Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2019

Unrated tornado, Dumas Muni Arpt, Texas, March 22, 2019

This Unrated tornado ran 1.5 miles across Moore County on March 22, 2019, touching down at 5:12 PM CDT and reaching 200 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 mph

    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. Unratedthis tornado

    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
Unrated
Date
March 22, 2019
Touchdown
5:12 PM CDT (22:12 UTC)
Lifted
5:14 PM CDT (22:14 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
1.5 miles (2.4 km)
Path width
200 yards (183 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Moore County
Touchdown point
35.918, -102.157
Lift-off point
35.900, -102.142
Record number
1903221612-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A strong upper level system moved across New Mexico approaching the western panhandles by the evening of the 22nd. Out ahead of the main upper level system, low level moisture along with sufficient instability allowed thunderstorms to develop. Initial thunderstorm development was super-cellular where large hail and damaging winds were reported along with 2 tornadoes across the western TX Panhandle. Later into the evening with a linear wind profile, storms congealed into a line where large hail and damaging winds continued into the early evening. Along the line, a third tornado formed west of Canyon, TX. Thunderstorms then moved east and weakened before going into the late evening.

No damage observed. Track and times estimated based on three separate videos and pictures.

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

The warnings

43 minutes of warning. NWS AMA issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:29 UTC, 43 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:15 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 20:15 UTC and running to 01:54 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
20:15 UTC01:54 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchAMA
21:29 UTC22:15 UTCTornado WarningAMA
22:12 UTC23:00 UTCTornado WarningAMA
22:59 UTC23:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMA
23:36 UTC00:49 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMA

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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:51 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.

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), 12:00Z

10.2 hours before the tornado, 86 km from the path. March 22, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Amarillo Airport, TX at 12:00Z on 2019-03-22Temperature 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 -78941, lifted condensation level 1433 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 12:00Z on 2019-03-22The 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 180 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 33 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
-78941 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1433 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
180 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
143 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), 00:00Z

1.8 hours after it, 86 km from the path. March 23, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 2019-03-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 608 joules per kilogram, CIN -9, lifted condensation level 1179 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 2019-03-23The 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 220 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 53 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
608 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-9 J/kg
Surface CAPE
923 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1179 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
220 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
278 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
5.1
0-3 km lapse rate
8.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Dumas (DUX), 14 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
20:15 UTC62.646.4160° 16 kt271013.9
20:35 UTC6245.5160° 16 kt1013.2
20:55 UTC60.845.5160° 13 kt1012.9
21:15 UTC6045.5140° 15 kt191012.2
21:35 UTC6045.5120° 13 kt1011.9
21:55 UTC60.344.8120° 19 kt231010.8
22:15 UTC6046130° 26 kt311009.8
22:35 UTC58.645140° 23 kt321010.8
22:55 UTC57.444.8200° 8 kt261012.5
23:15 UTC4743300° 14 kt331013.9RA
23:35 UTC44.443.2300° 13 kt371012.9-SN
23:55 UTC454410° 12 kt171012.9-SN

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

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 85 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:14 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
21:06 UTCHAIL 115 Ne RomeroHartley, TXTRAINED SPOTTER REPORTED QUARTER SIZE HAIL WITH THUNDERSTORM.
21:51 UTCHAIL 1.754 Ese HartleyHartley, TXGOLF BALL SIZE HAIL REPORTED BY TRAINED SPOTTER.
22:01 UTCTORNADO9 Sse WilcoHartley, TXBRIEF TORNADO TOUCHDOWN REPORTED BY 3 STORM CHASERS AND 1 STORM SPOTTER.
22:02 UTCHAIL 19 Ese HartleyHartley, TXSTORM CHASER REPORTING QUARTER SIZE HAIL WITH ACCUMULATION ON AREA ROADWAYS.
22:07 UTCTORNADO7 Se WilcoHartley, TXMULTIPLE STORM CHASERS REPORTED A TORNADO, POSSIBLY RAIN WRAPPED, ON THE GROUND. PICTURE CONFIRMATION SENT.
22:08 UTCTORNADO8 Se WilcoHartley, TXBRIEF TORNADO TOUCHDOWN REPORTED BY 3 STORM CHASERS AND 1 STORM SPOTTER.
22:20 UTCTORNADO9 Sw CactusMoore, TXMULTIPLE STORM CHASERS REPORTED A TORNADO, POSSIBLY RAIN WRAPPED, ON THE GROUND. PICTURE CONFIRMATION SENT.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2019 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of March 22, 2019

3 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 225:43 PM CDTUnratedOldham, TX0.640
March 226:14 PM MDTEF0Weld, CO0.075
March 227:57 PM CDTUnratedRandall, TX2.150

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.