Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2016

EF0 tornado, Adrian to Boys Ranch, Texas, April 15, 2016

From Adrian to Boys Ranch, this EF0 tornado ran 0.8 miles across Oldham County on April 15, 2016, touching down at 9:50 PM CDT and reaching 50 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
April 15, 2016
Touchdown
9:50 PM CDT (02:50 UTC)
Lifted
9:51 PM CDT (02:51 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.8 miles (1.3 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Oldham County
Touchdown point
35.562, -102.625
Lift-off point
35.573, -102.619
Record number
1604152050-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A vigorous low pressure system produced supercell thunderstorms across the western Texas Panhandle during the afternoon and evening of April 15th. Several reports of large hail were received, including hail as large as tennis balls near Stratford and Dalhart. Two separate storms produced hail up to golf ball size in Dalhart. A brief tornado was observed over rural northern Oldham County.

Storm chasers reported a brief tornado over rural northern Oldham County. The tornado lasted for about one minute. This tornado was observed from Highway 385 just south of Boys Ranch.

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

The warnings

29 minutes of warning. NWS AMA issued a tornado warning for this county at 02:21 UTC, 29 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 03:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:01 UTC and running to 02:56 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
20:01 UTC02:56 UTCTornado WatchAMA
20:53 UTC21:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMA
21:50 UTC22:18 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMA
22:36 UTC23:17 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMA
01:59 UTC02:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMA
02:21 UTC03:00 UTCTornado WarningAMA
02:56 UTC08:38 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchAMA
05:41 UTC05:52 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMA

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 01:01 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.

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), 00:00Z

2.8 hours before the tornado, 92 km from the path. April 16, 2016.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 2016-04-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1077 joules per kilogram, CIN -59, lifted condensation level 1488 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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 2016-04-16The 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 41 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 54 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
1077 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-59 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1905 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1488 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
41 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
208 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
3.8
0-3 km lapse rate
8.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), 12:00Z

9.2 hours after it, 92 km from the path. April 16, 2016.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Amarillo Airport, TX at 12:00Z on 2016-04-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 363 joules per kilogram, CIN -41, lifted condensation level 538 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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 12:00Z on 2016-04-16The 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 303 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 43 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
363 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-41 J/kg
Surface CAPE
258 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
538 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
303 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
320 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
3.9
0-3 km lapse rate
4.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Dalhart Municipal (DHT), 51 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
00:53 UTC6753160° 27 kt401001.4
01:42 UTC6753160° 28 kt351001.7VCTS
01:53 UTC6754160° 32 kt411001.7VCTS
02:19 UTC6654160° 25 kt351003
02:44 UTC6356160° 27 kt381003.4VCTS
02:53 UTC6256150° 25 kt331003
03:40 UTC6255150° 30 kt411003.7VCTS
03:53 UTC6154150° 30 kt401003.7VCTS

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

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 91 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:51 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
02:50 UTCTORNADO19 N AdrianOldham, TXTORNADO ON THE GROUND FOR ABOUT 1 MINUTE WEST OF BOYS RANCH AND NORTH OF ADRIAN.
05:30 UTCHAIL 1.751 N DalhartDallam, TX
05:38 UTCHAIL 1.75DalhartHartley, TXHAIL TO THE SIZE OF GOLF BALLS WAS CONTINUING TO FALL IN DALHART.
05:50 UTCHAIL 1.254 E DalhartDallam, TXHAIL OF UP TO HALF DOLLAR SIZE WAS CONTINUING TO FALL EAST OF DALHART.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2016 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 15, 2016

11 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 152:08 PM MDTUnratedKiowa, CO3.9150
April 152:26 PM MDTUnratedKiowa, CO0.5100
April 153:05 PM MDTUnratedKiowa, CO1.2100
April 156:10 PM MDTUnratedBent, CO0.6100
April 157:50 PM CDTEF0Texas, OK1.150
April 157:56 PM CDTEF1Texas, OK1.160
April 158:02 PM CDTEF0Texas, OK0.950
April 158:16 PM CDTEF0Texas, OK1.050
April 158:19 PM CDTEF0Texas, OK0.825
April 158:30 PM CDTEF1Morton, KS1.8125$80,000
April 158:52 PM CDTEF0Morton, KS3.5400

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.