EF2 tornado, (Ama)Amarillo Intl A to Masterson, Texas, June 13, 2016

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

June 13, 2016

Touchdown

8:25 PM CDT (01:25 UTC)

Lifted

8:37 PM CDT (01:37 UTC)

On the ground

12 minutes

Path length

5.0 miles (8.0 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Counties

Potter and Carson counties

Touchdown point

35.428, -101.643

Lift-off point

35.406, -101.574

Record number

1606131925-01

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.

The tornado began just west of Highway 136 in extreme eastern Potter County. Storm chasers witnessed the tornado form and cross the highway. One power pole was snapped along Highway 136 which was consistent with EF1 Damage. The tornado then continued into Carson County and produced damage just across the county line which was consistent with EF-2 on the Fujita Tornado Damage Scale. This damage occurred along County Road 1342 where a well anchored double wide mobile home was completely rolled and damaged. A nearby home had portions of the metal roof removed and the chimney crumbled over. A concrete block garage was also destroyed. Trees near the homes were snapped at the trunk. The tornado continued east and moved to near County Road C before dissipating.

The tornado began just west of Highway 136 in extreme eastern Potter County. Storm chasers witnessed the tornado form and cross the highway. One power pole was snapped along Highway 136 which was consistent with EF1 Damage. The tornado then continued into Carson County and produced damage just across the county line which was consistent with EF-2 on the Fujita Tornado Damage Scale. This damage occurred along County Road 1342 where a well anchored double wide mobile home was completely rolled and damaged. A nearby home had portions of the metal roof removed and the chimney crumbled over. A concrete block garage was also destroyed. Trees near the homes were snapped at the trunk. The tornado continued east and moved to near County Road C before dissipating.

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

2 minutes of warning. NWS AMA issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:23 UTC, 2 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:47 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 23:32 UTC and running to 03:55 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 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 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 - Rick Husband Intl (AMA), 24 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 22 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:24 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 2016 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

6 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.