EF2 tornado, Petty to Sumner, Texas, December 13, 2022

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 mphthis tornado

   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

EF2

Date

December 13, 2022

Touchdown

10:45 AM CST (16:45 UTC)

Lifted

10:57 AM CST (16:57 UTC)

On the ground

12 minutes

Path length

10.2 miles (16.4 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Lamar County

Touchdown point

33.614, -95.827

Lift-off point

33.690, -95.676

Record number

2212131045-01

6 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS FWD, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 115 mph.

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

A tornado outbreak occurred in the morning hours of December 13th resulting in 16 tornadoes across the northern half of the CWA; generally all along and north of Interstate 20. A total of 4 tornadoes were rated EF-2, and 9 people were injured, but none sustained life saving injuries. The most injuries occurred in the Grapevine tornado in Tarrant County. In addition to the tornadoes, one storm produced hail up to the size tennis balls in Rockwall County.

The tornado formed in open pastureland west of FM 38, approximately 1.5 miles west of Petty, TX. The tornado moved northeast, crossing FM 38 and significantly damaging a metal roofing system at a commercial establishment. Approximately half of the metal roof and siding panels were removed, and metal support beams were ripped from their anchors. Damage at this location was consistent with high end EF-1 tornado wind speeds. The tornado also impacted 2 metal buildings immediately northeast of this main commercial establishment. The tornado continued toward the northeast, crossing County Road 35020 and causing minor EF-0 tree and shingle damage to two residences along CR 35020. The tornado continued to travel northeast, eventually impacting 3 residences near FM 38 and CR 34020. The most significant damage occurred to a large combination metal system barn/residence. Most of this structure was destroyed, with large portions of the metal roofing and siding removed. Large metal beams were dislodged from their anchors and several were severely twisted. Damage here was consistent with low end EF-2 wind speeds of approximately 115 mph. Adjacent structures suffered less significant roof damage consistent with EF-0/EF-1 winds. The tornado traveled northeast for an additional three quarters of a mile, impacting some outbuildings and trees with EF-0 winds. Dissipation occurred shortly after crossing CR 33040 approximately 3.5 miles west of Hopewell. Maximum estimated winds were 115 mph.

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

25 minutes of warning. NWS FWD issued a tornado warning for this county at 16:20 UTC, 25 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 16:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 15:12 UTC and running to 18:40 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 Marginal Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:29 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 Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 188 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 16:42 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 2022 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

30 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.