Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2015

EF0 tornado, Metcalf Gap to Gordon, Texas, May 26, 2015

From Metcalf Gap to Gordon, this EF0 tornado ran 0.6 miles across Palo Pinto County on May 26, 2015, touching down at 6:29 PM CDT and reaching 80 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 26, 2015
Touchdown
6:29 PM CDT (23:29 UTC)
Lifted
6:30 PM CDT (23:30 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.6 miles (1.0 km)
Path width
80 yards (73 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Palo Pinto County
Touchdown point
32.575, -98.343
Lift-off point
32.572, -98.332
Record number
1505261729-01

What the Weather Service recorded

For several days, a stalled cold front, combined with abundant moisture from the Gulf of Mexico combined to produce widespread rain and thunderstorms in Texas. Several rounds of strong to severe thunderstorms occurred during a four day period, producing flash flooding, and numerous reports of large hail. Tornadoes affected areas in central Texas, from near Lampasas to a deadly tornado in Milam County.

Amateur radio operators observed a tornado near Metcalf Gap. This tornado did little damage, except to trees and ranch land.

Amateur radio operators observed a brief tornado approximately 3 miles northeast of Gordon. The tornado produced minimal damage to ranch land.

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

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Fort Worth, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at May 26, 3:20 PM CDT, 3 hours 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 26, 3:20 PM CDT, 3 hours 9 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
320 PM CDT TUE MAY 26 2015

.DISCUSSION...
A CONTINUATION OF THE ACTIVE WEATHER PATTERN IS EXPECTED THROUGH
AT LEAST THE FIRST PART OF NEXT WEEK...AS SEVERAL EMBEDDED
SHORTWAVES RIDE ALONG THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH SITUATED OVER THE
WESTERN CONUS. RAIN CHANCES REMAIN IN THE FORECAST THROUGH MONDAY
WITH TEMPERATURES NEAR TO SLIGHTLY BELOW SEASONAL NORMALS. UPPER
LEVEL RIDGING APPEARS TO MOVE INTO NORTH TEXAS BY TUESDAY OF NEXT
WEEK...WHICH WOULD GIVE US SOME REPREAVE FROM THE SHOWERS AND
STORMS BY MID-WEEK.

THE MORNING FOG/DRIZZLE HAS DISSIPATED ACROSS THE REGION...AND
THE LOW CLOUDS HAVE BEGUN TO LIFT AND SCATTER OUT. THIS HAS
ALLOWED AMPLE SUNSHINE TO FILTER INTO THE AREA...WHICH HAS
INCREASED THE TEMPERATURES AND INSTABILITY ACROSS NORTH TEXAS.
CAPE VALUES HAVE ALREADY RISEN TO OVER 2000 J/KG ACROSS MUCH OF
NORTH AND CENTRAL TEXAS. ADDITIONALLY...A BROAD DRY LINE IS
PRESENTLY DRAPED ACROSS WEST TEXAS AND INTO THE TEXAS
PANHANDLE...AND ANOTHER SURFACE BOUNDARY WAS PRESENT ACROSS
WESTERN NORTH TEXAS. BOTH FEATURES PROVIDE CONFLUENCE AND WILL
LEAD TO STORM INITIATION THIS AFTERNOON. WITH BREEZY SOUTHERLY
FLOW ACROSS NORTH AND CENTRAL TEXAS TODAY...DEWPOINTS HAVE CLIMBED
INTO THE UPPER 60S TO LOWER 70S AS WELL. THESE INGREDIENTS COMBINE
TO INCREASE STORM CHANCES ACROSS OUR AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING. THE MOST LIKELY AREA TO BE AFFECTED BY STORMS WILL BE
AREAS ALONG AND WEST OF A GOLDTHWAITE...TO DALLAS...TO BONHAM
LINE. IT SHOULD BE POINTED OUT THAT STORM COVERAGE IS NOT EXPECTED
TO BE WIDESPREAD...SO NOT EVERYONE WILL SEE STORMS.
HOWEVER...CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR ANY STORM THAT DEVELOPS TO
QUICKLY BECOME SEVERE. LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND ISOLATED
TORNADOES ARE ALL POSSIBLE. WITH AMPLE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE...HEAVY
RAINFALL SHOULD ALSO BE EXPECTED WITH ANY OF THESE STORMS. THIS
COULD LEAD TO LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING CONCERNS...AS SOIL MOISTURE
IS VERY HIGH AT THE PRESENT TIME.

WHILE STORM CHANCES ON WEDNESDAY ARE NOT VERY HIGH BECAUSE THE
UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT IS NOT TOO STRONG...ISOLATED SHOWERS AND
STORMS ARE POSSIBLE. THE NEXT STRONG SHORTWAVE COMES INTO PLAY ON
THURSDAY AND INTO FRIDAY...AND IS EXPECTED TO RESULT IN
WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND STORMS FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL TEXAS. WE WILL
HAVE TO KEEP AN EYE ON THIS TIME FRAME REGARDING FLOODING
POTENTIAL...SINCE THE AREA CANNOT TAKE ON TOO MUCH MORE WATER
WITHOUT CAUSING PROBLEMS.

AS THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH PUSHES EAST THIS WEEKEND...EXPECT A COLD
FRONT TO PUSH THROUGH NORTH TEXAS SATURDAY NIGHT...AND BRING WITH
IT RENEWED RAIN CHANCES AND SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPERATURES.
HOWEVER...AFTER THIS FEATURE PASSES THROUGH...RIDGING AND
SUBSIDENCE SHOULD DOMINATE AND HELP US DRY OUT...FOR AT LEAST A
DAY OR TWO EARLY NEXT WEEK.

AJS

&&

.AVIATION...
/ISSUED 1252 PM CDT TUE MAY 26 2015/
IFR CONDITIONS ARE HANGING ON ACROSS MUCH OF NORTH TEXAS LATE THIS
MORNING AS A WARM FRONT SURGES NORTHWARD. VISIBLE SATELLITE
CURRENTLY SHOWS SOME BREAKS IN THE LOW CLOUDS. WE EXPECT THE IFR
CONDITIONS TO IMPROVE TO MVFR BETWEEN 18 AND 19Z AND FINALLY LIFT
TO VFR BY MID AFTERNOON. VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH THE
EVENING...BUT ABUNDANT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL REMAIN IN PLACE AND
IFR CONDITIONS ARE LIKELY AGAIN OVERNIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING.

HIGH RES MODEL SOLUTIONS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT THAT THE INITIATION
POINT OF THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON WILL BE WELL WEST OF NORTH
TEXAS ON THE DRYLINE. HOWEVER...THESE STORMS SHOULD MOVE EAST
THROUGH THE LATE AFTERNOON AND WILL HAVE A POTENTIAL TO IMPACT
ALL NORTH TEXAS TERMINALS BETWEEN 01 AND 04Z. SINCE COVERAGE IS
EXPECTED TO BE SCATTERED...WE WILL ONLY MENTION STORMS IN THE
VICINITY.

A SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST WIND WILL PREVAIL THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING
AT SPEEDS BETWEEN 8 AND 13 KNOTS.

79

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
DALLAS-FT. WORTH, TX  69  87  70  85  70 /  30  30  20  40  40
WACO, TX              72  88  72  85  71 /  20  20  20  30  30
PARIS, TX             68  82  69  84  69 /  40  30  30  30  30
DENTON, TX            69  86  70  84  69 /  40  30  20  40  40
MCKINNEY, TX          70  85  70  85  69 /  40  30  20  40  40
DALLAS, TX            72  88  72  85  71 /  30  30  20  40  40
TERRELL, TX           72  87  71  86  71 /  30  30  20  30  30
CORSICANA, TX         72  86  71  85  71 /  20  20  20  30  30
TEMPLE, TX            71  88  72  85  71 /  20  20  20  30  30
MINERAL WELLS, TX     69  87  70  83  67 /  30  20  20  40  40

&&

.FWD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NONE.

&&
Hazardous weather outlook, May 26, 3:37 PM CDT, 2 hours 52 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
337 PM CDT TUE MAY 26 2015

TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-271200-
MONTAGUE-COOKE-GRAYSON-FANNIN-LAMAR-YOUNG-JACK-WISE-DENTON-COLLIN-
HUNT-DELTA-HOPKINS-STEPHENS-PALO PINTO-PARKER-TARRANT-DALLAS-
ROCKWALL-KAUFMAN-VAN ZANDT-RAINS-EASTLAND-ERATH-HOOD-SOMERVELL-
JOHNSON-ELLIS-HENDERSON-COMANCHE-MILLS-HAMILTON-BOSQUE-HILL-NAVARRO-
FREESTONE-ANDERSON-LAMPASAS-CORYELL-BELL-MCLENNAN-FALLS-LIMESTONE-
LEON-MILAM-ROBERTSON-
337 PM CDT TUE MAY 26 2015

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THROUGH TONIGHT...
ESPECIALLY NORTHWEST OF A LINE FROM BONHAM TO DALLAS TO
GOLDTHWAITE. SOME OF THE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE...ESPECIALLY
THROUGH THE EVENING. THE PRIMARY HAZARDS WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND
DAMAGING WINDS. HOWEVER...A FEW TORNADOES WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE. .

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY.
THUNDERSTORM CHANCES WILL CONTINUE WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY WITH
THE BEST STORM CHANCES FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT. THERE WILL
BE A POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY. LOCALLY HEAVY
RAINFALL MAY ALSO ACCOMPANY SOME OF THE STORMS WHICH COULD RESULT
IN FLASH FLOODING AND ENHANCE THE ONGOING RIVER FLOODING.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...
ESPECIALLY NORTHWEST OF A LINE FROM BONHAM TO DALLAS TO
GOLDTHWAITE.

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 26, 5:49 PM CDT, 40 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
549 PM CDT TUE MAY 26 2015

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0538 PM     TORNADO          1 NNW BRAD              32.76N  98.51W
05/26/2015                   PALO PINTO         TX   PUBLIC

            MULTIPLE REPORTS OF BRIEF TORNADO TOUCHDOWN JUST NORTH
            OF BRAD
Local storm report, May 26, 5:58 PM CDT, 31 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
558 PM CDT TUE MAY 26 2015

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0525 PM     TSTM WND DMG     CADDO                   32.72N  98.67W
05/26/2015                   STEPHENS           TX   EMERGENCY MNGR

            LARGE TREES DOWN ON PARK ROAD 33
Local storm report, May 26, 6:02 PM CDT, 27 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
602 PM CDT TUE MAY 26 2015

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0549 PM     HAIL             14 WSW METCALF GAP      32.64N  98.65W
05/26/2015  E0.75 INCH       PALO PINTO         TX   PUBLIC
Local storm report, May 26, 6:05 PM CDT, 24 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
605 PM CDT TUE MAY 26 2015

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0540 PM     TORNADO          1 N BRAD                32.76N  98.50W
05/26/2015                   PALO PINTO         TX   TRAINED SPOTTER

            SHED DESTROYED AS TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN
Local storm report, May 26, 6:12 PM CDT, 17 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
612 PM CDT TUE MAY 26 2015

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0605 PM     TORNADO          3 S METCALF GAP         32.68N  98.43W
05/26/2015                   PALO PINTO         TX   PUBLIC

            BRIEF TORNADO CROSSED HWY 16
Local storm report, May 26, 6:21 PM CDT, 8 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
621 PM CDT TUE MAY 26 2015

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0620 PM     HAIL             10 SSE CADDO            32.59N  98.60W
05/26/2015  E1.00 INCH       STEPHENS           TX   PUBLIC

            QUARTER SIZE HAIL 10 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF CADDO

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

11.5 hours before the tornado, 102 km from the path. May 26, 2015.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2015-05-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -89198, lifted condensation level 1151 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 2015-05-26The 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 102 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 39 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-89198 J/kg
Surface CAPE
448 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1151 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
102 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
143 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

0.5 hours after it, 102 km from the path. May 27, 2015.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 2015-05-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2534 joules per kilogram, CIN -52, lifted condensation level 1282 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 2015-05-27The 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 63 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 58 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
2534 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-52 J/kg
Surface CAPE
3872 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1282 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
58 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
63 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
80 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
2.0
0-3 km lapse rate
6.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Mineral Wells Municipal (MWL), 35 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
00:00 UTC

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

The radar

The Dyess AFB radar (KDYX), 86 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:28 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.

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 26, 2015

12 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 261:22 AM CDTEF1Jefferson Parish, LA0.4100
May 269:59 AM CDTEF1Henry, IL4.050$10,000
May 269:59 AM CDTEF1Jackson, IA0.125
May 2610:46 AM CDTEF1Bureau, IL2.450$15,000
May 2612:23 PM CDTEF0Green, WI0.120
May 261:08 PM CDTEF0Cook, IL0.450$10,000
May 263:41 PM EDTEF1Meriwether, GA9.8350$100,000
May 265:16 PM EDTEF1Greene, OH0.6702$750,000
May 265:40 PM CDTEF0Palo Pinto, TX2.275
May 266:06 PM CDTEF0Palo Pinto, TX0.560
May 266:32 PM CDTEF0Custer, OK0.130
May 266:32 PM CDTEF0Caddo, OK0.130

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.