Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2016

EF0 tornado, Browndale, Texas, May 27, 2016

This EF0 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Jasper County on May 27, 2016, touching down at 1:28 PM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $2,000 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
May 27, 2016
Touchdown
1:28 PM CDT (18:28 UTC)
Lifted
1:29 PM CDT (18:29 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.1 miles (0.1 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$2,000
County
Jasper County
Touchdown point
31.066, -94.130
Lift-off point
31.066, -94.130
Record number
1605271228-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A short wave moved into the area along the base of a larger trough. This brought a line of storms from north of Houston into deep Southeast Texas that slowly moved through. Flash flooding occurred in Tyler county that lead an earthen dam to break north of Woodville. Moderate flooding occurred along the Neches as the water drained.

A motorist driving over the Sam Rayburn Dam captured a video of a tornado south of the dam near the Angelina River. Local Law enforcement reported a few trees down near Ebenezer with no structures damaged.

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.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
07:38 UTC12:20 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchLCH
10:01 UTC11:00 UTCFlood AdvisoryLCH
11:03 UTC12:00 UTCFlood AdvisoryLCH
12:47 UTC13:45 UTCFlood AdvisoryLCH
18:53 UTC19:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCH
18:56 UTC23:45 UTCFlash Flood WarningLCH
19:05 UTC23:20 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchLCH
19:30 UTC20:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCH
20:23 UTC21:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCH
20:25 UTC23:45 UTCFlash Flood WarningLCH
21:36 UTC00:30 UTCFlash Flood WarningLCH
23:40 UTC05:30 UTCFlood WarningLCH
02:52 UTC12:00 UTCFlood WarningLCH

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 Marginal Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 16:26 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.

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), 12:00Z

6.5 hours before the tornado, 138 km from the path. May 27, 2016.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 2016-05-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2178 joules per kilogram, CIN -1, lifted condensation level 565 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 2016-05-27The 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 151 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 29 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
2178 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2865 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
565 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
151 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
243 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.1
Supercell composite
6.7
0-3 km lapse rate
4.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), 00:00Z

5.5 hours after it, 138 km from the path. May 28, 2016.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 2016-05-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN 0, lifted condensation level 447 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 2016-05-28The 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 -299 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
447 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-299 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-395 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Jasper County-Bell Field Airport (JAS), 22 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
16:35 UTC74.369110° 10 kt161010.8-RA
16:55 UTC73.7669.62120° 9 kt171010.5RA
17:15 UTC74.4870.52120° 8 kt1010.5
17:35 UTC7671.24120° 10 kt141009.8
17:55 UTC77.7271.78130° 15 kt221009.5
18:15 UTC78.4471.6130° 9 kt161010.2
18:35 UTC7871.24160° 8 kt141009.8-RA
18:55 UTC77.5471160° 4 kt1010.8
19:15 UTC76.4670.1610° 10 kt151010.8RA
19:35 UTC70.3467310° 9 kt1012.5
19:55 UTC6966.210° 15 kt191011.5-RA
20:15 UTC68.1865.6630° 13 kt1010.8-RA

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

The radar

The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 110 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 18:29 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
18:20 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Ssw EbenezerJasper, TXSHERIFFS DEPT REPORTED TREES DOWN ON COUNTY ROADS 23, 28, 29 AND 62. ALL ROADS ARE IN NORTHWEST JASPER COUNTY.
18:28 UTCTORNADO4 Ene EbenezerJasper, TXPUBLIC DRIVING OVER THE RAYBURN DAM CAPTURED VIDEO OF A TORNADO SOUTH OF THE DAM NEAR THE ANGELINA RIVER. OCCURRED IN A SPARSELY POPULATED AREA...BUT LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED TREES DOWN NEAR EBENEZER...INCLUDING SO
18:56 UTCTSTM WND DMGPinelandSabine, TXTREES REPORTED DOWN ALL OVER THE COUNTY... POWER LINES DOWN WITH TREES... AND POWER POLES LEANING OVER
19:05 UTCTSTM WND DMGPinelandSabine, TXTREES REPORTED DOWN ALL OVER THE COUNTY... POWER LINES DOWN WITH TREES... AND POWER POLES LEANING OVER
19:10 UTCFLASH FLOODPinelandSabine, TXFLOODING REPORTED OVER HWY 28... 66... FM 2866... HWY 83E OF PINELAND
19:22 UTCTSTM WND DMGBroaddusSan Augustine, TXTREES DOWN ON HIGHWAY 83 NEAR OLD 705 ONLY SHOULDER OF ROAD WAS PASSABLE
19:37 UTCFLASH FLOODWoodvilleTyler, TXEM REPORTS HWYS 69, 190 AND 256 AT WOODVILLE CLOSED DUE TO FLOODING.
19:41 UTCFLASH FLOOD1 Se EbenezerJasper, TXSHERIFFS DEPT REPORTS PORTIONS OF COUNTY RD 62 IMPASSIBLE.
19:45 UTCFLASH FLOOD6 S San AugustineSan Augustine, TXFLOODING REPORTED CLEAR BRANCH SIX MILES SOUTH OF SAN AUGUSTINE OFF HWY 96 ON CR 410
20:23 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 N JasperJasper, TXSHERIFFS DEPT REPORTS TREE DOWN ON HWY 190W.
20:23 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 W JasperJasper, TXSHERIFFS DEPT REPORTS TREE DOWN ON HWY 190W.

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 May 27, 2016

14 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 272:14 PM CDTEF0Red Lake, MN0.150
May 272:57 PM CDTEF0Clay, MN0.175
May 273:01 PM CDTEF0Clay, MN0.150
May 272:43 PM MDTUnratedKiowa, CO0.150
May 272:51 PM MDTEF0Greeley, KS0.125
May 272:55 PM MDTUnratedKiowa, CO1.0100
May 273:04 PM MDTUnratedKiowa, CO0.275
May 273:12 PM MDTEF0Greeley, KS0.125
May 274:13 PM CDTEF0Wichita, KS0.925
May 275:26 PM CDTEF0Butler, KS0.150
May 275:35 PM CDTEF1Fond du Lac, WI4.5330$100,000
May 275:42 PM CDTEF0Lane, KS1.950
May 276:16 PM CDTEF0Lane, KS1.350
May 276:21 PM CDTEF0Ness, KS0.850

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.