt181017.3RA BR
09:48 UTC73.473.4120° 10 kt181017.3-TSRA BR
09:53 UTC71.671.6130° 7 kt181016.9-TSRA BR
09:58 UTC72.3272.32130° 5 kt1016.9-TSRA BR
10:03 UTC71.671.6110° 5 kt1016.9-RA BR
10:07 UTC71.671.6100° 8 kt1016.9-TSRA
10:16 UTC71.671.690° 10 kt1017.3-TSRA
10:25 UTC73.473.490° 11 kt1016.9-TSRA
10:34 UTC73.473.4110° 11 kt1016.9-TSRA
10:41 UTC73.473.4140° 12 kt1017.3-TSRA
10:50 UTC73.473.4140° 15 kt191017.3-TSRA
10:58 UTC72.8672.86150° 15 kt231017.3-TSRA
11:04 UTC73.473.4130° 11 kt231017.3-RA VCTS
11:19 UTC73.473.4120° 11 kt1017.6-TSRA
11:34 UTC73.473.4140° 12 kt1018.3-RA
11:36 UTC73.473.4140° 11 kt1018.3-TSRA
11:45 UTC73.473.4140° 11 kt1018.3-TSRA BR
11:52 UTC71.671.6140° 11 kt1018.3-RA VCTS
11:58 UTC71.671.6130° 9 kt1018.3-DZ VCTS
11:59 UTC71.671.6130° 9 kt1018.3VCTS

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)ReportWhereCountyRemark
10:15 UTCTSTM WND DMGLive OakBexar, TXSEVERAL 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 UTCTORNADO1 Wsw Live OakBexar, TXEFO...TREES DOWN...POWER LINES DOWN...MINOR BUILDING DAMAGE
12:00 UTCFLASH FLOODSan AntonioBexar, TXTHE USGS RIVER GAGE OLMOS CREEK AT DRESDEN HAS RISEN TO 12.7 FEET WHICH IS JUST ABOVE MAJOR FLOOD STAGE
12:15 UTCFLASH FLOODSan AntonioBexar, TXSAN 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 UTCHEAVY RAIN 71 Ene Balcones HeightsBexar, TXSEVEN INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN SINCE MIDNIGHT
12:19 UTCFLASH FLOODSan AntonioBexar, TXSEVERAL ROADS CLOSED DUE TO FLASH FLOODING RAINS INCLUDING WEIDNER RD AND LOOKOUT RD
13:00 UTCHEAVY RAIN 8.771 Sse Castle HillsBexar, TX8.77 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.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 253:45 AM CDTEF0Wilson, TX0.350$25,000
May 251:47 PM CDTEF0Victoria, TX1.325

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.