Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2019

Unrated tornado, Adrian, Texas, May 4, 2019

This Unrated tornado ran 0.1 miles across Oldham County on May 4, 2019, touching down at 7:28 PM CDT and reaching 10 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
May 4, 2019
Touchdown
7:28 PM CDT (00:28 UTC)
Lifted
7:29 PM CDT (00:29 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.1 miles (0.1 km)
Path width
10 yards (9 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Oldham County
Touchdown point
35.370, -102.620
Lift-off point
35.369, -102.619
Record number
1905041828-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A low pressure disturbance moving east from eastern New Mexico moved into the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles the afternoon on the 4th. Along with good directional winds and instability, supercells formed and produced several reports of large hail across both the TX and OK Panhandles. A brief tornado was also reported in the western Texas Panhandle with no damage reported as it was over an open field.

Storm chaser viewed brief tornado looking northeast from Adrian. Time of tornado was estimated by radar and video feed.

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

The warnings

6 minutes of warning. NWS AMA issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:22 UTC, 6 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:45 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
23:22 UTC00:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMA
00:22 UTC00:45 UTCTornado WarningAMA
00:39 UTC01:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMA
00:43 UTC01:07 UTCTornado 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 19:35 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), 00:00Z

0.5 hours before the tornado, 85 km from the path. May 5, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 2019-05-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 408 joules per kilogram, CIN -159, lifted condensation level 1456 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 2019-05-05The 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 85 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 31 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
408 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-159 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1015 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1456 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
85 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
189 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.0
0-3 km lapse rate
7.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

11.5 hours after it, 85 km from the path. May 5, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Amarillo Airport, TX at 12:00Z on 2019-05-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 721 joules per kilogram, CIN -188, lifted condensation level 644 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 12:00Z on 2019-05-05The 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 386 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 42 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
721 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-188 J/kg
Surface CAPE
301 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
644 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
386 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
439 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.9
0-3 km lapse rate
4.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Hereford (HRX), 63 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
22:35 UTC73.254190° 15 kt191012.9
22:55 UTC7353.6190° 12 kt191012.5
23:15 UTC7353.6190° 13 kt191012.2
23:35 UTC72.554180° 16 kt191011.9
23:55 UTC71.853.8190° 17 kt211011.5
00:15 UTC7153.8180° 13 kt221011.5
00:35 UTC69.853.6170° 14 kt191011.2VCTS
00:55 UTC68.553.4160° 19 kt231011.2
01:15 UTC66.653.2150° 15 kt201011.5VCTS
01:35 UTC65.553160° 17 kt241010.5TS
01:55 UTC6451.4350° 18 kt281014.6-VCTSRA
02:15 UTC52.347.860° 7 kt1015.9+TSRA

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

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 84 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:28 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
00:28 UTCTORNADO4 Ene Wimberly PlaceOldham, TXSTORM CHASER VIEWED BRIEF TORNADO LOOKING NORTHEAST FROM ADRIAN. TIME OF TORNADO WAS ESTIAMTED BY RADAR AND VIDEO FEED.
00:28 UTCTORNADO4 Ene Wimberly PlaceOldham, TXSTORM CHASER VIEWED BRIEF TORNADO LOOKING NORTHEAST FROM ADRIAN. TIME OF TORNADO WAS ESTIMATED BY RADAR AND VIDEO FEED.
00:50 UTCHAIL 1.758 W VegaOldham, TXGOLF BALL SIZED HAIL REPORTED WEST OF VEGA ON I-40.
00:58 UTCHAIL 1.25VegaOldham, TX

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 May 4, 2019

7 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 42:31 AM CDTEF0Galveston, TX0.130$10,000
May 46:59 AM CDTUnratedPlaquemines Parish, LA3.325
May 410:56 AM CDTEF0Saint Tammany Parish, LA3.450
May 411:18 AM CDTEF1Saint Tammany Parish, LA to MS4.5200
May 44:53 PM EDTEF1Chatham, GA2.21701
May 47:05 PM CDTUnratedBailey, TX0.030
May 48:02 PM CDTUnratedBailey, TX0.030

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.