Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2022
EF0 tornado, Pep to Pettit, Texas, May 23, 2022
From Pep to Pettit, this EF0 tornado ran 1.9 miles across Hockley County on May 23, 2022, touching down at 8:06 PM CDT and reaching 200 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 23, 2022
- Touchdown
- 8:06 PM CDT (01:06 UTC)
- Lifted
- 8:11 PM CDT (01:11 UTC)
- On the ground
- 5 minutes
- Path length
- 1.9 miles (3.1 km)
- Path width
- 200 yards (183 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Hockley County
- Touchdown point
- 33.780, -102.594
- Lift-off point
- 33.782, -102.561
- Record number
- 2205231906-01
The damage survey
13 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LUB, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 120 mph.
- Snapped power poles, blown south. Picture looking east
- 2 Pump jacks blown over to south. Concrete footings lifted out of the ground with the pump jacks. Pump jacks not an official DI, however wind engineers confirm that it would most likely take tornadic winds to knock pump jacks over
- At least 5 snapped power poles, blown north. Picture looking west.
- Two snapped power poles, snapped off near ground. Damage blown south, picture looking west. Also broken cross member. And croaking frogs.
Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.
What the Weather Service recorded
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 fifth tornado. Numerous storm chasers documented a brief, small tornado in an open field. Wooden power poles were blown down at the intersection of Farm to Market Roads 597 and 303, approximately two miles south of Pep. Maximum winds were estimated at 85 mph.
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 seventh tornado. No damage was observed or reported from this short lived, small tornado. The instantaneous center of the tornado was estimated from TTU-Kal radar data.
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 eighth tornado. No damage was observed or reported with this short lived, small tornado. 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.
The warnings
26 minutes of warning. NWS LUB issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:40 UTC, 26 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:15 UTC.
The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 21:51 UTC and running to 03:26 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21:51 UTC | 03:26 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | LUB |
| 00:13 UTC | 00:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | LUB |
| 00:40 UTC | 01:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | LUB |
| 01:08 UTC | 03:30 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | LUB |
| 01:11 UTC | 01:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | LUB |
| 01:37 UTC | 02:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | LUB |
| 01:58 UTC | 02:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | LUB |
| 02:23 UTC | 03:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | LUB |
| 02:53 UTC | 03:21 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB |
| 03:26 UTC | 09:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | LUB |
| 04:34 UTC | 05:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB |
| 05:23 UTC | 06:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB |
| 06:31 UTC | 06:55 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB |
| 10:22 UTC | 11:30 UTC | Flood Advisory | LUB |
| 19:03 UTC | 23:53 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | LUB |
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 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 00:59 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 Lubbock, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at May 23, 6:43 PM CDT, 1 hour 23 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 23, 6:43 PM CDT, 1 hour 23 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Lubbock TX 643 PM CDT Mon May 23 2022 .AVIATION... Scattered thunderstorms west of KPVW will affect that terminal within the first hour or two of the valid time and may possibly build southward toward KLBB. KCDS will be affected by the thunderstorms later this evening. Some question at this time as to whether there will be additional thunderstorms fill in behind the first round. Confidence higher in showers and MVFR and possibly IFR conditions developing with a cold front late tonight. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 206 PM CDT Mon May 23 2022/ SHORT TERM... The forecast for this afternoon and tonight remains on track. Please reference the mesoscale discussion issued at 1051 AM CDT for detailed information. Convection is expected to be ongoing during the early morning hours Tuesday across the Caprock and Rolling Plains from both the departing MCS and the frontogenetically-forced convection moving in from the northwest. Severe-caliber gusts up to 50 kt will be possible within the deepest cores, though the main overnight hazard will be heavy rainfall resulting in localized flash flooding. The cold front will scour out low-level moisture with most of the wrap- around showers/thunderstorms remaining displaced north of the CWA, with the surface cyclone positioning in vicinity of the northwestern Permian Basin by 24/12Z. PoPs have been lowered significantly beyond 24/18Z area-wide, with most of the CWA dry by 21Z tomorrow excluding the southern South and Rolling Plains, and the eastern Rolling Plains, given some degree of uncertainty with respect to the timing of frontal passage. STG-SVR thunderstorms will be possible in the afternoon across the southern and eastern zones, though convection will quickly exit the CWA by the early evening. Cloud cover will begin to clear out in the southwestern zones first, though the northerly breeze/magnitude of CAA will keep temperatures cool to mild, ranging from the lower 60s across the extreme southwestern TX PH and into the middle 70s in the southern South and Rolling Plains. LONG TERM... Frontal-driven convection is likely to clear the forecast area by or very early into the Tuesday evening portion of the forecast as the upper trough axis will be shifting to the east of the area leaving increasing subsidence in its wake while low level focus will shift south with the front and thunderstorm outflow. Dry northwesterly flow aloft and a reinforced cool post-frontal air mass will result in one more pleasant day before the quick transition back to a hot and dry pattern begins. A fairly high-amplitude ridge over the intermountain West at the end of the day Thursday will migrate eastward, its axis centered over the forecast area Friday night, will lead to increasing temperatures Thursday and Friday. However, peak temperatures are not expected until the Saturday to Monday period when deep southwesterly flow moves onto the southern High Plains, allowing for a hot air mass building over New Mexico to get shifted eastward across the southern High Plains while also adding a downslope component to the heating. Widespread triple-digit high temperatures continue to look likely Saturday and Sunday, and now Monday as well, especially for areas east of the Caprock escarpment and the southern half of the South Plains. && .LUB WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && 07
Hazardous weather outlook, May 23, 11:46 AM CDT, 8 hours 20 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook...UPDATED National Weather Service Lubbock TX 1146 AM CDT Mon May 23 2022 TXZ021>044-241700- Parmer-Castro-Swisher-Briscoe-Hall-Childress-Bailey-Lamb-Hale-Floyd- Motley-Cottle-Cochran-Hockley-Lubbock-Crosby-Dickens-King-Yoakum- Terry-Lynn-Garza-Kent-Stonewall- 1146 AM CDT Mon May 23 2022 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for the South Plains, Rolling Plains, and the far Southern Texas Panhandle. .DAY ONE...This afternoon and tonight. Thunderstorms, some severe, are expected to form along the Texas and New Mexico state line this afternoon. Initially, thunderstorms will be capable of producing large hail to around half dollar size in addition to damaging winds across the Caprock. Thunderstorms will transition into a line by the middle to late afternoon hours while moving west to east across the Caprock and into the Rolling Plains, with an increasing potential for wind damage with a few swaths of winds between 60 to 70 mph possible. Locally heavy rainfall is expected as well, with some locations receiving two inches or greater of rainfall which may result in localized instances of flash flooding. Additional strong to severe thunderstorms will be possible overnight across the region as a cold front moves in from the northwest, capable of producing locally heavy rainfall into the morning hours Tuesday. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Tuesday through Sunday. Shower and thunderstorm chances will continue Tuesday. Some storms could be strong to severe with locally heavy rainfall also possible across the Caprock and Rolling Plains. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will likely be needed.
In the hours before
Local storm report, May 23, 6:38 PM CDT, 1 hour 28 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
638 PM CDT MON MAY 23 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0636 PM HAIL 3 N MAPLE 33.89N 102.90W
05/23/2022 E2.25 INCH BAILEY TX STORM CHASER
&&
EVENT NUMBER LUB2200025
DWKLocal storm report, May 23, 6:52 PM CDT, 1 hour 14 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
652 PM CDT MON MAY 23 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0650 PM FUNNEL CLOUD 3 S ENOCHS 33.83N 102.76W
05/23/2022 BAILEY TX STORM CHASER
&&
EVENT NUMBER LUB2200026
DWKLocal storm report, May 23, 6:53 PM CDT, 1 hour 13 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
653 PM CDT MON MAY 23 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0650 PM HAIL 3 S BOVINA 34.47N 102.89W
05/23/2022 E2.50 INCH PARMER TX STORM CHASER
&&
EVENT NUMBER LUB2200027
DWKLocal storm report, May 23, 7:03 PM CDT, 1 hour 3 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
703 PM CDT MON MAY 23 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0652 PM TORNADO 7 NW MORTON 33.80N 102.84W
05/23/2022 COCHRAN TX STORM CHASER
SOCIAL MEDIA PHOTOS AND REPORTS DEPICT A BRIEF TORNADO
TOUCHDOWN IN AN OPEN FIELD. LOCATION ESTIMATED FROM
RADAR.
&&
EVENT NUMBER LUB2200028
DWKLocal storm report, May 23, 7:12 PM CDT, 54 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
712 PM CDT MON MAY 23 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0707 PM TORNADO 7 N MORTON 33.83N 102.76W
05/23/2022 BAILEY TX NWS EMPLOYEE
LARGE TORNADO REPORTED BY OFF-DUTY NWS EMPLOYEE.
&&
EVENT NUMBER LUB2200029
DWKLocal storm report, May 23, 7:57 PM CDT, 9 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
757 PM CDT MON MAY 23 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0747 PM TSTM WND GST 1 ENE MORTON 33.73N 102.74W
05/23/2022 M80 MPH COCHRAN TX MESONET
WEST TEXAS MESONET. 40 MPH SUSTAINED WINDS ALSO
OBSERVED.
&&
EVENT NUMBER LUB2200030
DWKThe 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.
Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), 00:00Z
1.1 hours before the tornado, 180 km from the path. May 24, 2022.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 13 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -383 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 168 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1327 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 50 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 17 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 112 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 156 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 6.2 K/km
Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), 12:00Z
10.9 hours after it, 180 km from the path. May 24, 2022.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -88201 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 3 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 729 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 51 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 10 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 61 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 103 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.8 K/km
The radar
The Lubbock radar (KLBB), 72 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:09 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.
What was reported nearby
Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22:45 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 16 Wnw Morton | Cochran, TX | |
| 23:17 UTC | HAIL 1.5 | 1 Ese Maple | Bailey, TX | |
| 23:36 UTC | HAIL 2.25 | 3 N Maple | Bailey, TX | |
| 23:50 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | 3 S Enochs | Bailey, TX | |
| 23:52 UTC | TORNADO | 7 Nw Morton | Cochran, TX | SOCIAL MEDIA PHOTOS AND REPORTS DEPICT A BRIEF TORNADO TOUCHDOWN IN AN OPEN FIELD. LOCATION ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. |
| 00:07 UTC | TORNADO | 7 N Morton | Bailey, TX | LARGE TORNADO REPORTED BY OFF-DUTY NWS EMPLOYEE. |
| 00:47 UTC | TSTM WND GST 80 | 1 Ene Morton | Cochran, TX | WEST TEXAS MESONET. 40 MPH SUSTAINED WINDS ALSO OBSERVED. |
| 01:07 UTC | TORNADO | 4 Sw Pep | Hockley, TX | SOCIAL MEDIA VIDEO OF TORNADO TOUCHING DOWN IN OPEN FIELD. |
| 01:38 UTC | TSTM WND GST 58 | 1 Ene Morton | Cochran, TX | WEST TEXAS MESONET. |
| 01:45 UTC | TORNADO | 11 Nw Levelland | Hockley, TX | |
| 02:07 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | 2 W Levelland | Hockley, TX | |
| 02:28 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 2 Ne Levelland | Hockley, TX | |
| 02:49 UTC | HAIL 1 | 4 W Shallowater | Lubbock, TX | |
| 02:51 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 S Pep | Hockley, TX | POWER POLES BLOWN DOWN AT THE INTERSECTION OF FM 597 AND FM 303. |
| 02:53 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Nw Coble | Hockley, TX | POWER POLES SNAPPED. |
| 02:59 UTC | HAIL 1 | 7 Nnw Smyer | Hockley, TX | 2 TO 3 INCHES OF ACCUMULATED QUARTER-SIZED HAIL ON THE GROUND. |
| 03:00 UTC | FLOOD | 6 Se Whitharral | Hockley, TX | FLOODING REPORTED ALONG FM 1294 EAST OF FM 2640. |
| 03:05 UTC | TSTM WND GST 67 | 2 Ssw Muleshoe | Bailey, TX | WEST TEXAS MESONET |
| 03:30 UTC | FLOOD | 5 Nw Reese Center | Lubbock, TX | FM2641 AND FM2378 WATER OVER THE ROAD 1-2 FEET |
| 03:42 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Nw Coble | Hockley, TX | BARN DAMAGED |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2022 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of May 23, 2022
12 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 23 | 1:36 PM EDT | EF1 | Mecklenburg, NC | 9.8 | 100 | $30,000 | ||
| May 23 | 4:07 PM EDT | EF0 | Durham, NC | 1.5 | 100 | $150,000 | ||
| May 23 | 6:35 PM EDT | EF0 | Chester, SC | 0.5 | 25 | |||
| May 23 | 7:09 PM EDT | EF1 | Spartanburg, SC | 5.3 | 200 | $40,000 | ||
| May 23 | 6:50 PM CDT | Unrated | Cochran, TX | 1.0 | 50 | |||
| May 23 | 7:03 PM CDT | EF2 | Cochran, TX | 2.9 | 1,400 | |||
| May 23 | 7:13 PM CDT | Unrated | Cochran, TX | 0.7 | 50 | |||
| May 23 | 7:40 PM CDT | Unrated | Cochran, TX | 1.6 | 50 | |||
| May 23 | 8:14 PM CDT | Unrated | Cochran, TX | 0.1 | 50 | $5,000 | ||
| May 23 | 8:28 PM CDT | Unrated | Hockley, TX | 1.1 | 50 | |||
| May 23 | 8:37 PM CDT | Unrated | Hockley, TX | 0.4 | 50 | |||
| May 23 | 8:40 PM CDT | EF2 | Hockley, TX | 7.5 | 1,420 |
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.