EF2 tornado, Kings Mill to Hoover, Texas, November 16, 2015

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF2

Date

November 16, 2015

Touchdown

6:42 PM CST (00:42 UTC)

Lifted

6:55 PM CST (00:55 UTC)

On the ground

13 minutes

Path length

10.4 miles (16.8 km)

Path width

175 yards (160 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Counties

Carson and Gray counties

Touchdown point

35.253, -101.158

Lift-off point

35.388, -101.076

Record number

1511161842-01

18 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS AMA, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 134 mph.

• Debris. Fence down. Farm equipment moved.
• Flipped irrigation system.
• Poles broke but only one side of street. Likely small and weakened.
• Large truck moved 200 feet.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

A powerful storm system brought significant severe weather to the region. Tornadoes, damaging winds, and large hail accompanied thunderstorms that formed during the afternoon hours and persisted into the evening. This was a very unusual event for late fall in the Central High Plains. One significant factor in this anomalous event was the presence of an unusual amount of moisture for mid-November, contributing to relatively high values of instability. No tornadoes had previously been documented in the Texas Panhandle during the month of November.

This long track tornado caused damage mainly to power lines and trees due to its rural track. It was the first tornado to pass near Pampa. Some trees were debarked and completely defoliated leaving only the trunks. The collapse of a high tension power line metal truss tower is the basis for the EF-3 rating. Maximum winds were estimated to be 140 mph. The tornado continued into Roberts County.

This was the first of two tornadoes produced by this supercell. The most significant damage was to a sturdy steel constructed outbuilding which was completely destroyed. Damage to a nearby home included broken windows, removal of roof decking material and uplifting of the roof. 2 by 4 pieces of wood were embedded in the roof of the house. A large flat bed truck was moved 50 yards. This tornado was rated EF-2 with an estimated peak wind of 115 mph. The tornado continued into Gray County.

This was the first of two tornadoes produced by this supercell. The most significant damage occurred in Carson County which caused the tornado to be rated EF-2 with an estimated peak wind of 115 mph. The tornado ended shortly after crossing into Gray County.

This tornado was produced by the second supercell thunderstorm to impact the Pampa area and the same storm which resulted in the Groom tornado. The most significant damage was to the Halliburton Plant just east of Pampa. Sturdy commercial steel framed building at the Halliburton Plant were completely leveled with nmerous vehicles tossed on top of the rubble. This tornado was less than 3 miles from directly hitting the city of Pampa. One manufactured home was completely destroyed south of Pampa. This tornado was rated EF-3 with maximum winds estimated to be 155 mph based on the degree of damage.

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

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.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:07 UTC and running to 02:42 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Enhanced Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:16 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 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.

Pampa (PPA), 34 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 55 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:41 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.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2015 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

38 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.