Unrated tornado, Morton to Morton Cochran Co Ar, Texas, May 23, 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 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.

Rating

Unrated

Date

May 23, 2022

Touchdown

7:13 PM CDT (00:13 UTC)

Lifted

7:22 PM CDT (00:22 UTC)

On the ground

9 minutes

Path length

0.7 miles (1.1 km)

Path width

50 yards (46 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Counties

Cochran and Bailey counties

Touchdown point

33.821, -102.718

Lift-off point

33.835, -102.716

Record number

2205231813-01

7 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LUB, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 85 mph.

• center of tornado vortes at 7:07 CDT as sampled by the TTU-Ka1 mobile radar.
• TTU-Ka1 mobiel radar observation of tornadic circulation at this point.
• Spotter reported wooden power poles down at intersection of FM 597 and FM 303. Damage survey not conducted in this area as roads were closed due to flooding.
• TTU-Ka1 mobile radar image of tornadic vortex

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

Returning Gulf of Mexico moisture into the South Plains of West Texas fueled widespread severe thunderstorm development across the region on the afternoon and evening of the 23rd. Moderate to strong instability developed across the western South Plains and eastern New Mexico Monday afternoon and evening as the improving low-level moisture and temperatures warming into the 80s developed beneath an approaching upper level storm system. Relatively strong wind shear caused several of the thunderstorms to rotate as they moved into the western South Plains and western Texas Panhandle. A cluster of thunderstorms moving northeast out of southeastern New Mexico interacted with an outflow boundary moving northwest out of the Permian Basin. This caused a storm on the southern flank of the cluster to begin to rotate and become supercellular and take a more easterly, then southeasterly track. As the storm intensified, it became cyclic in behavior and its forward speed varied from about 5 mph to 20 mph. An NWS storm survey revealed that this supercell produced nine separate tornadoes over an approximately two hour period. The tornadoes occurred over rural areas which limited the overall impacts. Spotty damage did occur including two oil pumpjacks that were toppled by the intense tornadic winds. This damage, along with snapped power poles and flipped center pivots earned a peak damage rating of EF-2. The thunderstorms eventually evolved into a larger complex that brought widespread rain to most of the South Plains, Rolling Plains, and southern Texas Panhandle. The heaviest rain was associated with the slow-moving tornadic storm and was concentrated over Bailey County, where three to as much as seven inches of rain fell.

A cyclic tornadic supercell produced several tornadoes over a period of approximately two hours. An NWS storm survey revealed that this supercell produced nine separate tornadoes. This tornado was the first tornado. It was a brief needle like tornado that became rain wrapped and observed by several storm chasers. No damage was observed or reported.

A cyclic tornadic supercell produced several tornadoes over a period of approximately two hours. An NWS storm survey revealed that this supercell produced nine separate tornadoes. This tornado was the second tornado. The instantaneous width and center of the tornado was estimated from TTU-Kal radar data. Extensive photo and video evidence existed of a wide, dusty, wedge tornado with numerous sub-vortices present at times. Maximum winds were estimated at 120 mph. This tornado continued into Bailey County.

A cyclic tornadic supercell produced several tornadoes over a period of approximately two hours. An NWS storm survey revealed that this supercell produced nine separate tornadoes. This tornado was the second tornado. The instantaneous width and center of the tornado was estimated from TTU-Kal radar data. Extensive photo and video evidence existed of a wide, dusty, wedge tornado with numerous sub-vortices present at times. Maximum winds were estimated at 120 mph. This is a continuation of a tornado from Cochran County.

A cyclic tornadic supercell produced several tornadoes over a period of approximately two hours. An NWS storm survey revealed that this supercell produced nine separate tornadoes. This tornado was the third tornado. While the larger tornado south of Enochs was occluding, a new circulation developed to the east and a brief, small tornado was reported by numerous chasers, including NWS spotters. No damage was observed or reported. The instantaneous center of the tornado was estimated from TTU-Kal radar data. This tornado continued into Bailey County.

A cyclic tornadic supercell produced several tornadoes over a period of approximately two hours. An NWS storm survey revealed that this supercell produced nine separate tornadoes. This tornado was the third tornado. While the larger tornado south of Enochs was occluding, a new circulation developed to the east and a brief, small tornado was reported by numerous chasers, including NWS spotters. No damage was observed or reported. The instantaneous center of the tornado was estimated from TTU-Kal radar data. This is a continuation of a tornado from Cochran County.

A cyclic tornadic supercell produced several tornadoes over a period of approximately two hours. An NWS storm survey revealed that this supercell produced nine separate tornadoes. This tornado was the fourth tornado. A short lived, small tornado was observed in far northeastern Cochran County. No damage was observed or reported. The instantaneous center of the tornado was estimated from TTU-Kal radar data.

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

23 minutes of warning. NWS LUB issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:50 UTC, 23 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:15 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 21:51 UTC and running to 03:26 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:01 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 Lubbock radar (KLBB), 86 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:13 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

12 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.