EF2 Tornado — Cochran, Texas

2025-06-05 · near Morton, Cochran, Texas

Event narrative

An intense cyclic supercell thunderstorm produced a total of eight known tornadoes over portions of Cochran, Hockley, and Lubbock Counties. This was the second of the tornadoes. Shortly after the first tornado, the supercell produced a strong wedge-type tornado several miles northwest of Morton which destroyed multiple large wooden power poles as it tracked eastward. Numerous storm chasers documented this tornado as it crossed Texas Highway 214 about four miles north of Morton before dissipating over northeastern Cochran County.

Wider weather episode

During the afternoon and evening hours of the fifth, an intense supercell thunderstorm moved over the South Plains region of West Texas, producing several tornadoes over portions of Cochran, Hockley, and Lubbock Counties. This thunderstorm also produced widespread damage from very strong straight-line winds and large hail across western and southwestern portions of the City of Lubbock (Lubbock County) before it exited into Crosby and Garza Counties and weakened late in the evening. A cold front stalled south of the South Plains early in the afternoon before returning northward as a warm front. Very humid air returned to the region as the front moved northward and contributed to extreme atmospheric instability by the afternoon. This allowed for explosive thunderstorm development from far east-central New Mexico into the South Plains. This supercell initially produced a brief tornado over far northwestern Cochran County that moved over open country and produced no known damage. Shortly thereafter, the supercell produced a strong wedge-type tornado several miles northwest of Morton (Cochran County), which destroyed multiple large wooden power poles as it tracked eastward, eventually crossing Texas State Highway 214 about four miles north of Morton before dissipating over northeastern Cochran County. The supercell then produced another strong tornado over far northwestern Hockley County, about five miles northwest of the community of Pettit (Hockley County), which was directly observed by mobile research radar. A separate and very brief cone-type tornado was then observed only two miles north of Pettit. The supercell then began to track more southeastward, with no tornadoes observed for a period of approximately 15 minutes. Just as the supercell approached US Highway 385 in north-central Hockley County, it produced another strong tornado which crossed US Highway 385 about three miles south of the community of Whitharral (Hockley County). This tornado destroyed several additional wooden power poles, rolled a semi-truck traveling on the highway, and damaged buildings and trees along its path before dissipating about seven miles east of US Highway 385. The final three tornadoes produced by this supercell were observed as the storm crossed from eastern Hockley County into western Lubbock County. The first tornado developed approximately three miles northeast of Texas State Highway 114 and the community of Smyer (Hockley County), damaging and destroying multiple manufactured homes as it moved eastward before dissipating along the Hockley/Lubbock County line. The second tornado developed very close to the termination of the previous tornado, and damaged and destroyed several homes and buildings as it tracked southeastward and dissipated only about a quarter mile north of Texas State Highway 114. The final tornado produced during this event developed and tracked over southern portions of Reese Center (Lubbock County), toppling large trees and damaging roofs before dissipating just outside the Lubbock city limits. Although the storm did not produce any additional tornadoes after this point, the supercell did continue to produce very strong straight-line winds and large hail, which resulted in widespread damage to homes and businesses across western and southwestern portions of the City of Lubbock. Many buildings within the city experienced significant damage to roofs and windows, and hail up to the size of tennis balls was observed within the city limits. The supercell continued to produce large hail and severe wind gusts as it moved over the community of Slaton in southeastern Lubbock County, with the storm finally weakening over Crosby and Garza Counties with no additional severe weather reports after it moved to the east of the Caprock Escarpment. After the initial supercell thunderstorm moved east, additional thunderstorms developed over far eastern New Mexico and the South Plains bringing more severe storms late in the evening through the early morning hours of the sixth.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.7961, -102.8805)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1256903. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.