Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2015

EF0 tornado, Jean to Farmer, Texas, May 19, 2015

From Jean to Farmer, this EF0 tornado ran 0.3 miles across Young County on May 19, 2015, touching down at 5:33 PM CDT and reaching 70 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.

  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 19, 2015
Touchdown
5:33 PM CDT (22:33 UTC)
Lifted
5:35 PM CDT (22:35 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
0.3 miles (0.5 km)
Path width
70 yards (64 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Young County
Touchdown point
33.332, -98.567
Lift-off point
33.336, -98.564
Record number
1505191633-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Another cold front stalled across north Texas, leading to favorable conditions for thunderstorms and severe weather. The front, which stalled just south of the Red River, began to move slowly southeast during the night of the 19th and led to numerous severe weather reports across Wise, Jack, and Palo Pinto Counties.

A trained spotter observed a tornado northwest of Loving. The tornado occurred in open fields, and produced little to no damage.

A trained spotter observed a second tornado to the northwest of Loving. This tornado also produced minimal damage over open country.

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

The warnings

0 minutes of warning. NWS FWD issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:33 UTC, 0 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
12:00 UTC17:00 UTCFlash Flood WatchFWD
21:18 UTC22:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWD
22:11 UTC23:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWD
22:33 UTC23:00 UTCTornado WarningFWD
22:46 UTC01:45 UTCFlood AdvisoryFWD
22:56 UTC04:51 UTCTornado WatchFWD
22:57 UTC00:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWD
23:47 UTC00:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWD
23:56 UTC00:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWD
00:42 UTC01:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWD
00:52 UTC03:45 UTCFlash Flood WarningFWD
00:59 UTC01:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWD
01:42 UTC02:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWD

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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:58 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.

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), 12:00Z

10.6 hours before the tornado, 131 km from the path. May 19, 2015.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2015-05-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1766 joules per kilogram, CIN -13, lifted condensation level 551 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2015-05-19The 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 42 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
1766 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-13 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2039 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
551 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
42 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
87 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), 00:00Z

1.4 hours after it, 131 km from the path. May 20, 2015.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 2015-05-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1306 joules per kilogram, CIN -38, lifted condensation level 832 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, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 2015-05-20The 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 267 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 46 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
1306 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-38 J/kg
Surface CAPE
3202 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
832 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
267 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
427 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.4
Supercell composite
26.2
0-3 km lapse rate
6.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Dyess AFB radar (KDYX), 109 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:32 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
22:05 UTCHAIL 11 E MegargelArcher, TXSPOTTER ESTIMATED PENNY TO QUARTER SIZED HAIL.
22:32 UTCTORNADO10 E OlneyYoung, TXTORNADO REPORTED APPROXIMATELY 10 MILES EAST OF OLNEY, NO DAMAGE REPORTED AT THIS TIME.
23:09 UTCHAIL 1AntelopeJack, TXQUARTER SIZE HAIL IN ANTELOPE
23:17 UTCHAIL 1.75AntelopeJack, TXGOLF BALL SIZE HAIL IN ANTELOPE
23:20 UTCHAIL 2.754 E AntelopeJack, TXBASEBALL SIZE HAIL
23:30 UTCHAIL 415 Nnw JacksboroJack, TX$$
23:45 UTCTORNADO4 S JoyClay, TXBRIEF TOUCHDOWN
23:57 UTCHAIL 1.252 W GrahamYoung, TX$$
00:04 UTCTORNADO3 Sw Buffalo SpringsClay, TX

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 19, 2015

35 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 1912:25 PM CDTEF0Lee, TX2.11001$10,000
May 192:40 PM CDTEF0McClain, OK0.120
May 192:51 PM CDTEF0McClain, OK0.120
May 193:18 PM CDTEF0Upton, TX0.150
May 193:21 PM CDTEF0Ellis, TX4.780$120,000
May 193:22 PM CDTEF0Cleveland, OK0.120
May 193:25 PM CDTEF0Upton, TX0.2100
May 193:25 PM CDTEF0Pecos, TX0.8150
May 193:33 PM CDTEF0Wichita, TX0.230
May 193:54 PM CDTEF0Tillman, OK1.0400
May 194:12 PM CDTEF0Pecos, TX2.9150
May 194:19 PM CDTEF0Pottawatomie, OK0.120
May 194:27 PM CDTEF0Pecos, TX1.6100
May 195:07 PM CDTEF0Pecos, TX0.8100
May 195:08 PM CDTEF0Pecos, TX0.550
May 195:35 PM CDTEF0Young, TX0.265
May 195:55 PM CDTEF0Archer, TX0.230
May 196:16 PM CDTEF0Jefferson, OK1.0400
May 196:19 PM CDTEF0Palo Pinto, TX0.575
May 196:20 PM CDTEF0Wichita, TX1.050
May 196:20 PM CDTEF0Jack, TX0.780
May 196:21 PM CDTEF0Clay, TX1.0200
May 196:23 PM CDTEF0Jefferson, OK1.0250
May 196:40 PM CDTEF0Jefferson, OK2.0200
May 196:45 PM CDTEF0Clay, TX0.230
May 197:23 PM CDTEF0Palo Pinto, TX2.575
May 197:29 PM CDTEF1Palo Pinto, TX0.8200$230,000
May 198:55 PM CDTEF0Carter, OK0.330
May 199:18 PM CDTEF0Jack, TX4.280$150,000
May 199:35 PM CDTEF0Carter, OK1.550
May 199:39 PM CDTEF0Wise, TX2.080$80,000
May 199:41 PM CDTEF1Wise, TX1.8100$450,000
May 199:54 PM CDTEF1Wise, TX2.5110$300,000
May 1910:36 PM CDTEF1Wise, TX1.990$120,000
May 1911:04 PM CDTEF0Jack, TX0.230$80,000

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.