EF1 tornado, Adell, Texas, March 13, 2019

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

March 13, 2019

Touchdown

3:37 AM CDT (08:37 UTC)

Lifted

3:39 AM CDT (08:39 UTC)

On the ground

2 minutes

Path length

0.8 miles (1.2 km)

Path width

250 yards (229 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$10,000

County

Parker County

Touchdown point

32.865, -97.910

Lift-off point

32.868, -97.899

Record number

1903130237-01

18 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS FWD, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 95 mph.

• Approximately 1 foot diameter limb snapped. Tree not in good health. Adjacent tree damage implied convergence.
• Sheet metal roofing blown from commercial metal shop on FM 1885.
• Back of home (upwind side) with roof lifted off.
• Roof blown off home into front yard. Tree damage appears to be from roof as it fell.

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

An intense upper level storm system ignited a line of strong to severe thunderstorms, which marched across North and Central Texas during the early morning hours of March 13. A broad swath of wind damage occurred along the Interstate 20 corridor including the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

This tornado formed along Cabaniss Lane, just south of New Authon Road, in |northwest Parker County. Minor tree trunk and branch damage was oriented in |a convergent pattern along and east of Cabaniss Lane. The tornado tracked east|northeast, seriously impacting a site-built frame home located on FM 1885 |just south of New Authon/Precinct Road. Most of the home's wood rafter roof,|clad in plywood and sheet metal, was removed from the home and deposited in|the front yard of the residence. Minor damage was observed to trees and |outbuildings in the vicinity of the home. Significant damage also occurred|to a metal-clad commercial building located approximately 200 yards southeast|of this home. Metal roof cross members were severely twisted on this building,|and most of the sheet metal roofing was removed and deposited along FM 1885.|The tornado crossed FM 1885 and continued for a short distance, producing |minor tree damage. It ultimately dissipated as it reached Precinct Road,|just east of FM 1885.

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

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 06:51 UTC and running to 09:53 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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:00 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.

The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 65 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 08:37 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 2019 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

4 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.