Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2016

EF0 tornado, Weston, Texas, April 29, 2016

This EF0 tornado ran 1.3 miles across Collin County on April 29, 2016, touching down at 4:53 PM CDT and reaching 65 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $30,000 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
April 29, 2016
Touchdown
4:53 PM CDT (21:53 UTC)
Lifted
4:54 PM CDT (21:54 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
1.3 miles (2.2 km)
Path width
65 yards (59 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$30,000
County
Collin County
Touchdown point
33.363, -96.723
Lift-off point
33.379, -96.735
Record number
1604291553-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A warm front and a dry line combined to produce another round of severe weather across the region. Three tornadoes occurred on April 29th producing relatively minor damage equivalent to EF-0 damage. The big story during this period was the 6 flash flood fatalities in the Palestine area in Anderson County on the night of the 29th.

A tornado was observed near the city of Celina on the afternoon of the 29th. This tornado began near a wedding venue, about 2 miles east of Celina High School. Several trees were damaged on this property, with the structure sustaining roof damage. The tornado then continued moving to the northwest for about a mile, before dissipating.

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:08 UTC and running to 03:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
18:08 UTC03:00 UTCTornado WatchFWD
21:45 UTC22:28 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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:45 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

9.9 hours before the tornado, 80 km from the path. April 29, 2016.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2016-04-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2369 joules per kilogram, CIN -51, lifted condensation level 606 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 2016-04-29The 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 216 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 36 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
2369 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-51 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2951 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
606 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
216 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
212 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.6
Supercell composite
14.9
0-3 km lapse rate
4.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

2.1 hours after it, 80 km from the path. April 30, 2016.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 2016-04-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1203 joules per kilogram, CIN -101, lifted condensation level 1029 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 2016-04-30The 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 115 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 41 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
1203 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-101 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1100 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1029 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
115 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
136 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
4.8
0-3 km lapse rate
5.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Mc Kinney (TKI), 25 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
19:53 UTC7774120° 7 kt1002.7-RA BR
20:18 UTC7875130° 6 kt1002BR
20:53 UTC7774150° 10 kt1001.7BR
21:24 UTC7673140° 15 kt221000.3VCTS RA BR
21:33 UTC7573150° 19 kt241000VCTS RA BR
21:38 UTC7573160° 19 kt271000.7-TSRA BR
21:51 UTC73.471.6160° 16 kt291000.7-TSRA BR
21:53 UTC7472160° 14 kt221000.7-TSRA BR
22:01 UTC7472160° 13 kt1000.7TS BR
22:16 UTC7369160° 23 kt301000.3VCTS
22:25 UTC7169170° 22 kt321000+TSRA BR
22:34 UTC7169170° 15 kt281000.3-TSRA BR
22:53 UTC7169170° 15 kt1000.3VCTS -RA
23:01 UTC7068170° 13 kt1000.3-RA

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

The radar

The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 104 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:50 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
19:36 UTCHAIL 0.88Tom BeanGrayson, TXNICKLE SIZE HAIL REPORTED IN TOM BEAN.
21:19 UTCTORNADODorchesterGrayson, TX$$
21:29 UTCHAIL 1.75DenisonGrayson, TX$$
21:50 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Ne CelinaCollin, TXBARN WITH ROOF DAMAGE NEAR COUNTY ROAD 133 AND COUNTY ROAD 134 NEAR CELINA.
22:15 UTCHAIL 13 S DentonDenton, TXQUARTER SIZE HAIL REPORTED 3 MILES SOUTH OF DENTON.
22:18 UTCHAIL 1.752 N DentonDenton, TXGOLFBALL SIZE HAIL 2 MILES NORTH OF DENTON.

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 29, 2016

15 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 293:26 PM CDTEF0Monroe, MS5.2150$10,000
April 293:29 PM CDTEF1Comanche, OK4.0700$10,000
April 293:41 PM CDTEF0Monroe, MS0.950$10,000
April 293:54 PM CDTEF0Caddo, OK0.520$2,000
April 294:03 PM CDTEF1Grady, OK12.01,000$35,000
April 295:33 PM CDTEF0Bosque, TX0.320
April 295:50 PM CDTEF2Smith, TX1.0400$500,000
April 295:55 PM CDTEF2Smith, TX25.93,2212$375,000
April 296:28 PM CDTEF0Van Zandt, TX2.650
April 297:33 PM CDTEF2Cherokee, TX7.2820$700,000
April 297:54 PM CDTEF1Cherokee, TX1.1150$15,000
April 2910:21 PM CDTEF1Harrison, TX5.6820
April 2910:46 PM CDTEF1Harrison, TX5.8200$50,000
April 2912:34 AM CDTEF1Harrison, TX6.6350$30,000
April 2912:41 AM CDTEF1Lafayette, AR1.7900

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.