EF3 Valley View tornado, Texas, May 25, 2024

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 mphthis tornado

   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

EF3

Date

May 25, 2024

Touchdown

9:39 PM CDT (02:39 UTC)

Lifted

11:15 PM CDT (04:15 UTC)

On the ground

96 minutes

Path length

47.3 miles (76.1 km)

Path width

1,400 yards (1280 m)

Deaths

7

Injuries

80

Property damage

$19 million

Counties

Montague, Cooke and Denton counties

Touchdown point

33.526, -97.745

Lift-off point

33.434, -96.961

Record number

2405252039-01

391 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS FWD, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF3. The highest wind the damage implies is 155 mph.

• Small branches down on Lama Rd
• Metal shop for restoring older cars. Beams are twisted.
• Not anchored very well. Small, shallow connections.
• Not much damage north of here

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

Another round of dryline-induced convection took place the night of May 25 as a shortwave trough moved overhead. Thunderstorms were more isolated in nature, but one ambitious supercell produced multiple tornadoes the evening of May 25th. A total of 5 tornadoes were produced by the supercell as it moved across Montague, Cooke, Denton, Collin, and Hunt counties, and one more EF-2 occurred from a separate storm in Eastland County. The most notable tornado of the event was a long-track EF-3 tornado across Montague, Cooke, and Denton counties that killed 7 people and injured over 100, drawing national attention to our forecast area and costing an estimated $20 million in damage. A short but intense satellite tornado was also rated EF-3 north of Celina in Collin County. Additional EF-1 tornadoes occurred in Denton, Collin, and Hunt counties. Storm surveys for this event took 3 days to complete. In the after math of the storms the night of May 25th, dissipating thunderstorms produced strong winds across the DFW Metroplex with measured gusts of 60-70 mph winds causing sporadic tree and fence damage.

This is segment #1 of 4 of a multi-segmented EF-3 supercellular tornado that began in Montague County, crossed into Cooke County, Denton County, and then back into Cooke County. The tornado was ongoing for about an hour and a half with a total path length just under 48 miles. The tornado was the strongest in Cooke County and resulted in 7 fatalities in Cooke County. ||In Montague County, the tornado began near Roth Rd and Body Rd, approximately 5 miles southeast of Bowie, impacting trees and isolated outbuildings. The tornado moved eastward, damaging multiple rural residences in south central Montague. Two residences, in particular, sustained damage consistent with EF-2 intensity tornadic winds of 120 to 125 mph (DI 2, DOD 6). This tornado continued eastward, tracking south through southeast of the Forestburg community. Widespread tree and outbuilding damage was observed across southeast Montague County, consistent with high end EF-0 to mid range EF-1 damage (winds 75 to 110 mph). Minor structural damage was also sustained to several residences in the areas south through southeast of Forestburg. The tornado exited Montague County at 1008 pm CDT time, just west of Rosston between Seldom Seen Rd and Cooke Co Rd 345. The estimated track length for this portion of the tornado was 15.4 miles, and the maximum width was 1400 yards as the tornado was exiting the county. The highest damage rating in Montague County was EF-2 with winds of maximum estimated winds of 120-125 mph.

This is segment #2 of 4 of a multi-segmented EF-3 supercellular tornado that began in Montague County, crossed into Cooke County, Denton County, and then back into Cooke County. The tornado was ongoing for about an hour and a half with a total path length just under 48 miles. The tornado was the strongest in Cooke County and resulted in 7 fatalities in Cooke County. ||The tornado entered Cooke County at 1008 pm CDT time and exited into Denton County at 1049 pm CDT for a total path length of 25.41 miles. The tornado path zigzagged at times. The maximum width of the damage path is measured at over a mile in the area west of Valley View; however this is misleading. We do not believe the tornado was over a mile wide, but instead there were a few smaller circulations rotating around the main tornado circulation which was likely a maximum width of about 1200 yards (.68 miles wide). The tornado entered west of the Rosston area and moved eastward to areas south of Era. Widespread tree damage, consistent with EF-0 tornado intensities, occurred between Rosston to southwest of Era. In the vicinity of FM 51 south of Era, the intensity of damage increased, with widespread tree and structural damage consistent with EF-1 winds of 90-110 mph . Some damage to at least 3 residences southeast of Era (and west of Valley View) was consistent with EF-2 tornadic winds of 115-125 mph (DI 2, DOD 6).The tornado maintained intensity as it approached Valley View from the west. Along CR 200, the upper levels and roofs of several newly constructed homes were damaged or demolished. In addition, a few walls were pushed in on the backside of the homes (west side, DI 2, DOD 6) In this area, the tornado was rated EF-3 with maximum estimated winds of 140 mph. The tornado entered a neighborhood along W Lone Oak Rd which consisted of mainly manufactured and mobile homes. Widespread damage occurred in this neighborhood, and a few demolished homes were rated EF-2 (DI 3, DOD 6). Unfortunately, 7 fatalities occurred here, too. The tornado continued east, crossing I-35, damaging cars and tractor trailers on the interstate. The tornado hit a gas station (DI 8, DOD 7), metal building shop, RV and boat storage units on the corner of Lone Oak Rd and I-35. This area was rated EF-2 with estimated winds of 135 mph. The tornado tracked near and south of E Lone Oak Rd towards Ray Roberts Lake where more roof damage and notable tree damage was observed. The tornado crossed the lake, causing more tree damage and pushing over some campers on the peninsula that includes Ray Roberts Lake State Park Johnson Branch. This is where the tornado entered Denton County. In total, 80 people in Cooke County had to be transported due to injuries. There were likely more that sustained minor injures that weren't transported or accounted for. The highest damage rating in this portion of Cooke County was EF-3 with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph.

The deaths

7 direct deaths are recorded for this tornado, each with what Storm Data knows of it.

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

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:26 UTC and running to 03:46 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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 01:17 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.

Gainesville (GLE), 24 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 101 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:39 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 2024 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

19 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.