Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2017

EF0 tornado, Enright, Texas, August 26, 2017

This EF0 tornado ran 0.2 miles across Brazos County on August 26, 2017, touching down at 8:05 AM CDT and reaching 20 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
August 26, 2017
Touchdown
8:05 AM CDT (13:05 UTC)
Lifted
8:06 AM CDT (13:06 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.2 miles (0.3 km)
Path width
20 yards (18 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Brazos County
Touchdown point
30.480, -96.315
Lift-off point
30.482, -96.317
Record number
1708260705-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Harvey made landfall as a category 4 hurricane near Rockport, Texas during the evening of August 25th. The storm then weakened to a tropical storm and slowed, looping back and tracking over SE Texas then back over the Gulf of Mexico making a second landfall along the Louisiana coast during the early morning hours of August 30th. Over that 5 day period over Southeast Texas TS Harvey produced catastrophic flooding with a large area of 30 to 60 inches of rain, 23 tornadoes, tropical storm force winds and a moderate storm surge near Matagorda Bay. In some of the heavier bands rain fell at a rate of over 5 inches per hour. This copious record amount of rain over a led to catastrophic flooding. Thousands of homes, businesses, and roads were flooded due to flash flooding and sheet flow from long duration intense rain. Main stem rivers and adjoining tributaries, creeks and bayous reached full capacity and came out of their banks and this also contributed to the massive flooding across southeastern Texas.

Tree down at property on Olympia Buddy Road. A brief spin up.

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

The warnings

17 minutes of warning. NWS HGX issued a tornado warning for this county at 12:48 UTC, 17 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 13:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 06:49 UTC and running to 18:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
06:49 UTC18:00 UTCTornado WatchHGX
12:48 UTC13:15 UTCTornado WarningHGX
13:27 UTC16:30 UTCFlash Flood WarningHGX
23:52 UTC01:45 UTCFlood AdvisoryHGX

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 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 12:55 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

1.1 hours before the tornado, 277 km from the path. August 26, 2017.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2017-08-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 74 joules per kilogram, CIN -134, lifted condensation level 976 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 2017-08-26The 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 13 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 8 knots.1939Sfc1 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
74 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-134 J/kg
Surface CAPE
249 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
976 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
35 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

10.9 hours after it, 277 km from the path. August 27, 2017.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 2017-08-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 6 joules per kilogram, CIN -105, lifted condensation level 1119 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 2017-08-27The 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 29 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 7 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
6 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-105 J/kg
Surface CAPE
796 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1119 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
29 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
15 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
6.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

College Station (CLL), 13 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
11:05 UTC767550° 12 kt1009.8RA BR
11:10 UTC40° 15 kt1009.8+RA BR
11:13 UTC767550° 16 kt211009.8+RA BR
11:15 UTC50° 13 kt1009.8+RA BR
11:20 UTC50° 15 kt1009.8RA BR
11:25 UTC60° 15 kt1009.8+RA BR
11:28 UTC767560° 14 kt271009.8+RA BR
11:30 UTC50° 15 kt201009.8+RA BR
11:35 UTC40° 16 kt1009.8+RA BR
11:40 UTC50° 18 kt1009.8+RA BR
11:45 UTC767550° 14 kt241009.8+RA BR
11:50 UTC50° 16 kt1009.8+RA BR
11:53 UTC767550° 13 kt201010.2+RA BR
11:55 UTC50° 13 kt1010.2+RA BR
12:00 UTC50° 14 kt1010.2+RA BR
12:05 UTC50° 15 kt1010.2+RA BR
12:09 UTC767550° 14 kt1010.2+RA BR
12:10 UTC50° 15 kt1009.8+RA BR
12:15 UTC50° 14 kt191010.2RA BR
12:20 UTC60° 14 kt191010.2RA BR
12:25 UTC70° 12 kt181010.5+RA BR
12:30 UTC70° 13 kt1010.5+RA BR
12:31 UTC767570° 11 kt181010.5VCTS +RA BR
12:35 UTC60° 10 kt1010.5+RA BR
12:40 UTC767560° 12 kt1010.5VCTS +RA BR
12:45 UTC50° 14 kt1010.5+RA BR
12:50 UTC50° 14 kt1010.5+RA BR
12:53 UTC767540° 14 kt1010.2VCTS +RA BR
12:55 UTC40° 17 kt1010.5RA BR
13:00 UTC40° 15 kt1010.8+RA BR
13:02 UTC767550° 13 kt211010.8+RA BR
13:05 UTC50° 16 kt1010.5+RA BR
13:07 UTC767550° 15 kt211010.5+RA BR
13:10 UTC40° 16 kt1010.5+RA BR
13:13 UTC767550° 15 kt211010.5+RA BR
13:15 UTC40° 15 kt1010.5+RA BR
13:16 UTC767540° 14 kt211010.5+RA BR
13:20 UTC40° 16 kt1010.2+RA BR
13:25 UTC40° 17 kt1010.2+RA BR
13:27 UTC767550° 20 kt261010.5+RA BR
13:30 UTC50° 16 kt1010.5+RA BR
13:35 UTC50° 19 kt1010.5+RA BR
13:40 UTC 1010.5+RA BR
13:45 UTC60° 14 kt1010.5+RA BR
13:46 UTC767560° 16 kt231010.5+RA BR
13:50 UTC70° 15 kt1010.8+RA BR
13:53 UTC767570° 13 kt231010.5+RA BR
13:55 UTC60° 13 kt1010.5+RA BR
13:59 UTC767570° 18 kt251010.5RA BR
14:00 UTC 1010.5RA BR
14:05 UTC 1010.8+RA BR
14:10 UTC 1011.2+RA BR
14:11 UTC767570° 19 kt261011.2+RA BR
14:15 UTC 1011.2+RA BR
14:19 UTC767570° 16 kt261011.2+RA BR
14:20 UTC 1011.2+RA BR
14:25 UTC 1011.2RA BR
14:30 UTC767570° 11 kt221010.8+RA BR
14:35 UTC60° 11 kt1010.8+RA BR
14:37 UTC767550° 11 kt1010.8RA BR
14:40 UTC60° 16 kt1010.8RA BR
14:45 UTC767460° 15 kt201011.2+RA BR
14:50 UTC40° 14 kt201010.8+RA BR
14:53 UTC767450° 14 kt211010.8RA BR
14:55 UTC50° 12 kt1010.8RA BR
14:56 UTC767460° 11 kt211010.8-RA BR
15:00 UTC50° 11 kt1011.2-RA BR

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

The radar

The Ft Hood radar (KGRK), 106 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 13:07 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
13:05 UTCTORNADO 08 S College StationBrazos, TXTREE DAMAGE REPORTED NEAR OLYMPIA BUDDY ROAD. POSSIBLE BRIEF SPIN UP.
13:05 UTCTORNADO8 S College StationBrazos, TXTREE DAMAGE REPORTED NEAR OLYMPIA BUDDY ROAD

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2017 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of August 26, 2017

12 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 262:10 AM CDTEF0Wharton, TX1.430
August 262:12 AM CDTEF0Fort Bend, TX0.130$30,000
August 264:30 AM CDTEF0Harris, TX1.030$100,000
August 265:00 AM CDTEF1Fort Bend, TX0.950$1.3 million
August 2612:22 PM CDTEF0Cameron Parish, LA1.725$7,000
August 263:50 PM CDTEF1Harris, TX0.950$500,000
August 263:20 PM MDTEF0Fall River, SD0.710
August 264:20 PM CDTEF0Harris, TX0.550$30,000
August 265:23 PM CDTEF0Wharton, TX0.530$50,000
August 268:15 PM CDTEF1Fort Bend, TX5.8100$2.0 million
August 269:19 PM EDTEF0Manatee, FL0.350$20,000
August 2612:00 AM CDTEF0Harris, TX0.030$50,000

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.