Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2016

EF0 tornado, Lake Meredith, Texas, June 13, 2016

This EF0 tornado ran 0.3 miles across Moore County on June 13, 2016, touching down at 8:06 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
June 13, 2016
Touchdown
8:06 PM CDT (01:06 UTC)
Lifted
8:11 PM CDT (01:11 UTC)
On the ground
5 minutes
Path length
0.3 miles (0.5 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Moore County
Touchdown point
35.788, -101.747
Lift-off point
35.792, -101.745
Record number
1606131906-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A weak upper disturbance moved across the region in advance of a vigorous upper trough which was moving across the southwest United States. Strong instability and moderate to strong low level wind shear provided a favorable environment for super cell thunderstorms to occur in advance of a developing line of thunderstorms which swept across the region during the evening hours. Storms produced large hail up to tennis ball size, wind gusts that were measured as high as 65 mph, and two tornadoes. The most significant damage form this event came from an EF2 tornado which rolled a well anchored double wide trailer onto it's roof in rural Carson County.

A brief tornado touched down in rural southeast Moore County just south of Highway 152. Tree damage was observed in a narrow path and included numerous broken limbs and one tree which was uprooted. This was consistent with EF-0 damage on the Fujita Tornado Damage Scale.

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. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 23:32 UTC and running to 03:01 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
22:52 UTC23:32 UTCTornado WatchAMA
23:28 UTC00:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMA
23:32 UTC03:01 UTCTornado WatchAMA
00:36 UTC04:00 UTCFlood AdvisoryAMA
01:07 UTC01:30 UTCTornado WarningAMA
05:21 UTC06:00 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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 01:00 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

1.1 hours before the tornado, 62 km from the path. June 14, 2016.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 2016-06-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2268 joules per kilogram, CIN -24, lifted condensation level 1676 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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 2016-06-14The 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 59 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 36 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
2268 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-24 J/kg
Surface CAPE
4224 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1676 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
59 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
80 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
5.8
0-3 km lapse rate
8.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

10.9 hours after it, 62 km from the path. June 14, 2016.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Amarillo Airport, TX at 12:00Z on 2016-06-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 833 joules per kilogram, CIN -91, lifted condensation level 613 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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 12:00Z on 2016-06-14The 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 133 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
833 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-91 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1649 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
613 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
133 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
128 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
5.2
0-3 km lapse rate
5.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Dumas (DUX), 25 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
23:15 UTC80.665120° 12 kt1012.9
23:35 UTC80.4265.1230° 5 kt1012.9
23:55 UTC80.246580° 9 kt1012.5-RA
00:15 UTC77.7267.82340° 7 kt1013.2RA
00:35 UTC72.1467.64270° 15 kt211014.2+RA
00:55 UTC67.6457.56330° 15 kt211013.5RA
01:15 UTC6562.60° 0 kt1014.9-RA
01:35 UTC6562.680° 7 kt151015.2-RA
01:55 UTC65.362.7880° 9 kt1014.2
02:15 UTC65.363.580° 5 kt1014.6-RA
02:35 UTC65.4863.6880° 12 kt1013.5-RA
02:55 UTC64.5861.7110° 13 kt1013.2

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

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 62 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:04 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
23:10 UTCHAIL 1Valley De OroPotter, TX
23:15 UTCHAIL 1.25Valley De OroPotter, TX
23:29 UTCHAIL 2Valley De OroPotter, TXHAIL SLIGHTLY LARGER THAN GOLF BALLS WAS BEGINNING TO FALL IN VALLEY DE ORO.
23:35 UTCHAIL 2.54 Wnw ChanningHartley, TXHAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF TENNIS BALLS WAS STILL FALLING NORTHWEST OF CHANNING.
23:52 UTCHAIL 0.885 S HartleyHartley, TX
00:50 UTCHAIL 1.7514 Ssw Lake MeredithPotter, TX
01:06 UTCTORNADO11 Nnw Lake MeredithMoore, TXTORNADO START TIME WAS 806 PM AND END TIME WAS 811 PM. END LOCATION WAS ALSO ABOUT 11 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF LAKE MEREDITH. RATED EF-0.
01:13 UTCHAIL 111 Sse MastersonPotter, TX
01:25 UTCTORNADO8 Nnw PantexPotter, TXTORNADO START TIME WAS 825 PM AND END TIME WAS 837 PM. END LOCATION WAS 6 MILES NORTH OF PANTEX. RATED EF-2.
01:27 UTCTORNADO8 Wnw PantexPotter, TX
02:48 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 N PanhandleCarson, TX5 OR 6 POWER LINES SNAPPED AND LAYING ACROSS THE ROAD

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 June 13, 2016

6 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 131:41 PM MDTUnratedLas Animas, CO2.8200
June 134:22 PM MDTEF2Pennington, SD7.4200$100,000
June 135:30 PM CDTEF0Saint Clair, IL0.425
June 135:24 PM MDTEF0Morgan, CO0.150
June 136:35 PM CDTEF0St. Mary Parish, LA0.05
June 138:25 PM CDTEF2Potter, TX5.0100

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.