Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2019

EF0 tornado, Gail, Texas, May 5, 2019

Name: EF0 tornado, Gail, Texas, May 5, 2019
Start: 2019-05-06T01:59:00.000Z
End: 2019-05-06T02:00:00.000Z
Location: Gail, Texas

This EF0 tornado ran 0.4 miles across Borden County on May 5, 2019, touching down at 8:59 PM CDT and reaching 50 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.

EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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.

The record

Rating: EF0
Date: May 5, 2019
Touchdown: 8:59 PM CDT (01:59 UTC)
Lifted: 9:00 PM CDT (02:00 UTC)
On the ground: 1 minutes
Path length: 0.4 miles (0.7 km)
Path width: 50 yards (46 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
County: Borden County
Touchdown point: 32.698, -101.515
Lift-off point: 32.701, -101.509
Record number: 1905051959-01

What the Weather Service recorded

An upper trough was approaching the California coast and a flat ridge was building over West Texas and southeast New Mexico. A dryline was across the area and the atmosphere was extremely unstable. Wind shear was also good across the area. These conditions resulted in thunderstorms producing large hail, strong winds, and a tornado across areas of West Texas.

A thunderstorm produced a brief rope tornado seven miles southwest of Gail. The path width and length were estimated and no damage was reported.

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

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 02:12 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.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at May 5, 7:07 PM CDT, 1 hour 52 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 5, 7:07 PM CDT, 1 hour 52 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Midland/Odessa TX
707 PM CDT Sun May 5 2019

.DISCUSSION...
See aviation discussion below.

&&

.AVIATION...
Storms are far enough removed from TAF sites to keep mention of
TSRA out, except FST for a few more hrs. Otherwise erratic/gusty
outflow winds will be the main concern through late evening.

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 427 PM CDT Sun May 5 2019/

UPDATE...
Severe thunderstorm watch #133 til 11 PM CDT PB/Trans Pecos.

DISCUSSION...
Weak cap/strong daytime heating/steep lapse/moderate CAPES/
sufficient shear are all in place for a few severe storms with
large/giant hail and severe wind gusts.

PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 235 PM CDT Sun May 5 2019/

DISCUSSION...
Another day, another round of scattered severe thunderstorms are
expected to develop this afternoon and evening. Current
radar/satellite already shows convection forming between the Pecos
River and Davis Mountains. MLCAPE is moderate but SBCAPE is
impressive at greater than 3KJ/Kg. 0-6km shear is 30-35kts which
is somewhat weak though early radar returns are showing tilt so
there probably is enough present for severe storms. Models show
the entire dryline getting active this afternoon with storms
developing from the Big Bend to the central Permian Basin and
slowly moving east.

Tomorrow and Tuesday show no real change with the dryline
remaining active thanks to west-southwesterly upper flow and ample
low level moisture convergence. Tuesday may be the greatest risk
for severe weather as a deep upper trough moves into the Four
Corners region. Upper winds will back from a much more southerly
direction and the approach of an upper jet will increase
divergence, instability, and shear aloft. The arrival of the jet
lags max heating which could be a factor in storm areal coverage.

The trough moves into the Central Plains Wednesday bringing the
one day this week that there will be dry weather with no rain
chances. Thursday a cold front arrives bringing colder
temperatures and more rain chances. Thankfully, a stable airmass
behind the cold front will eliminate a severe weather risk for a
few days with isentropic lift producing light rain and rain
showers with perhaps a few thunderstorms returning by the end of
the week. Temperatures behind the front will be below normal for
this time of year and slow to warm due to a second low pressure
system that only slowly moves across the Desert Southwest
providing ample clouds and easterly low level winds.

Hennig

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Big Spring                     63  85  64  85 /  30  20  30  20
Carlsbad                       58  93  59  88 /  10  10  10   0
Dryden                         65  84  66  87 /  40  40  30  20
Fort Stockton                  62  88  64  88 /  30  40  20  20
Guadalupe Pass                 60  85  59  80 /  10  10   0   0
Hobbs                          57  88  59  86 /  10  20  10  10
Marfa                          54  85  51  85 /  20  30  20  10
Midland Intl Airport           63  86  64  87 /  20  20  20  10
Odessa                         62  87  64  87 /  20  20  20  10
Wink                           62  92  63  91 /  20  20  10  10

&&

.MAF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NM...None.
TX...None.
&&

Hazardous weather outlook, May 5, 2:20 PM CDT, 6 hours 39 minutes before

Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Midland/Odessa TX
220 PM CDT Sun May 5 2019

NMZ027>029-033-034-TXZ045>048-050>053-059>063-067>070-075-082-
270>282-061930-
Guadalupe Mountains of Eddy County-Eddy County Plains-
Northern Lea County-Central Lea County-Southern Lea County-Gaines-
Dawson-Borden-Scurry-Andrews-Martin-Howard-Mitchell-Loving-Winkler-
Ector-Midland-Glasscock-Ward-Crane-Upton-Reagan-Pecos-Terrell-
Guadalupe Mountains Above 7000 Feet-Guadalupe and Delaware Mountains-
Van Horn and Highway 54 Corridor-Eastern Culberson County-
Reeves County Plains-Chinati Mountains-Marfa Plateau-Davis Mountains-
Davis Mountains Foothills-Central Brewster County-Chisos Basin-
Presidio Valley-Lower Brewster County-
220 PM CDT Sun May 5 2019 /120 PM MDT Sun May 5 2019/

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of southeast New
Mexico, southwest Texas, and western Texas.

.DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight

There is a chance of severe thunderstorms across parts of the area
for this afternoon and tonight. Large hail and damaging winds will
be possible with these storms.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Monday through Saturday

Strong to severe thunderstorms will be possible across parts of the
area Monday and Tuesday.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation is possible this afternoon.

This product, along with other watches, warnings, advisories,
and statements issued by the National Weather Service Office in
Midland, can be found on the internet at...
https://weather.gov/midland

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 5, 6:46 PM CDT, 2 hours 13 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
National Weather Service Midland/Odessa TX
646 PM CDT SUN MAY 5 2019

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0615 PM     HAIL             1 NW ANDREWS            32.33N 102.56W
05/05/2019  M1.75 INCH       Andrews            TX   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

SCOTT.KLEEBAUER

Local storm report, May 5, 6:52 PM CDT, 2 hours 7 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
National Weather Service Midland/Odessa TX
652 PM CDT SUN MAY 5 2019

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0504 PM     TSTM WND DMG     BELDING                 30.79N 103.03W
05/05/2019                   PECOS              TX   EMERGENCY MNGR

            POWER POLES KNOCKED DOWN, AS WELL AS A BARN ROOF BLOWN
            OFF.

&&

SCOTT.KLEEBAUER

Special weather statement, May 5, 8:01 PM CDT, 58 minutes before

Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Midland/Odessa TX
801 PM CDT Sun May 5 2019

TXZ075-082-060145-
Pecos TX-Terrell TX-
801 PM CDT Sun May 5 2019

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR EASTERN PECOS AND NORTHERN
TERRELL COUNTIES UNTIL 845 PM CDT...

At 800 PM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking strong thunderstorms 19
miles west of Sheffield, moving northeast at 20 mph.

Nickel size hail and wind gusts of 50 to 55 mph will be possible with
this storm.

Locations impacted include...
Sheffield, Terrell County Gas Plant, Iraan, Iraan Municipal Airport,
Bakersfield and Girvin.

This includes Interstate 10 between mile markers 279 and 327.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Torrential rainfall is also occurring with these storms, and may lead
to localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded
roadways.

&&

A Severe Thunderstorm Watch remains in effect until 1100 PM CDT for
southwestern Texas.

LAT...LON 3047 10169 3047 10173 3042 10174 3034 10166
      3034 10172 3029 10176 3006 10176 3025 10244
      3111 10263 3106 10232 3103 10229 3103 10221
      3100 10219 3099 10199 3092 10188 3089 10189
      3070 10181 3065 10177 3064 10167 3056 10165
TIME...MOT...LOC 0100Z 262DEG 58KT 3061 10213

12

Local storm report, May 5, 8:15 PM CDT, 44 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
National Weather Service Midland/Odessa TX
815 PM CDT SUN MAY 5 2019

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0810 PM     TSTM WND GST     2 E KEY                 32.73N 101.77W
05/05/2019  M60 MPH          Dawson             TX   TRAINED SPOTTER

            BLOWING DUST WITH WINDS

&&

SCOTT.KLEEBAUER

Local storm report, May 5, 8:37 PM CDT, 22 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Local storm report, May 5, 8:39 PM CDT, 20 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

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.

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), 00:00Z

2.0 hours before the tornado, 106 km from the path. May 6, 2019.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

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: 1159 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -109 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 3236 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2013 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 28 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 207 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 275 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 5.3
0-3 km lapse rate: 7.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), 12:00Z

10.0 hours after it, 106 km from the path. May 6, 2019.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

Mixed-layer CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -86876 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1546 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 26 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 42 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 147 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: -0.0
0-3 km lapse rate: 3.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Lamesa (LUV), 39 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Gust (kt)	Pressure (mb)	Weather
00:00 UTC

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

The radar

The Midland/Odessa radar (KMAF), 105 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:57 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.

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2019 tornado in Texas Every tornado in Texas since 1950 Warnings in force in Texas now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 5, 2019

21 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 5	11:27 AM EDT	EF1	Marion, FL	0.9	100
May 5	12:40 PM EDT	EF0	Pinellas, FL	0.4	50	$50,000
May 5	5:35 PM CDT	Unrated	Lancaster, NE	0.0	50
May 5	5:36 PM CDT	EF0	Ford, KS	0.6	75
May 5	5:38 PM CDT	EF2	Lancaster, NE	0.6	200
May 5	5:45 PM CDT	EF2	Lynn, TX	17.2	2,112	$36,000
May 5	6:15 PM CDT	EF1	Meade, KS	1.1	100
May 5	6:25 PM CDT	EF1	Barton, KS	0.6	75	$40,000
May 5	6:30 PM CDT	Unrated	Rice, KS	0.2	50
May 5	6:49 PM CDT	Unrated	Meade, KS	0.4	75
May 5	7:00 PM CDT	EF0	Rice, KS	0.5	75	$20,000
May 5	7:04 PM CDT	Unrated	Meade, KS	0.7	75
May 5	7:12 PM CDT	EF1	Lynn, TX	5.0	880
May 5	7:13 PM CDT	EF0	Reno, KS	0.3	200
May 5	7:34 PM CDT	EF1	Reno, KS	0.1	300
May 5	7:35 PM CDT	EF1	Reno, KS	0.4	100	$100,000
May 5	8:00 PM CDT	Unrated	Reno, KS	0.2	50
May 5	8:20 PM CDT	Unrated	Reno, KS	0.3	50
May 5	8:39 PM CDT	EF0	Sumner, KS	0.8	75
May 5	8:49 PM CDT	Unrated	Roberts, TX	6.4	500
May 5	11:54 PM CDT	EF1	Noble, OK	1.5	30	$30,000

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.