EF1 tornado, Howardwick, Texas, May 22, 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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF1

Date

May 22, 2016

Touchdown

5:39 PM CDT (22:39 UTC)

Lifted

5:48 PM CDT (22:48 UTC)

On the ground

9 minutes

Path length

1.1 miles (1.7 km)

Path width

75 yards (69 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Donley County

Touchdown point

35.062, -100.952

Lift-off point

35.075, -100.959

Record number

1605221639-01

9 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS AMA, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 94 mph.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

One of the most significant severe weather events of the 2016 severe weather season occurred on the 22nd and brought large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes to mainly the eastern Texas Panhandle. A supercell thunderstorm produced at least 6 tornadoes in southern Ochiltree County on the evening of May 22, 2016. No damage was reported for the final two tornadoes east of Highway 70 in open country and these were not surveyed. Damage consisted of a destroyed barn, downed power lines, some tree damage, and several flipped pivot irrigation systems. Homes were narrowly missed on several occasions. the tornadoes exhibited odd motions that were not consistent with the motion of the storm which was turning right sharply during the event. Tow of the tornadoes were large and at least one large multivortex tornado occurred with this event. The storm's rear flank downdraft also produced significant damage across the area which included snapping numerous power poles along Highway 281.

This was the first of two tornadoes that developed from the same supercell near Howardwick. The tornado motion was somewhat unusual as it moved toward the west. Damage from this short track small tornado included broken limbs, 1-3 inches in diameter. Damage was consistent with EF-0 with estimated peak wind of 80 mph.

This was the second of two tornadoes that developed from the same supercell near Howardwick. The tornado motion was somewhat unusual as it moved toward the northwest. Damage from this tornado included broken limbs, trees uprooted, and a power pole was broken at rotten base. This tornado was rated an EF-1 with an estimated peak wind of 94 mph.

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

5 minutes of warning. NWS AMA issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:34 UTC, 5 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:50 UTC and running to 03:00 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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:36 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.

Pampa (PPA), 61 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 71 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:37 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

25 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.