Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2023

EF1 tornado, Higgins to Arnett, Texas, June 15, 2023

Name: EF1 tornado, Higgins to Arnett, Texas, June 15, 2023
Start: 2023-06-15T23:29:00.000Z
End: 2023-06-15T23:35:00.000Z
Location: Higgins to Arnett, Texas

From Higgins to Arnett, this EF1 tornado ran 4.8 miles across Ellis and Lipscomb counties on June 15, 2023, touching down at 6:29 PM CDT and reaching 200 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $11,000 of property damage.

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 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
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: EF1
Date: June 15, 2023
Touchdown: 6:29 PM CDT (23:29 UTC)
Lifted: 6:35 PM CDT (23:35 UTC)
On the ground: 6 minutes
Path length: 4.8 miles (7.7 km)
Path width: 200 yards (183 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $11,000
Counties: Ellis and Lipscomb counties
Touchdown point: 36.076, -100.018
Lift-off point: 36.049, -99.942
Record number: 2306151729-03

The damage survey

10 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS OUN, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 107 mph.

OK Department of Wildlife reports multiple power lines down and trees down between EW 66/67 along NS 171
Drone image from Woodward County EM.

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

During the evening of the 15th a line of storms, of which contained supercells, formed over portions of southwest Kansas and extend south through Beaver County, OK into the northeastern portions of the Texas Panhandle. The supercell furthest south dropped a tornado on Perryton, TX killing three people and leaving a path of distruction over 6 miles. Several other landspout tornadoes spun up further south of Perryton along the flanking line of the tornadic supercell. One of these landpouts took out some power poles, but remained mostly in grasslands. These tornadic supercells also produced large hail between 1 and 2.5 in diameter.

The approach of an anomalously strong (for mid-June) upper-level disturbance lead to a widespread severe weather outbreak across portions of the forecast area, especially along and west of the I-35 corridor, during the afternoon into late evening of the 15th. This included the development of numerous supercell thunderstorms across the area. Despite relatively high cloud bases, strong low-level instability and sufficient low-level wind shear aided tornadic outcomes, with eleven tornadoes confirmed across western into southern Oklahoma. Numerous reports of large to very large hail, including reports of 4-inch hail in Lawton, and wind damage were received across area.

This tornado developed to the west of Highway 1453. It resulted in a few downed tree branches before crossing into Ellis County, Oklahoma. This tornado was also observed by several storm spotters and chasers.

This tornado moved into Ellis County from Lipscomb County Texas (see entry in Texas panhandle from NWS Amarillo). In Oklahoma, this tornado produced scattered tree damage as it moved east-southeast, including snapping or uprooting trees at it approached County Road 171.

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

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:57 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 Amarillo, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Jun 15, 6:22 PM CDT, 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 15, 6:22 PM CDT, 7 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 15, 2:05 PM CDT, 4 hours 24 minutes before

Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Amarillo TX
205 PM CDT Thu Jun 15 2023

OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-317-161100-
Cimarron-Texas-Beaver-Dallam-Sherman-Hansford-Ochiltree-Lipscomb-
Hartley-Moore-Hutchinson-Roberts-Hemphill-Oldham-Potter-Carson-
Gray-Wheeler-Deaf Smith-Randall-Armstrong-Donley-Collingsworth-
Palo Duro Canyon-
205 PM CDT Thu Jun 15 2023

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for the Texas and Oklahoma
Panhandles.

.DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight.

Thunderstorms are expected to develop across northern and eastern
sections of the combined Panhandles this afternoon and evening.
Some storms will likely become severe, with large hail, damaging
winds, and a few tornadoes the primary hazards.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday.

Thunderstorms are possible Friday afternoon through Saturday
night, mainly across northern and eastern sections of the area.
Some storms may become severe with large hail and damaging winds
the primary hazards, especially over the Saturday time frame.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation will likely be needed this afternoon through
this evening.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 15, 5:45 PM CDT, 44 minutes before

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Special weather statement, Jun 15, 5:48 PM CDT, 41 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jun 15, 5:50 PM CDT, 39 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jun 15, 6:16 PM CDT, 13 minutes before

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Special weather statement, Jun 15, 6:22 PM CDT, 7 minutes before

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Local storm report, Jun 15, 6:24 PM CDT, 5 minutes before

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The 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), 12:00Z

11.5 hours before the tornado, 181 km from the path. June 15, 2023.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 1224 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -313 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 726 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1594 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 34 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 376 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 402 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.5
0-3 km lapse rate: 4.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), 00:00Z

0.5 hours after it, 181 km from the path. June 16, 2023.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.

Hodograph

Mixed-layer CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -90785 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 43 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 4139 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 25 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 59 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 43 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0
0-3 km lapse rate: 10.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Gage/Shattuck (GAG), 32 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Gust (kt)	Pressure (mb)	Weather
00:00 UTC

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 181 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:29 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.

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2023 tornado in Texas Every tornado in Texas since 1950 Warnings in force in Texas now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 15, 2023

31 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 15	4:58 PM CDT	EF0	Comanche, OK	3.8	50			$10,000
June 15	5:02 PM CDT	EF2	Ochiltree, TX	17.4	200			$114,000
June 15	6:06 PM EDT	EF2	Lucas, OH	3.8	300			$176,000
June 15	5:06 PM CDT	EF3	Perryton tornado, TX	6.3	880	3	100	$1.0 million
June 15	6:09 PM EDT	EF1	Monroe, MI	4.8	400
June 15	5:10 PM CDT	EF0	Cotton, OK	1.2	50			$10,000
June 15	5:11 PM CDT	Unrated	Stephens, OK	0.5	50
June 15	5:12 PM CDT	EF0	Ochiltree, TX	12.3	50
June 15	6:28 PM EDT	EF0	Lucas, OH	0.2	50			$5,000
June 15	5:34 PM CDT	EF0	Stephens, OK	0.8	200
June 15	5:37 PM CDT	EF1	Stephens, OK	0.5	20			$30,000
June 15	6:49 PM EDT	EF2	Ottawa, OH	3.4	200			$255,000
June 15	6:57 PM EDT	EF1	Sandusky, OH	0.1	100			$15,000
June 15	5:58 PM CDT	Unrated	Jefferson, OK	0.8	50
June 15	6:03 PM CDT	EF1	Stephens, OK	1.5	50			$10,000
June 15	6:16 PM CDT	EF2	Jefferson, OK	4.1	1,000			$250,000
June 15	7:19 PM EDT	EF0	Sandusky, OH	0.3	50			$18,000
June 15	7:40 PM EDT	EF0	Sandusky, OH	0.9	50			$10,000
June 15	7:43 PM EDT	EF0	Franklin, FL	0.4	50			$5,000
June 15	6:47 PM CDT	Unrated	Roger Mills, OK	1.0	50
June 15	7:48 PM EDT	EF2	Huron, OH	8.7	2,200			$270,000
June 15	7:51 PM EDT	EF0	Huron, OH	1.6	100			$5,000
June 15	8:01 PM EDT	EF0	Huron, OH	0.7	100			$5,000
June 15	8:04 PM EDT	EF1	Huron, OH	8.6	1,100			$165,000
June 15	8:13 PM EDT	EF1	Huron, OH	4.0	250			$60,000
June 15	7:26 PM CDT	EF0	Love, OK	0.5	10
June 15	8:46 PM EDT	EF0	Ashland, OH	1.2	300			$70,000
June 15	8:02 PM CDT	EF1	Clay, TX	2.5	100			$8,000
June 15	8:35 PM CDT	EF2	Escambia, FL	8.6	450
June 15	12:21 AM CDT	EF0	Baldwin, AL	0.3	75
June 15	1:43 AM EDT	EF0	Taylor, FL	1.0	50

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.