EF2 tornado, Bledsoe to Morton Cochran Co Ar, Texas, June 5, 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 mphthis tornado

   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. 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

EF2

Date

June 5, 2025

Touchdown

5:30 PM CDT (22:30 UTC)

Lifted

5:50 PM CDT (22:50 UTC)

On the ground

20 minutes

Path length

9.9 miles (16.0 km)

Path width

1,725 yards (1577 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Cochran County

Touchdown point

33.796, -102.880

Lift-off point

33.778, -102.709

Record number

2506051630-01

14 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LUB, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EFU. The highest wind the damage implies is 118 mph.

• Center pivot rolled. North section possibly blown west. Time of damage estimated.
• Center pivot rolled. Time of damage estimated.
• Various directions . E on north side and sw on s end of stretch extnd about 1 mi to se to the top of the next ridge. Time of damage estimated.
• OU ARRC RaxPol couplet of 41 ms-1/80 kts, WSR-88D GtG 45 kts at same time.

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

During the afternoon and evening hours of the fifth, an intense supercell thunderstorm moved over the South Plains region of West Texas, producing several tornadoes over portions of Cochran, Hockley, and Lubbock Counties. This thunderstorm also produced widespread damage from very strong straight-line winds and large hail across western and southwestern portions of the City of Lubbock (Lubbock County) before it exited into Crosby and Garza Counties and weakened late in the evening. A cold front stalled south of the South Plains early in the afternoon before returning northward as a warm front. Very humid air returned to the region as the front moved northward and contributed to extreme atmospheric instability by the afternoon. This allowed for explosive thunderstorm development from far east-central New Mexico into the South Plains. This supercell initially produced a brief tornado over far northwestern Cochran County that moved over open country and produced no known damage. Shortly thereafter, the supercell produced a strong wedge-type tornado several miles northwest of Morton (Cochran County), which destroyed multiple large wooden power poles as it tracked eastward, eventually crossing Texas State Highway 214 about four miles north of Morton before dissipating over northeastern Cochran County. The supercell then produced another strong tornado over far northwestern Hockley County, about five miles northwest of the community of Pettit (Hockley County), which was directly observed by mobile research radar. A separate and very brief cone-type tornado was then observed only two miles north of Pettit. The supercell then began to track more southeastward, with no tornadoes observed for a period of approximately 15 minutes. Just as the supercell approached US Highway 385 in north-central Hockley County, it produced another strong tornado which crossed US Highway 385 about three miles south of the community of Whitharral (Hockley County). This tornado destroyed several additional wooden power poles, rolled a semi-truck traveling on the highway, and damaged buildings and trees along its path before dissipating about seven miles east of US Highway 385. The final three tornadoes produced by this supercell were observed as the storm crossed from eastern Hockley County into western Lubbock County. The first tornado developed approximately three miles northeast of Texas State Highway 114 and the community of Smyer (Hockley County), damaging and destroying multiple manufactured homes as it moved eastward before dissipating along the Hockley/Lubbock County line. The second tornado developed very close to the termination of the previous tornado, and damaged and destroyed several homes and buildings as it tracked southeastward and dissipated only about a quarter mile north of Texas State Highway 114. The final tornado produced during this event developed and tracked over southern portions of Reese Center (Lubbock County), toppling large trees and damaging roofs before dissipating just outside the Lubbock city limits. Although the storm did not produce any additional tornadoes after this point, the supercell did continue to produce very strong straight-line winds and large hail, which resulted in widespread damage to homes and businesses across western and southwestern portions of the City of Lubbock. Many buildings within the city experienced significant damage to roofs and windows, and hail up to the size of tennis balls was observed within the city limits. The supercell continued to produce large hail and severe wind gusts as it moved over the community of Slaton in southeastern Lubbock County, with the storm finally weakening over Crosby and Garza Counties with no additional severe weather reports after it moved to the east of the Caprock Escarpment. After the initial supercell thunderstorm moved east, additional thunderstorms developed over far eastern New Mexico and the South Plains bringing more severe storms late in the evening through the early morning hours of the sixth.

An intense cyclic supercell thunderstorm produced a total of eight known tornadoes over portions of Cochran, Hockley, and Lubbock Counties. This was the first of the tornadoes. At least one brief tornado was observed by storm chasers over far northwestern Cochran County that moved over open country and produced no known damage.

An intense cyclic supercell thunderstorm produced a total of eight known tornadoes over portions of Cochran, Hockley, and Lubbock Counties. This was the second of the tornadoes. Shortly after the first tornado, the supercell produced a strong wedge-type tornado several miles northwest of Morton which destroyed multiple large wooden power poles as it tracked eastward. Numerous storm chasers documented this tornado as it crossed Texas Highway 214 about four miles north of Morton before dissipating over northeastern Cochran County.

An intense cyclic supercell thunderstorm produced a total of eight known tornadoes over portions of Cochran, Hockley, and Lubbock Counties. This was the third of the tornadoes. No damage was observed or reported with this tornado, however, it was directly observed by mobile research radar. This tornado began in far eastern Cochran County before moving into far western Hockley County.

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

31 minutes of warning. NWS LUB issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:59 UTC, 31 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:20 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 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 19:54 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), 92 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:30 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

16 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.