EF3 tornado in Coke County, Texas

The Robert Lee Tornado completely destroyed a manufactured home just west of

Highway 208 as well as damaged the walls and roof of a metal barn

next door to the home. In addition, the tornado damaged the roof

of a home along Highway 208 and snapped some large tree limbs.

Also, the tornado lifted the roof off a concrete building on

Valley View Road. The tornado then moved back to the northwest

before weakening and occluding south of Robert Lee. The estimated

wind speed was 140 mph.

A favorable weather pattern for widespread severe weather was in place across west central Texas during early May. There was an upper level southwest flow and a sharp dryline in the area. Also, extreme instability was present along with strong vertical wind shear during the late afternoon and evening hours. Supercell thunderstorms developed and produced strong tornadoes in Jones, Runnels and Sterling counties which resulted in damage to homes and other structures. Also, severe thunderstorms produced giant size hail and damaging winds.