EF1 tornado, Springtown Arpt to La Junta, Texas, April 25, 2026

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, as surveyed

EF1, preliminary

Date

April 25, 2026

Touchdown

9:42 PM CDT (02:42 UTC)

Lifted

10:10 PM CDT (03:10 UTC)

On the ground

28 minutes

Path length

9.9 miles (16.0 km)

Path width

1,150 yards (1052 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Parker County

Touchdown point

32.984, -97.730

Lift-off point

32.876, -97.621

Highest wind the damage implies

105 mph

Surveyed by

NWS FWD

The office's name for it

Springtown, TX Tornado

Survey last edited

May 2, 2026

Record number

None yet. SPC numbers 2026 in the spring of 2027.

An EF-1 tornado occurred in Parker County starting west-northwest of Springtown, and tracking nearly 10 miles southeast. The width of the tornado damage is listed as 2/3rd of a mile, but the distinction between the tornado track and nearby RFD winds of 80-90 mph is tough to determine. Damage along the path of the tornado was majority large tree limbs damaged and damage to lightweight/metal buildings and roofs. Two homes sustained more significant damage to the second story of each home. These two homes were the justification for the 105 mph max winds.

Written by NWS FWD in the NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit. A survey is revised as better evidence arrives.

108 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 110 mph.

• Multiple trees broken in this area
• Lightweight metal barns and outhouses damaged
• Notable tree damage and broken power poles broken
• Mostly tree limbs down and a few uprooted trees in wet soil

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

From April 24 to April 27, daily thunderstorms developed during the late afternoon and evening, triggered by a dryline and a meandering frontal boundary. These long-lasting supercells were fueled by a highly unstable and sheared environment, resulting in several tornadoes, damaging winds, and very large hail. Two fatalities occurred on April 25th.

An EF-1 tornado occurred in Parker County starting west-northwest of Springtown and tracking almost 10 miles southeast. The width of the tornado damage is listed as 2/3rd of a mile, but the distinction between the tornado track and nearby RFD winds of 80-90 mph is tough to determine; the actual tornado wasn't likely that wide. Damage along the path of the tornado was majority large tree limbs downed and damage to lightweight/metal buildings and roofs. Two homes sustained more significant damage to the second story of the home. These two homes were the justification for the 105 mph max winds.

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

32 minutes of warning. NWS FWD issued a tornado warning for this county at 02:10 UTC, 32 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 03:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:52 UTC and running to 03:45 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, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 01:00 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.

Fort Worth Nas (NFW), 28 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 53 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:40 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 2026 tornado in TexasEvery tornado in Texas since 1950Warnings in force in Texas nowThe forecast where you are

14 more have been surveyed in the United States that day, so far.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. A survey can be revised, so the rating, the path and the casualties can all still change.

NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit, the record the survey teams file from the damage, and NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports. Neither is the official database for 2026, which SPC publishes in the spring of 2027.