EF1 tornado, Jewett to Flo, Texas, May 6, 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 mphthis tornado

   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. 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

EF1

Date

May 6, 2025

Touchdown

1:20 PM CDT (18:20 UTC)

Lifted

1:29 PM CDT (18:29 UTC)

On the ground

9 minutes

Path length

6.0 miles (9.6 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$10,000

County

Leon County

Touchdown point

31.394, -96.014

Lift-off point

31.407, -95.916

Record number

2505061220-01

16 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS FWD, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 105 mph.

• Wind caught edge of roof and tore some off
• The damage extends beyond access to the east of house

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

A sharp upper trough and a meandering surface front generated two rounds of thunderstorms across the region, one round on May 5 and the other on May 6. Most of the severe weather took place on the 6th, when large hail, damaging winds, and a few tornadoes occurred. A total of 5 tornadoes were surveyed in the far southeast parts of the County Warning Area: two EF-0s and three EF-1s. The strongest tornado had winds up to 105 mph and moved through Jewett in Leon County.

An EF-1 tornado touched down west of Jewett near CR 336 and Division Street, and moved east-southeast through the town before traveling east several miles outside of town. In Jewett, several trees were damaged or blown down and some homes suffered roof and minor exterior damage on Harrison Street, Dashiel Street, and Broadway Street. The worst damage occurred along Hwy 79 where an auto repair shop lost its roof, and east of Hwy 79 where many trees were snapped and uprooted near Robinson Lane. This area was rated EF-1 with 105 mph max winds. Visually, tree damage could be seen extending east of Robinson Lane, but the area was inaccessible to the survey team. However, satellite imagery provided additional information to extend the track farther east of town.

A second tornado occurred in Leon County, southeast of Buffalo and west of Flo. The tornado likely began west of US 75 and north of CR 305. Several large trees were damaged on a property in this area, and additional tree damage could be seen on the east side of the Highway. The tornado then damaged trees and a metal outbuilding on CR 275. The tornado traveled east over inaccessible land but was tracked again along FM 831 near CRs 283 & 285. Notable tree damage and snapped trunks were found in this area. One manufactured home suffered minor roof damage. The tornado dissipated just east of this area. This tornado was rated EF-1 with maximum estimated winds of 95 mph.

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

9 minutes of warning. NWS FWD issued a tornado warning for this county at 18:11 UTC, 9 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 18:59 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 13:15 UTC and running to 19:59 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 16:30 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.

Palestine (PSN), 49 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Ft Hood radar (KGRK), 155 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 18:21 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

10 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.