EF0 tornado, Sutherland Spgs to La Vernia, Texas, July 26, 2020

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

July 26, 2020

Touchdown

5:10 AM CDT (10:10 UTC)

Lifted

5:17 AM CDT (10:17 UTC)

On the ground

7 minutes

Path length

3.3 miles (5.3 km)

Path width

20 yards (18 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$50,000

County

Wilson County

Touchdown point

29.292, -98.072

Lift-off point

29.319, -98.116

Record number

2007260410-01

9 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS EWX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 70 mph.

• Roof section off metal storage building
• Looks like poles replaced on highway, structure very old looking
• Lot of large branches...no visible damage to homes

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

Hurricane Hanna made landfall on the South Texas coast on the afternoon of July 25 and moved across the southern part of the state. A rain band from the storm moved through South Central Texas during the morning of July 26 and produced a tornado in Wilson County.

An NWS damage survey concluded that a small EF0 tornado touched down just south of La Vernia during the predawn hours of Sunday July 26 at approximately 510 AM CDT. The tornado touched down along Hwy 87 north of Sutherland Springs. The tornado then moved northwest and crossed CR 307, Enck Ln., Oakview Dr., Oak Hollow Dr., Hickory Run, and Ranch Country Rd. The tornado continued northwest and crossed Blackjack Rd., Cibolo Ridge, and Pullman Rd. The tornado track ended at Pullman Road as road access farther northwest near CR 344 was not available. The majority of damage was to trees and outbuildings. Power poles and lines were also damaged in a few locations. The maximum winds associated with this tornado were estimated to be 70 mph making it an EF0 tornado. Some minor tree damage was found west of La Vernia near CR 356, CR 357 and along Hwy 87 but was determined that this damage was not caused by a tornado.

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.

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 05:28 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.

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Jul 26, 3:00 AM CDT, 2 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio TX
300 AM CDT Sun Jul 26 2020

.SHORT TERM (Today through Monday)...
The center of Tropical Storm Hanna continues to move across Deep
South Texas. The rain shield extends up into the southern part of
our CWA. Hanna will continue to move toward the west-southwest
through the day today into northeastern Mexico. This will continue
to bring moisture into South Central Texas and rain chances will
continue through the day. There will likely be a sharp edge to the
rain somewhere south of I-10/Hwy 90. There is still a chance for
some locally heavy rain, but we do not expect any excessive rain.
Southern parts of the CWA could see another inch of rain today and
tonight with lower amounts farther north. As Hanna moves across
northern Mexico tonight rain chances will linger across our southern
areas. Rain amounts should continue to decrease as the center of the
storm gets farther away. Monday the atmosphere over Texas will
remain unsettled and there will be ample moisture in place. The
deepest moisture will be across the southern half of the CWA and
there will be chances for showers over this area.

With all the cloudiness today temperatures will be below normal
across the region. Monday will bring more sunshine and temperatures
will climb back to near normal across most of the area.

&&

.LONG TERM (Monday Night through Saturday)...
Monday night should begin the long-term period off fairly dry with
only a small chance of rain across the southern two-thirds of the
area with residual moisture left over from Hanna. The small rain
chances will continue into Tuesday with slightly higher chances
expected for the Coastal Plains. There should be weak ridging nudging
into Hill Country from the west that will limit rain chances for the
western counties. Tuesday night should be rain free with similar PoPs
expected on Wednesday that we have on Tuesday with the higher values
in the Coastal Plains where the better moisture should be. The
atmosphere is expected to dry out further by Thursday with only
small chances in the east and then a rain free forecast takes over
Friday and Saturday. High temperatures in the extended will begin in
the lower to middle 90s but will return to the upper 90s to most
locations on Thursday or Friday.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Austin Camp Mabry              90  76  93  75  94 /  50  20  30  20  20
Austin Bergstrom Intl Airport  90  75  93  74  93 /  50  20  30  20  20
New Braunfels Muni Airport     88  74  93  74  92 /  50  20  40  20  30
Burnet Muni Airport            89  73  93  73  93 /  40  30  20  10  20
Del Rio Intl Airport           90  74  95  75  95 /  40  40  30  20  20
Georgetown Muni Airport        90  74  94  74  95 /  50  30  20  10  20
Hondo Muni Airport             88  73  95  74  95 /  60  30  30  20  30
San Marcos Muni Airport        89  74  93  74  93 /  50  20  30  20  30
La Grange - Fayette Regional   89  75  95  76  93 /  50  30  40  20  40
San Antonio Intl Airport       89  75  94  75  94 /  60  20  40  20  30
Stinson Muni Airport           87  75  93  75  93 /  60  30  40  20  30

&&

.EWX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
None.
&&

Short-Term/Aviation...05
Long-Term...Hampshire

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 Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 45 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 10:09 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 2020 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

2 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.