Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2023
EF1 tornado, Liggett to Sowers, Texas, March 16, 2023
From Liggett to Sowers, this EF1 tornado ran 6.4 miles across Dallas County on March 16, 2023, touching down at 4:47 PM CDT and reaching 100 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 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
- March 16, 2023
- Touchdown
- 4:47 PM CDT (21:47 UTC)
- Lifted
- 4:55 PM CDT (21:55 UTC)
- On the ground
- 8 minutes
- Path length
- 6.4 miles (10.2 km)
- Path width
- 100 yards (91 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Dallas County
- Touchdown point
- 32.807, -97.034
- Lift-off point
- 32.809, -96.933
- Record number
- 2303161547-01
The damage survey
28 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS FWD, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 110 mph.
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
Thunderstorms developed along a dryline, and eventually a Pacific cold front, the afternoon of Thursday March 16. Large hail, damaging winds, and a three EF-1 tornadoes all occurred in some of these storms as they pushed east and southeast across the region that evening. Activity exited to the east and south by midnight that night.
A tornado formed in the extreme northern portions of the City of Grand Prairie, in a distribution facility area near West Trinity Boulevard and Trinity Ridge Drive. A section of roofing was peeled off of a warehouse in this area, and scattered tree damage was evident due to EF-0 winds of 65-80 mph. The tornado moved southeast, then east and entered the southern portion of the City of Irving, where an apartment building was impacted along Shady Grove Road just east of Beltline Road. Roof damage at this apartment complex was consistent with maximum EF-1 windspeeds of 105 mph. The tornado continued east, roughly paralleling Shady Grove Road and producing tree and light shingle damage consistent with EF-0 windspeeds. The track continued eastward through Irving neighborhoods, crossing MacArthur Boulevard, with intermittent tree damage. The tornado produced some light structural damage to a discount store and adjacent city building near Nursery Road and East 6th Street, then dissipated shortly thereafter.
A brief tornado formed in the central portion of the City of Irving, near the intersection of MacArthur Boulevard and State Highway 183. Near this formation point, an auto dealership sustained damage to the roof and front facade of the main showroom building. An adjacent power pole was also pushed over. Damage at this dealership was consistent with low end EF-1 intensity windspeeds of approximately 105 mph. The tornado moved northeast through adjacent apartment complexes and residential areas, producing tree damage and occasional roof damage consistent with 65-80 mph winds. The tornado dissipated near the intersection of Rochelle Road and O'Conner Road.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
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 Fort Worth, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Mar 16, 1:57 PM CDT, 2 hours 50 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 16, 1:57 PM CDT, 2 hours 50 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Fort Worth TX 157 PM CDT Thu Mar 16 2023 ...New Long Term... .SHORT TERM... /Issued 142 PM CDT Thu Mar 16 2023/ /Rest of Today through Friday/ A cold front currently resides from Central Oklahoma into the Texas Panhandle with scattered showers and thunderstorms, a couple severe, located along the frontal boundary. Some clearing can be observed on satellite imagery across our western zones where temperatures have now rose into the upper 70s and low 80s. A weak center of surface low pressure has developed along the Red River Valley west of Wichita Falls, Texas with a dryline extending southward into west-central Texas. This dryline will continue pushing east toward the Highway 281 corridor this afternoon as the cold front rapidly progresses southward into North Texas. Scattered showers and thunderstorms have been observed across the eastern half of the CWA this morning with a few reports of sub- severe hail. Additional development is possible across our east and southeast this afternoon and may pose an isolated severe risk. A passing shortwave currently located over the Texas Panhandle will help provide additional lift for thunderstorm development across our area this afternoon into this evening. Isolated supercell thunderstorms are expected to develop in the vicinity of the triple point, along the cold front, and southward along the dryline later this afternoon, generally after 3-4PM. Large hail will be the primary threat with these initial storms with 50-60 kts of effective shear, SBCAPE ~2000-3000 J/kg and steep mid-level lapse rates. Hail greater than golf-ball size will be possible in the strongest storms. Decent 0-3km CAPE and low- level SRH >150 m2/s2 will allow for a low end tornado threat. Current thinking is that the greatest risk for large hail and a couple tornadoes will take place along/east of Highway 281 and along/north of I-20 from 3PM-8PM. Recent high-res guidance has struggled to place the cold front today, with the cold front progressing a bit quicker than originally thought. There is potential that the cold front pushes through North Texas rather quickly, undercutting any existing storms and limiting the overall severe weather threat. Elevated severe storms capable of large hail will still be a potential hazard in this scenario. Isolated thunderstorms are expected to grow upscale into a line of thunderstorms later this evening and push southward across the CWA into tonight. Damaging wind gusts will be the primary hazard in any portions of the line that are able to keep up with the cold front. The cold front should push into our Central Texas counties by 8-9PM and push south of the CWA by 12-1AM. Lingering showers and thunderstorms, non-severe, will be possible across Central Texas and the Brazos Valley into Friday morning. A much cooler and drier airmass will filter into the region behind the frontal boundary with strong north-northwesterly post-frontal winds of 20-30 mph gusting to 40-45 mph at times later this evening into Friday morning. A Wind Advisory has been issued for the entire CWA from 5PM this evening through 10AM Friday morning. Temperatures will fall into the mid 30s to low 40s across the area tonight behind the front with below-average afternoon highs in the 50s expected on Friday. Langfeld && .LONG TERM... /NEW/ Update: Only minor adjustments were made with this forecast update and the discussion below remains on track. Cloud cover Friday night will inhibit some areas from dropping to/below freezing. Areas near and north of I-20 are still the most likely to experience low temperatures below freezing each night through the weekend. Otherwise, low (20-30%) rain chances arrive Monday, with periodic low rain chances through the rest of the week. Temperatures return to near or slightly above normal by Wednesday. Gordon Previous Discussion: /Friday Night through Wednesday/ A period of well below normal temperatures and sporadic low rain chances will prevail through the early part of next week behind today's strong cold front. Friday night will be the coldest night in a while with temperatures likely dropping to near or just below freezing to the west and north of the Metroplex. Some patchy frost will also be possible early Saturday morning. An increase in high cloud cover late Friday night into Saturday will likely prevent temperatures from falling further, but these clouds will thin out during the day Saturday and another cold night is expected with temperatures falling to below freezing along the Red River Saturday night. An upstream shortwave will become sheared apart as it spreads into the Plains on Monday. Prior to this though, modest moisture return across parts of Central and West Texas will result in an increase in low cloud cover, mainly across our western counties. As large scale lift increases Sunday night into Monday, we could see some light rain develop across the region. Global ensembles have backed off on this potential to some degree, so we'll generally limit PoPs to 20-30%. The increased cloud cover will hold high temps down into the upper 40s and lower 50s for Monday afternoon. A much stronger system will move into California on Tuesday and will be responsible for a rapid low level moisture return into the Plains starting Tuesday morning. This will also support a rapid warmup through the middle and latter part of next week. Morning cloud cover will give way to partly sunny skies Tue/Wed afternoons with temps warming back into the mid/upper 70s by Wednesday. This system will eventually kick out into the Central Plains late next week and likely support another severe weather episode in the Thu/Fri timeframe. Dunn && .AVIATION... /Issued 1248 PM CDT Thu Mar 16 2023/ /18Z TAFs/ MVFR/IFR cigs ~800-1200 ft will persist into early this afternoon with periods of VFR expected by late this afternoon into this evening. Rain showers are currently pushing east of the D10 airspace. Southerly winds of 15-20 kts gusting to 30 kts will take on a more southwesterly component ahead of a cold front later this afternoon, potentially leading to some crosswind issues. Initial isolated thunderstorms are expected to develop later this afternoon across North Texas, generally after 21Z, as a cold front pushes into North Texas. Some of these storms could become severe. These isolated thunderstorms will transition into a line of thunderstorms and push into the D10 sites by 23Z-00Z and push into KACT by 01Z-02Z. Additional showers and thunderstorms, non- severe, may linger into Friday morning across Central Texas. Strong north-northwesterly winds gusting to 35-40 kts at times are expected behind the front late this evening and into Friday morning. Langfeld && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Dallas-Ft. Worth 39 55 38 57 35 / 80 0 0 0 0 Waco 40 55 39 56 36 / 70 30 0 5 5 Paris 38 52 34 55 30 / 90 0 0 0 0 Denton 35 53 33 56 30 / 60 0 0 0 0 McKinney 38 53 34 55 30 / 90 0 0 0 0 Dallas 40 55 38 57 35 / 80 5 0 0 0 Terrell 39 54 36 57 32 / 90 10 0 0 0 Corsicana 41 55 39 57 36 / 80 30 0 0 0 Temple 40 55 38 56 36 / 80 40 5 5 10 Mineral Wells 36 55 34 57 32 / 10 0 0 0 0 && .FWD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Wind Advisory from 5 PM this afternoon to 10 AM CDT Friday for TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175. &&
Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 16, 1:39 PM CDT, 3 hours 8 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Fort Worth TX 139 PM CDT Thu Mar 16 2023 TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-171200- Montague-Cooke-Grayson-Fannin-Lamar-Young-Jack-Wise-Denton-Collin- Hunt-Delta-Hopkins-Stephens-Palo Pinto-Parker-Tarrant-Dallas- Rockwall-Kaufman-Van Zandt-Rains-Eastland-Erath-Hood-Somervell- Johnson-Ellis-Henderson-Comanche-Mills-Hamilton-Bosque-Hill-Navarro- Freestone-Anderson-Lampasas-Coryell-Bell-McLennan-Falls-Limestone- Leon-Milam-Robertson- 139 PM CDT Thu Mar 16 2023 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for North and Central Texas. .DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight. Showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop today with a severe threat this afternoon and evening. Large hail (greater than golf ball size) will be the main threat with initial storm development. As a cold front approaches late this afternoon, a damaging wind threat will increase. There will also be a potential for tornadoes into the evening hours. Strong winds will spread into the region behind the cold front this evening with wind gusts up to 45 mph. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday. Freezing temperatures will be possible during the upcoming weekend, particularly in areas north of the I-20 corridor. A late-season frost is likely Saturday morning in sheltered locations and where light winds dominate. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is likely this afternoon and evening across North and Central Texas.
In the hours before
Local storm report, Mar 16, 3:45 PM CDT, 1 hour 2 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
345 PM CDT THU MAR 16 2023
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0344 PM HAIL 4 E BOWIE 33.56N 97.77W
03/16/2023 E1.00 INCH MONTAGUE TX TRAINED SPOTTER
&&
HLRLocal storm report, Mar 16, 3:49 PM CDT, 58 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
349 PM CDT THU MAR 16 2023
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0348 PM HAIL 1 ENE LAKESIDE 32.83N 97.48W
03/16/2023 E1.25 INCH TARRANT TX TRAINED SPOTTER
&&
HLRLocal storm report, Mar 16, 3:50 PM CDT, 57 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
350 PM CDT THU MAR 16 2023
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0330 PM HAIL 3 NW WEATHERFORD 32.79N 97.81W
03/16/2023 E2.00 INCH PARKER TX PUBLIC
&&
HLRLocal storm report, Mar 16, 3:54 PM CDT, 53 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
354 PM CDT THU MAR 16 2023
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0354 PM HAIL 3 NW WEATHERFORD 32.79N 97.81W
03/16/2023 E3.00 INCH PARKER TX PUBLIC
&&
HLRLocal storm report, Mar 16, 4:06 PM CDT, 41 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
406 PM CDT THU MAR 16 2023
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0320 PM HAIL 2 NNW MINERAL WELLS 32.84N 98.09W
03/16/2023 E2.50 INCH PALO PINTO TX PUBLIC
DAMAGE TO WINDSHIELD AND MIRROR OF A CAR.
&&
HLRSpecial weather statement, Mar 16, 4:11 PM CDT, 36 minutes before
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Fort Worth TX
411 PM CDT Thu Mar 16 2023
TXZ117-162145-
Parker TX-
411 PM CDT Thu Mar 16 2023
...Strong thunderstorms will impact portions of Parker County through
445 PM CDT...
At 411 PM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking strong thunderstorms along
a line extending from 6 miles north of Lake Weatherford to 7 miles
northwest of Lipan. Movement was east at 40 mph.
HAZARD...Winds in excess of 40 mph and penny size hail.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects. Minor damage to outdoor objects is
possible.
Locations impacted include...
Weatherford, Mineral Wells, Azle, Briar, Willow Park, Reno, Aledo,
Springtown, Brock, Hudson Oaks, Western Lake, Annetta, Poolville,
Cool, Lake Mineral Wells, Lake Weatherford, Horseshoe Bend, Cresson,
Annetta South and Annetta North.
This includes the following highways...
Interstate 20 between mile markers 390 and 422.
Interstate 30 near mile marker 1.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.
A Tornado Watch remains in effect until 800 PM CDT for north central
Texas.
&&
LAT...LON 3300 9805 3299 9754 3255 9755 3256 9807
TIME...MOT...LOC 2111Z 253DEG 61KT 3287 9771 3261 9810
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.75 IN
MAX WIND GUST...40 MPH
30The 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.
Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), 12:00Z
9.8 hours before the tornado, 29 km from the path. March 16, 2023.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -488 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 525 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 50 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 41 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 317 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 429 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.2
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 3.7 K/km
The surface observations
Dallas/Ft Worth (DFW), 11 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 Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 40 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:48 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 trackEvery 2023 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of March 16, 2023
4 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
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.