EF0 tornado, Palo Duro Canyon State Park to Washburn, Texas, March 13, 2021

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

March 13, 2021

Touchdown

4:06 PM CST (22:06 UTC)

Lifted

4:34 PM CST (22:34 UTC)

On the ground

28 minutes

Path length

13.0 miles (20.9 km)

Path width

1,000 yards (914 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$30,000

Counties

Randall and Armstrong counties

Touchdown point

35.011, -101.645

Lift-off point

35.172, -101.527

Record number

2103131606-01

28 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS AMA, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 110 mph.

• Trailer pushed and flipped 15 feet from original spot.
• Caught patio lip and lifted roof west.
• West edge of damage. Down fencing.
• Small trailer camper lofted northeast and stopped by a tree 20-30 feet away. Camper shredded.

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

A very potent upper level system produced widespread hazards from heavy snow across the front range/Rockies to severe weather across the Southern High Plains. The vigorous closed upper low was approached the Four Corners region from the west. A warm front lifted north and northwest across all but the Oklahoma Panhandle and the northwest Texas Panhandle while a sharpening dryline was located over eastern New Mexico. The dryline preceded a Pacific cold front which was also located in eastern New Mexico and swept eastward later in the evening. A broken line of thunderstorms developed ahead of the dryline in eastern New Mexico and tracked north and east into the western and southwestern Texas Panhandle before continuing to move east across the remainder of the eastern Panhandles during the evening hours, growing upscale as the Pacific cold front swept eastward and overtook the dryline. Nine confirmed tornadoes occurred early in the event during the afternoon hours and some of these were large, violent and were on the ground for long periods of time. Three separate instances occurred where two tornadoes were in progress from the same parent thunderstorm at the same time. While traveling across mostly rural areas, the tornadoes did impact several farm homes as well as Palo Duro State Park and Greenbelt Lake.

The original tornado - Happy to Palo Duro Canyon - associated with this tornado's parent supercell handed off to this second major tornado. Storm chaser video and damage patterns suggest the tornado was either multi-vortex or that multiple satellites may have occurred. Both the original and newly developing tornadoes were briefly on the ground simultaneously. This tornado was narrow initially and possibly consisted of multiple cones as it damaged camp grounds around the rim of Palo Duro State Park. One cabin sustained EF1 damage as its roof was completely removed. A porch likely caught the wind and aided in the damage of the roof, which is why this tornado was not rated higher. Several travel trailers were flipped and one was destroyed at another campground, but none of these trailers were anchored. Minor damage occurred to weaker structures at the state park entrance and there was notable tree damage as well. The tornado crossed the canyon and grew large on the east side, but remained in very rural country. Another rapid and complicated tornado handoff to the Palo Duro Canyon to Washburn tornado occurred east of the canyon around the Randall/Armstrong County line near the intersection of 1258 and Goathead Road as a new circulation took over.

This is a continuation of a tornado that started in Randall County. After crossing Palo Duro Canyon and the county line, the tornado stayed in open county and did minimal damage. It performed another rapid and complicated tornado handoff to the Palo Duro Canyon to Washburn tornado very close to the county line near the intersection of 1258 and Goathead Road as a new circulation took over.

The supercell underwent another odd handoff from the Palo Duro Canyon tornado near Highway 1258 which was documented by storm chasers in the area. Again, both the initial and new developing tornado co-existed for a period of time creating a wide damage path Near County Road 1 in Armstrong County. This tornado path remained in very rural country with few damage indicators and was likely stronger than suggested by the very limited rating. Along the path the tornado snapped a few small diameter power poles and destroyed a couple out buildings. It also pushed over a semi before it dissipated just north of Highway 287.

Continuation from a tornado that started in Randall County. The supercell underwent another odd handoff from the Palo Duro Canyon tornado near Highway 1258 which was documented by storm chasers in the area. Again, both the initial and new developing tornado co-existed for a period of time creating a wide damage path Near County Road 1 in Armstrong County. This tornado path remained in very rural country with few damage indicators and was likely stronger than suggested by the very limited rating. Along the path the tornado snapped a few small diameter power poles and destroyed a couple out buildings. It also pushed over a semi before it dissipated just north of Highway 287.

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

16 minutes of warning. NWS AMA issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:50 UTC, 16 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:37 UTC and running to 00:00 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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 19:40 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.

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 19 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:08 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 2021 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

20 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.