EF3 Tornado — Midland, Texas

2024-05-30 · near (maf) Midland Intl, Midland, Texas

Event narrative

This tornado was reported to have begun as a large tornado very near the Midland/Upton County line by multiple observers. This tornado began to move towards the west, growing in size and increasing in intensity as it caused EF-3 damage to vegetation and heavy oil equipment. Ground scouring was noted along this portion of the damage path. The tornado may have been nearly stationary for a short time before moving back to the west, continuing to cause damage to vegetation, power poles, and oil equipment. During this portion of the path, the tornado would cross from Midland County into Upton County, a short distance from FM 1788. Eventually, the tornado began to dissipate as it continued towards the west-southwest as a stringing cone tornado before ending. Property damage cost is an estimation.

Wider weather episode

A dryline would set up and become focused near the Texas/New Mexico state line south into the Lower Trans Pecos during the afternoon. At the same time, a southwestward advancing outflow boundary generated by a convective system east of the region would interact with the dryline. Initial thunderstorm development occurred near the Stockton Plateau and Llano Estecado. These thunderstorms would mainly produce instances of very large hail through the evening. A separate prolific severe weather-producing supercell would quickly develop at the intersection of the dryline and outflow boundary. This supercell would impact portions of Ector, Midland, and Upton Counties, producing several tornadoes, very large hail, damaging winds, and flash flooding.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (31.6600, -102.0700)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1181860. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.