EF0 tornado, Progress to Lariat, Texas, May 26, 2019

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

May 26, 2019

Touchdown

9:11 PM CDT (02:11 UTC)

Lifted

9:25 PM CDT (02:25 UTC)

On the ground

14 minutes

Path length

5.0 miles (8.0 km)

Path width

50 yards (46 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$50,000

Counties

Bailey and Parmer counties

Touchdown point

34.269, -102.948

Lift-off point

34.334, -102.945

Record number

1905262011-01

3 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LUB, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 108 mph.

• LSR report from Law Enforcement

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

Another consecutive active weather day occurred in West Texas on the evening of the 26th. An upper level low pressure system continued to remain nearly stationary in central California while a short wave trough moved over West Texas. Extensive high level cloud cover inhibited convection during the afternoon and early evening despite ample instability and moisture. Supercell thunderstorms initially developed in eastern New Mexico early in the evening when this high level cloud cover has dissipated. This thunderstorm activity then crossed into the extreme southwestern Texas Panhandle after 2000 CST. Two supercells ultimately produced a total of three tornadoes. ||The first tornado developed in Bailey County moving north-northeast and then north-northwest into Parmer County near Lariat (Parmer County). This tornado overturned a center pivot irrigation system in Bailey County indicating an EF0 rating. The next two tornadoes came from one supercell that had a history of producing long track tornadoes in Roosevelt County in eastern New Mexico. The first tornado in Texas began in Lamb County near the intersection of US Highway 70 and Farm to Market Road 303. EF0 damage was initially produced by this tornado at the starting location. The tornado then moved to the northeast producing EF2 damage indicated by a snapped electrical transmission pole. This first tornado then dissipated around four miles north of Earth (Lamb County). A second tornado formed in Castro County near the intersection of Farm to Market Road 145 and US Highway 385. EF0 damage was discovered northeast of this location with a couple of center pivot irrigation systems flipped over. The tornado continued to the northeast crossing Farm to Market Road 194 and dissipating shortly thereafter.

Law enforcement initially reported a tornado near the town of Lariat. Broadcast media relayed a picture of a funnel cloud near the same time and location of the previous report. A NWS storm survey revealed that this tornado began in northern Bailey County along County Road 54 between Farm to Market Road 3125 and County Road 1038. This tornado went to the north-northeast to overturn a center pivot irrigation system before crossing into Parmer County and turning to the north-northwest.

Law enforcement initially reported a tornado near the town of Lariat. Broadcast media relayed a picture of a funnel cloud near the same time and location of the previous report. An NWS storm survey revealed that this tornado began in northern Bailey County along County Road 54 between Farm to Market Road 3125 and County Road 1038. This tornado went to the north-northeast to overturn a center pivot irrigation system before crossing into Parmer County and turning to the north-northwest.

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

21 minutes of warning. NWS LUB issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:50 UTC, 21 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 00:55 UTC and running to 03:44 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:37 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.

Clovis Muni (CVN), 18 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

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

37 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.