Unrated tornado, Bula to Beck, Texas, April 25, 2025

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

April 25, 2025

Touchdown

3:56 PM CDT (20:56 UTC)

Lifted

4:24 PM CDT (21:24 UTC)

On the ground

28 minutes

Path length

4.3 miles (6.9 km)

Path width

300 yards (274 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Counties

Bailey and Lamb counties

Touchdown point

33.946, -102.647

Lift-off point

33.925, -102.578

Record number

2504251456-01

8 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LUB, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry.

• First Gate-to-Gate Vrot of 19.5 kts. Max Vrot 45 kts at 2.1 nmi
• Chaser report of tornado with screenshot 5 miles NW of Pep. Based on radar it was an underestimate of distance.
• Location of Vrot of 45 Kts GtG at time of visual report by chaser.
• GtG Vrot re-tightens to 39 kt. Max Vrot 49 kt at 2.9 nmi

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

Low level atmospheric moisture continued to increase for another consecutive day across the South Plains and Rolling Plains of West Texas on the afternoon of the 25th. Numerous outflow boundaries, a dryline, and a cold front provided a focus for thunderstorm initiation during the afternoon hours. Three rounds of severe storms affected the Texas South Plains region from the afternoon of the 25th to the early morning hours of the 26th. A supercell thunderstorm developed just east of the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge (Bailey County) late in the afternoon. As the storm moved slowly southeast, it produced at least one tornado that passed just north of the small community of Bula (Bailey County). This first tornado, which lofted copious amounts of dust, was well-documented by storm chasers, with numerous photos and videos of it before it dissipated in southwestern Lamb County. The supercell thunderstorm continued to produce periods of strong low-level rotation as it inched southeast into northern Hockley County. The storm may have spawned additional brief tornadoes based on radar data, but there was no confirmation of any additional tornadoes. However, the slow-moving supercell dropped massive amounts of rainfall, particularly in northeast Hockley County. This resulted in flash flooding around Anton and Smyer in Hockley County resulting in numerous roads becoming impassable. This same supercell thunderstorm also produced very large hail up to four inches in diameter. Severe storms continued through the rest of the evening into the morning hours on Saturday producing very large hail. Another supercell thunderstorm tracked from Bailey County across Lamb and Castro Counties. This storm produced at least one tornado that narrowly missed the towns of Springlake (Lamb County) and Hart (Castro County). A photograph taken by a storm chaser west of Hart is the only definitive evidence of a tornado as no wind damage was reported. Lastly, a small complex of storms moved slowly across the far southeastern Texas Panhandle early Saturday morning producing extensive flash flooding and numerous road closures. Localized rainfall amounts were estimated to be between four and five inches over northeastern Hall County.

Numerous storm chasers and Texas Tech University researchers observed a large dusty tornado that tracked from eastern Bailey County into western Lamb County. The tornado became multi-vortex for a short time, then became occluded toward the end of its life cycle. Several small gustnadoes were also observed along the rear-flank gust front. No reports of damage were received.

Numerous storm chasers and Texas Tech University researchers observed a large dusty tornado that tracked from eastern Bailey County into western Lamb County. The tornado became multi-vortex for a short time, then became occluded toward the end of its life cycle. Several small gustnadoes were also observed along the rear-flank gust front. No reports of damage were received.

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 18:57 UTC and running to 03:00 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 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:44 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.

The Lubbock radar (KLBB), 80 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:56 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 2025 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

5 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.