Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2024

Unrated tornado, Benoit, Texas, November 7, 2024

This Unrated tornado ran 0.7 miles across Runnels County on November 7, 2024, touching down at 7:18 PM CST and reaching 20 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.

  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.

The record

Rating
Unrated
Date
November 7, 2024
Touchdown
7:18 PM CST (01:18 UTC)
Lifted
7:20 PM CST (01:20 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
0.7 miles (1.0 km)
Path width
20 yards (18 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Runnels County
Touchdown point
31.800, -99.840
Lift-off point
31.808, -99.834
Record number
2411071918-01

What the Weather Service recorded

The combination of an upper level storm system and a cold front resulted in scattered severe thunderstorms across the Concho Valley and the Heartland during the evening hours. The storms produced large hail, strong gusty winds and flash flooding.

A tornado touched down in Runnels County but no damage was reported.

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

The warnings

3 minutes of warning. NWS SJT issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:15 UTC, 3 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:00 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 23:24 UTC and running to 05:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
23:24 UTC05:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchSJT
23:27 UTC00:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSJT
00:00 UTC21:00 UTCFlood WatchSJT
00:20 UTC01:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSJT
00:57 UTC03:00 UTCFlood AdvisorySJT
01:00 UTC01:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSJT
01:15 UTC02:00 UTCTornado WarningSJT
01:40 UTC02:05 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSJT
04:29 UTC07:30 UTCFlood AdvisorySJT
07:42 UTC11:45 UTCFlood AdvisorySJT
10:44 UTC13:45 UTCFlood WarningSJT
11:34 UTC13:30 UTCFlash Flood WarningSJT
12:14 UTC15:15 UTCFlood AdvisorySJT
12:28 UTC01:25 UTCFlood WarningSJT
12:30 UTC01:26 UTCFlood WarningSJT
13:31 UTC16:30 UTCFlood AdvisorySJT
14:39 UTC17:45 UTCFlood AdvisorySJT
15:16 UTC18:30 UTCFlood AdvisorySJT
16:36 UTC19:45 UTCFlood AdvisorySJT

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 00:38 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 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.

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), 00:00Z

1.3 hours before the tornado, 224 km from the path. November 8, 2024.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Midland Regional, TX at 00:00Z on 2024-11-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -80271, lifted condensation level 1201 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
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.
HodographHodograph, Midland Regional, TX at 00:00Z on 2024-11-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 150 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 65 knots.1939587897117136Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-80271 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1201 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
65 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
150 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
228 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.9
0-3 km lapse rate
6.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), 12:00Z

10.7 hours after it, 224 km from the path. November 8, 2024.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Midland Regional, TX at 12:00Z on 2024-11-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -106291, lifted condensation level 765 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
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.
HodographHodograph, Midland Regional, TX at 12:00Z on 2024-11-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 159 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 71 knots.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-106291 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
765 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
71 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
159 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
405 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.9
0-3 km lapse rate
2.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Coleman (COM), 41 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
23:35 UTC73.465.7 1013.9
23:55 UTC72.565.7 1013.5VCTS
00:15 UTC71.665.5 1014.2
00:35 UTC7165.7 1013.9
00:55 UTC7065.5 1012.9VCTS
01:15 UTC7066 1013.2VCTS
01:35 UTC69.465.7 1013.9
01:55 UTC6966 1012.2VCTS
02:15 UTC66.662.8 1014.6TS
02:35 UTC66.263.3 1014.2VCTS
02:55 UTC67.364.8 1014.2TS
03:15 UTC67.365 1014.6VCTS

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

The radar

The San Angelo radar (KSJT), 79 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:18 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)ReportWhereCountyRemark
01:00 UTCTSTM WND GST 611 E BallingerRunnels, TXTWDB Mesonet report.
01:18 UTCTORNADO2 Nnw BenoitRunnels, TX(Delayed Report) Tornado spotted from Ballinger looking northeast towards Benoit.
01:27 UTCHAIL 13 W Glen CoveColeman, TXReport from Spotter Network.
01:35 UTCHAIL 1.753 Ene TalpaColeman, TXMultiple homes with broken windows from wind driven hail.
01:38 UTCHAIL 11 Nne Glen CoveColeman, TX
04:00 UTCFLASH FLOODGlen CoveColeman, TXReport from social media of roads under water north of Hords Creek Lake near Glen Gove.
04:00 UTCFLASH FLOODMilesRunnels, TXVideo from social media of flooded road near Miles.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2024 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

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.