Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2015
EF0 tornado, Stalls to Kildare, Texas, May 10, 2015
From Stalls to Kildare, this EF0 tornado ran 2.6 miles across Marion and Cass counties on May 10, 2015, touching down at 11:28 PM CDT and reaching 345 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.
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 10, 2015
- Touchdown
- 11:28 PM CDT (04:28 UTC)
- Lifted
- 11:32 PM CDT (04:32 UTC)
- On the ground
- 4 minutes
- Path length
- 2.6 miles (4.2 km)
- Path width
- 345 yards (315 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Counties
- Marion and Cass counties
- Touchdown point
- 32.864, -94.287
- Lift-off point
- 32.898, -94.265
- Record number
- 1505102228-01
The damage survey
19 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS SHV, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 85 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
Scattered showers and thunderstorms developed during the afternoon and evening hours over Northeast Texas, Southwest Arkansas, and portions of Southeast Oklahoma on May 10th, near a residual weak surface boundary draped along the Red River from showers and thunderstorms that had developed earlier in the day over Central and Southern Oklahoma. This boundary and an upper level disturbance moving in from the west during peak heating resulting in the development of multiple severe thunderstorms that produced damaging winds and isolated tornadoes. This severe weather outbreak persisted into the early morning hours of May 11th where some flash flooding also occurred across portions of the region from excessive heavy rainfall.
A damage survey in Marion County found that a severe thunderstorms spawned an EF0 tornado northeast of Jefferson near Highway 248. The tornado snapped and uprooted several trees near Highway 248 northeast of Jefferson before lifting.
A damage survey completed in Marion and Cass counties determined that a severe thunderstorm spawned an EF0 tornado along Highway 248 just south of the Cass County line in northern Marion County. This tornado touched down along Highway 248 just south of the community of Lodi and remained on the ground before crossing over into Cass County. The damage consisted of numerous trees snapped and uprooted.
This is a continuation of the tornado that originally touched down in northern Marion County. The tornado remained on the ground along Highway 248 before lifting near the intersection of Highway 248 and County Road 1780. Damage consisted of numerous trees snapped and uprooted.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
29 minutes of warning. NWS SHV issued a tornado warning for this county at 03:59 UTC, 29 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 04:45 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 00:39 UTC and running to 04:40 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00:39 UTC | 04:40 UTC | Tornado Watch | SHV |
| 03:52 UTC | 04:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | SHV |
| 03:59 UTC | 04:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | SHV |
| 04:22 UTC | 04:44 UTC | Tornado Warning | SHV |
| 04:40 UTC | 10:00 UTC | Tornado Watch | SHV |
| 05:07 UTC | 06:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | SHV |
| 05:59 UTC | 06:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | SHV |
| 06:47 UTC | 07:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | SHV |
| 06:51 UTC | 10:45 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | SHV |
| 07:44 UTC | 08:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | SHV |
| 10:46 UTC | 13:45 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | SHV |
| 19:30 UTC | 15:07 UTC | Flood Warning | SHV |
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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:58 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.
Shreveport, LA (KBAD), 00:00Z
4.5 hours before the tornado, 66 km from the path. May 11, 2015.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 482 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -35 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 2818 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1448 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 44 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 16 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 79 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 72 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 5.7
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 6.7 K/km
Shreveport, LA (KBAD), 12:00Z
7.5 hours after it, 66 km from the path. May 11, 2015.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -400 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 38 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1241 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 42 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 22 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -47 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.8 K/km
The surface observations
Marshall (ASL), 40 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02:35 UTC | 78.44 | 73.58 | 150° 6 kt | 1012.9 | ||
| 02:55 UTC | 76.64 | 72.68 | 130° 4 kt | 1012.5 | ||
| 03:15 UTC | 78.44 | 74.3 | 150° 6 kt | 1012.9 | ||
| 03:35 UTC | 78.44 | 74 | 140° 6 kt | 1012.9 | ||
| 03:55 UTC | 78.44 | 74.3 | 150° 10 kt | 14 | 1012.9 | |
| 04:15 UTC | 78.44 | 74.3 | 160° 11 kt | 17 | 1012.9 | |
| 04:35 UTC | 78.44 | 74.12 | 160° 7 kt | 14 | 1013.5 | |
| 04:55 UTC | 78.44 | 73.76 | 170° 9 kt | 16 | 1013.5 | |
| 05:15 UTC | 78 | 73.58 | 160° 9 kt | 18 | 1012.9 | |
| 05:35 UTC | 76 | 72.14 | 160° 9 kt | 1012.9 | ||
| 05:55 UTC | 76 | 72.14 | 160° 7 kt | 1012.5 | ||
| 06:15 UTC | 76 | 72.14 | 180° 8 kt | 1012.9 |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Shreveport radar (KSHV), 63 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 04:25 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Nw Jefferson | Marion, TX | NUMEROUS LIMBS WERE DOWNED NORTHWEST OF JEFFERSON. |
| 04:25 UTC | TORNADO | 6 Nne Jefferson | Marion, TX | AN EF-0 TORNADO WITH ESTIMATED WINDS BETWEEN 70-85 MPH TOUCHED DOWN JUST WEST OF HIGHWAY 248 ALONG SCHMIDT ROAD. SEVERAL TREES WERE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED BEFORE LIFTING. THE PATH WIDTH WAS 490 YARDS...WITH A PATH LENGTH OF |
| 04:28 UTC | TORNADO | 8 Nne Jefferson | Marion, TX | AN EF-0 TORNADO WITH ESTIMATED WINDS OF 70-85 MPH TOUCHED DOWN ALONG HIGHWAY 248 JUST SOUTH OF THE LODI COMMUNITY. THE TORNADO CONTINUED ALONG HIGHWAY 248 THROUGH THE LODI COMMUNITY SNAPPING OR UPROOTING NUMEROUS TREES B |
| 04:30 UTC | TORNADO | 10 Nne Jefferson | Cass, TX | THIS IS A CONTINUATION OF THE MARION COUNTY TORNADO. AN EF-0 TORNADO WITH ESTIMATED WINDS OF 70-85 MPH CONTINUED ALONG HIGHWAY 248 BEFORE LIFTING NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF COUNTY ROAD 1780. THE PATH WIDTH WAS 345 YARDS AN |
| 05:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 Ese Pittsburg | Camp, TX | TREE DOWN ON A POWER LINE ON FM 993. |
| 05:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Daingerfield | Morris, TX | TREES DOWN ACROSS THE COUNTY. |
| 06:15 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Maud | Bowie, TX | ROADS FLOODED IN MAUD |
| 06:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 Nw Jefferson | Marion, TX | LARGE LIMBS DOWN. |
| 06:55 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 6 Nne Hallsville | Harrison, TX | OVER 3 FEET OF WATER OVER ROAD AT FM 449 NEAR WALKERS MILL ROAD... ALSO UNDER WATER |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2015 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of May 10, 2015
23 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 10 | 9:01 AM CDT | EF1 | Pittsburg, OK | 3.8 | 240 | $35,000 | ||
| May 10 | 10:21 AM CDT | EF2 | Charles Mix, SD | 16.2 | 400 | 9 | $1.5 million | |
| May 10 | 11:15 AM CDT | EF0 | Davison, SD | 4.2 | 50 | |||
| May 10 | 2:16 PM CDT | EF1 | Denton, TX | 5.2 | 100 | $3.5 million | ||
| May 10 | 2:39 PM CDT | EF0 | Denton, TX | 2.9 | 75 | $40,000 | ||
| May 10 | 3:28 PM CDT | EF0 | Sioux, IA | 0.8 | 50 | |||
| May 10 | 4:08 PM CDT | EF1 | Grayson, TX | 2.6 | 100 | $50,000 | ||
| May 10 | 4:45 PM CDT | EF1 | Hamilton, TX | 5.1 | 105 | $100,000 | ||
| May 10 | 6:03 PM CDT | EF0 | Hill, TX | 0.6 | 50 | |||
| May 10 | 6:07 PM CDT | EF0 | Kaufman, TX | 0.1 | 20 | |||
| May 10 | 6:18 PM CDT | EF0 | Pushmataha, OK | 1.7 | 100 | |||
| May 10 | 6:34 PM CDT | EF0 | Kaufman, TX | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| May 10 | 7:10 PM CDT | EF1 | Carroll, IA | 23.3 | 700 | $1.0 million | ||
| May 10 | 7:16 PM CDT | EF0 | Miner, SD | 0.3 | 50 | |||
| May 10 | 7:18 PM CDT | EF2 | Latimer, OK | 15.0 | 880 | $100,000 | ||
| May 10 | 7:20 PM CDT | EF0 | Hill, TX | 1.4 | 150 | |||
| May 10 | 7:46 PM CDT | EF0 | Latimer, OK | 3.7 | 75 | |||
| May 10 | 8:14 PM CDT | EF0 | Calhoun, IA | 1.0 | 400 | |||
| May 10 | 8:46 PM CDT | EF3 | Van Zandt, TX | 10.2 | 700 | 2 | 43 | $40 million |
| May 10 | 9:19 PM CDT | EF1 | Smith, TX | 1.4 | 440 | $125,000 | ||
| May 10 | 10:50 PM CDT | EF1 | Smith, TX | 1.1 | 450 | $125,000 | ||
| May 10 | 11:18 PM CDT | EF2 | Howard, AR | 6.7 | 400 | 2 | 8 | $1.5 million |
| May 10 | 11:25 PM CDT | EF0 | Marion, TX | 0.3 | 172 |
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.