Unrated tornado, Ft Stockton to Longfellow, Texas, May 4, 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 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 4, 2024

Touchdown

5:29 PM CDT (22:29 UTC)

Lifted

5:38 PM CDT (22:38 UTC)

On the ground

9 minutes

Path length

1.8 miles (2.9 km)

Path width

50 yards (46 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Pecos County

Touchdown point

30.550, -102.580

Lift-off point

30.530, -102.560

Record number

2405041629-01

A cold front moved across the Permian Basin before stalling during the afternoon. Several intense supercells formed along and behind this front, producing very large hail. Another area of thunderstorms developed near Fort Stockton. Very large hail and several tornadoes were produced by these supercells as they tracked southeast, mainly between US Highway 385 and US Highway 285.

An observer reported a new tornado in its dissipating stage. This tornado appeared to the observer as a brief rope tornado visible through the rain. The tornado occurred over rugged and inaccessible terrain west of US Highway 285 and was not able to be surveyed. This tornado track is estimated based on observer reports and radar data. This tornado may have been the end of the previous tornado as a strong couplet was maintained during this timeframe but was reported as a separate tornado by observers. No damage was reported.

An observer shared a video of a tornado briefly visible through heavy rain just west of US Highway 285. Observers lost a visual of the tornado a short time afterward. A strong couplet was noted on radar for several minutes after this video as the tornado likely slowly moved southeast, dissipating just west of the highway. A survey could not be conducted as the area west of US Highway 285 is inaccessible and no indicators showed the tornado crossing the highway. The track of this tornado is an estimation based on observer reports and radar data. No damage was reported.

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

50 minutes of warning. NWS MAF issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:39 UTC, 50 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:33 UTC and running to 02:42 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 19:58 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.

Fort Stockton (FST), 53 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Midland/Odessa radar (KMAF), 160 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:26 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

6 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.