TornadoLookup

Home / Texas / Roberts

EF1 tornado in Roberts County, Texas

Tornado April 24, 2025 · Roberts County, Texas

EF1
Rating
11.3 mi
Path length
200 yd
Path width
$90K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 200 yards (0.11 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

This tornado touched down in central Roberts County, roughly seven miles to the southeast of Highway 70, to the south of Farm to Market Road 283. The initial touchdown location and time were estimated based on a combination of radar imagery and storm spotter reports. This tornado grew in size very quickly, with several reports of it taking on a cone and stovepipe shape to it. As the tornado tracked to the southeast, it traversed very rugged terrain which did not provide much in the way of damage indicators or survey access. The highest concentration of visual and known damage was along FM 283 near the intersection with FM 2699. Here, there was minor branch and tree damage, but the more significant damage was a center pivot was completely overturned. It also appeared that some part of it was twisted. Given the angle of the pivot to the direction of motion as well as the presence of winter wheat in the field, it is probable that it took a higher wind speed to flip this pivot and this is one place where the highest rating occurred, somewhere between 105-110mph. The tornado then continued to the southeast, crossing FM 283 a few times. Along FM 283, near Quarter Horse Road, the tornado downed a power pole and twisted barbed wire fencing. Additional large branches were blown in this area. As the tornado once again crossed FM 283 south of Quarter Horse Road, it downed nine additional power poles. All along its track, surveyors noted several traffic warning signs bent over at the base and even some were broken and twisted at the base, and from the ground. The tornado traveled just to the north of Miami, with no known damage to the town. Storm spotters indicated it crossed Highway 60 before dissipating. Little damage was noted but the ending point was depicted on the south side of the highway per visual confirmation. The maximum estimated wind speed was 110mph.

The wider storm

Thunderstorms developed along and east of the dryline that formed in the west central Panhandles during the afternoon and evening of April 24th. These storms became severe with large hail, damaging winds occurring mainly across the eastern Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles. A tornado also occurred in Roberts County.

Began near Codman (35.7908, -100.7943).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1255851. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.