Tornadoes · United States · Texas · 2025

Unrated tornado, Archer City, Texas, June 3, 2025

This Unrated tornado ran 0.1 miles across Archer County on June 3, 2025, touching down at 6:10 PM CDT and reaching 50 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
June 3, 2025
Touchdown
6:10 PM CDT (23:10 UTC)
Path length
0.1 miles (0.2 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Archer County
Touchdown point
33.641, -98.692
Lift-off point
33.641, -98.692
Record number
2506031710-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Widespread severe thunderstorms, organized along a passing cold front, impacted much of Oklahoma and western-north Texas on the afternoon and evening of the 3rd. In addition to reports and observations of thunderstorm wind damage and large hail, six tornadoes occurred across the WFO Norman Forecast Area.

A brief tornado was observed by storm chasers northwest of Archer City. No damage was reported and the specific location of the tornado is estimated.

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

The warnings

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 severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 19:17 UTC and running to 00:54 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
19:17 UTC00:54 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchOUN
22:12 UTC23:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN
22:42 UTC23:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN
23:21 UTC00:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN
23:25 UTC23:53 UTCTornado WarningOUN

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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:55 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.

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), 12:00Z

11.2 hours before the tornado, 158 km from the path. June 3, 2025.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2025-06-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 632 joules per kilogram, CIN -120, lifted condensation level 820 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2025-06-03The 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 -64 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 22 knots.193958Sfc1 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
632 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-120 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1652 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
820 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-64 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-62 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.7
0-3 km lapse rate
5.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), 00:00Z

0.8 hours after it, 158 km from the path. June 4, 2025.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 2025-06-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1738 joules per kilogram, CIN -7, lifted condensation level 1220 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 2025-06-04The 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 125 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 43 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
1738 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1636 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1220 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
125 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
233 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.5
Supercell composite
8.2
0-3 km lapse rate
6.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Kickapoo (CWC), 30 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
21:10 UTC9269.6200° 12 kt221007.5

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

The radar

The Altus AFB radar (KFDR), 84 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:08 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
22:05 UTCTSTM WND GST 751 Ne HollidayArcher, TXTime estimated by radar.
22:13 UTCTSTM WND GST 632 Nnw Lakeside CityWichita, TX
22:16 UTCTSTM WND GST 631 Ene Sheppard AfbWichita, TXKSPS.
22:17 UTCTSTM WND GST 601 N Iowa ParkWichita, TX
22:19 UTCTSTM WND GST 743 Nw Lakeside CityWichita, TX
22:25 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Ene DeanClay, TX3-inch tree branches broken. mPING report. Time is estimated from radar.
22:26 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Ssw Lakeside CityArcher, TXPowerlines blown down. mPING report. Time estimated from radar.
22:34 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Se Lakeside CityArcher, TXPower poles snapped/broken. mPING report. Time estimated from radar.
22:52 UTCHAIL 16 Se Lakeside CityArcher, TXReport from mPING: Quarter (1.00 in.).
23:10 UTCTORNADO5 Nw Archer CityArcher, TXBrief touchdown via photo evidence. Time estimated.
23:56 UTCHAIL 1.753 Ssw Lake ArrowheadClay, TX

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2025 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 3, 2025

18 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 32:24 PM CDTEF0Jackson, MO0.840
June 32:35 PM CDTEF1Jackson, MO3.750
June 33:45 PM CDTEF0Grant, OK0.230
June 33:49 PM CDTUnratedNoble, OK0.120
June 34:35 PM CDTEF0Canadian, OK0.620$3,000
June 34:37 PM CDTEF0Wright, MO0.4100$8,000
June 35:00 PM CDTEF1McClain, OK2.8125$60,000
June 35:39 PM CDTEF1Garvin, OK2.4150$10,000
June 35:58 PM CDTEF0Lee, IA0.5100
June 36:39 PM CDTEF1Mercer, IL1.6175
June 36:42 PM CDTEF1Mercer, IL10.8250
June 36:46 PM CDTEF1Warren, IL7.850
June 36:57 PM CDTEF0Rock Island, IL1.225
June 36:57 PM CDTEF1Rock Island, IL14.4300
June 36:59 PM CDTEF1Mercer, IL3.8100
June 37:06 PM CDTEF1Rock Island, IL12.4300
June 38:28 PM CDTEF0Atoka, OK4.5100
June 39:05 PM CDTEF0Boone, IL0.375

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.