Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2015

EF0 tornado, Keller, Texas, November 17, 2015

This EF0 tornado ran 0.9 miles across Tarrant County on November 17, 2015, touching down at 3:28 AM CST and reaching 30 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $210,000 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
November 17, 2015
Touchdown
3:28 AM CST (09:28 UTC)
Lifted
3:29 AM CST (09:29 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.9 miles (1.4 km)
Path width
30 yards (27 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$210,000
County
Tarrant County
Touchdown point
32.910, -97.230
Lift-off point
32.920, -97.220
Record number
1511170328-01

The damage survey

1 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS FWD, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The highest wind the damage implies is 50 mph.

  • Tree down in front of yard

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

A cold front and approaching upper level storm system combined to produce nighttime thunderstorms across much of north Texas, including the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Daylight revealed several swaths of wind damage, including two tornadoes.

A National Weather Service storm survey team found evidence of a brief tornado which affected several houses near Rapp Road and Rufe Snow Drive in Keller. The damage was concentrated along a 30 to 50 yard path and included several trees which were blown down. Approximately 10 homes suffered minor roof damage as well.

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

The warnings

6 minutes of warning. NWS FWD issued a tornado warning for this county at 09:22 UTC, 6 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 10:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 04:45 UTC and running to 10:25 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
00:00 UTC11:54 UTCFlash Flood WatchFWD
00:00 UTC12:00 UTCWind AdvisoryFWD
04:45 UTC10:25 UTCTornado WatchFWD
09:01 UTC10:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWD
09:22 UTC10:00 UTCTornado 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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:56 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), 00:00Z

9.5 hours before the tornado, 11 km from the path. November 17, 2015.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 2015-11-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 683 joules per kilogram, CIN -156, lifted condensation level 712 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 2015-11-17The 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 444 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 53 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 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
683 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-156 J/kg
Surface CAPE
709 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
712 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
444 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
505 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
4.2
0-3 km lapse rate
4.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

2.5 hours after it, 11 km from the path. November 17, 2015.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2015-11-17Temperature 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 -44270, lifted condensation level 1404 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 2015-11-17The 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 -501 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 60 knots.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
-44270 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1404 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
60 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-501 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-68 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
2.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Fort Worth - Alliance (AFW), 11 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
07:53 UTC7369180° 14 kt22999
08:53 UTC7469170° 18 kt28998.3
09:19 UTC6963250° 20 kt36999.3-RA
09:25 UTC6057270° 20 kt36999.3RA BR
09:31 UTC5856290° 25 kt35999.7+TSRA BR
09:44 UTC5453280° 19 kt27998.6-TSRA BR
09:53 UTC5552270° 16 kt28999TSRA BR
10:17 UTC5550270° 13 kt221000RA
10:53 UTC5448270° 11 kt1001-RA

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

The radar

The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 39 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 09:29 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
08:45 UTCTSTM WND DMG6 S WeatherfordParker, TXAT CR 1708 AND TINTOP RD - ROOF BLOWN ONTO THE ROAD. ALSO MULTIPLE TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN.
09:15 UTCTSTM WND DMGSaginawTarrant, TXROOF TILES REMOVED, 2 TREES DOWN, SOUTH FENCE DOWN AT HOME ON ON ASBURY DR
09:20 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 N Fort WorthTarrant, TXLARGE TREE UPROOTED ON THE 800 BLOCK OF SAMUELS AVE. IN FORT WORTH
09:24 UTCTSTM WND DMGKellerTarrant, TXIN KELLER, PART OF ROOF RIPPED OFF AND TREES DOWN ON BRITNEY CT., TREE DOWN ON RAPP ROAD.
09:35 UTCTSTM WND DMG9 Ene Fort WorthTarrant, TXSEVERAL TTREES BLOWN DOWN IN EAST FORT WORTH AT PRECINCT LINE RD & TRINITY BLVD.
09:40 UTCTSTM WND DMGHickory CreekDenton, TXBUILDING DAMAGE AT I-35 AND TEASLEY IN HICKORY CREEK
10:00 UTCTSTM WND DMGRichardsonDallas, TXLARGE TREES, STREET SIGNS, AND A FEW FENCE SECTIONS BLOWN DOWN. SHINGLES TORN OFF ROOFS.
10:20 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Sw DuncanvilleDallas, TXSTORM SPOTTER ESTIMATED 65 MPH WIND GUSTS WITH TREES DOWN IN MOUNTAIN CREEK AREA.
10:25 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Se DallasDallas, TXOVERTURNED 18 WHEELER ON SOUTH BOUND I-45 AT OVERTON
10:41 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 S DentonDenton, TXWIND AND BUILDING DAMAGE (POSSIBLE TORNADO) FROM 2499 NEAR PILOT KNOB TO 2181 NORTH OF CORNITH..

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 November 17, 2015

7 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 173:44 AM CSTEF1Denton, TX3.150$500,000
November 174:53 AM CSTEF1Grimes, TX9.350$200,000
November 175:43 AM CSTEF1McIntosh, OK4.7300$150,000
November 179:33 PM CSTEF1Hinds, MS1.950$10,000
November 1711:40 PM CSTEF1Scott, MS8.7440$83,000
November 1711:47 PM CSTEF1Scott, MS3.0250$12,000
November 1711:55 PM CSTEF1Scott, MS3.5200$10,000

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.