EF0 tornado, Crabb to Stafford, Texas, February 14, 2017

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.

Rating

EF0

Date

February 14, 2017

Touchdown

8:27 AM CST (14:27 UTC)

Lifted

8:30 AM CST (14:30 UTC)

On the ground

3 minutes

Path length

0.6 miles (1.0 km)

Path width

30 yards (27 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$500,000

County

Fort Bend County

Touchdown point

29.541, -95.702

Lift-off point

29.538, -95.693

Record number

1702140827-01

36 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS HGX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 120 mph.

• Extensive damage to greenhouse
• Greenhouse destroyed; broken glass, supports
• Manager received warning, took cover. Interior walls failed, windows pulled open and shattered; witness saw swirling winds moving across parking lot.
• Storage metal structures severely damaged or destroyed.

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

Several morning tornadoes developed as a storm system moved eastward across the state.

This EF-0 tornado touched down on the west side of Crabb River Road about a mile north of FM 762 and then crossed Crabb River Road into the Tara subdivision where several homes suffered roof, fence and tree damage. Spotty roof and tree damage continued generally eastward across the entire subdivision and into the western section of Greatwood in a well defined path. Security footage from nearby Valasquez Elementary showed very strong shifting winds near the tornado. A police officer experienced very strong winds from the west, then the passage of the small tornado south of the school suggesting perhaps a satellite tornado on the southern flank of the larger circulation may have been responsible for the more significant damage. Estimated peak winds were 80 mph.

This EF-0 tornado tracked southeastward through the northern part of Stafford and shattered windows in a business area just west of the intersection of FM 1092 and Mula Rd. A 400 pound AC unit was shifted on the roof. Numerous greenhouses were damaged at a nursery along FM 1092. Southeast of the nursery, metal storage buildings were damaged or destroyed. There was more spotty wind damage beyond the end of the more continuous track. An eyewitness observed swirling debris as the storm moved through. The shifting winds were also observed from a gas station security video. Estimated peak winds were 80 mph.

This EF-0 tornado touched down near Dulles Ave north of Lexington Park Elementary but did little damage to the surrounding subdivision. A better defined damage path was found to the northeast in Brightwood Estates with several homes suffering minor damage to roofs and fences along the southwest to northeast track. Two chimneys were ripped off houses. Numerous witnesses observed swirling debris. Estimated peak winds were 80 mph.

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

32 minutes of warning. NWS HGX issued a tornado warning for this county at 13:55 UTC, 32 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 14:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 11:09 UTC and running to 17:24 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 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 12:47 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.

Houston/Hull Field (SGR), 10 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Houston radar (KHGX), 60 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 14:27 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 2017 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.