EF1 Tornado — Palo Pinto, Texas

2025-05-18 · near Gordon, Palo Pinto, Texas

Event narrative

An EF-1 tornado formed north of Gordon and moved south-southeast into Gordon. One property near FM 919 and Harlin Road sustained damage to a small building on the property and 2 barns. In the town of Gordon, notable tree damage and power pole damage was observed along with damage to roofs. Most of the roof damage was partial removal of metal panels, leaving some homes with holes in their roofs. The school stadium and nearby athletic fields also suffered significant damage to the locker rooms, weight room, bleachers, scoreboards, and more. One tall stadium light pole was bent in half. In the southeast part of Gordon, a manufactured home was destroyed. In Gordon is where the tornado received its strongest rating of EF-1 with 105 mph winds. The tornado was tracked through tree damage just outside of Gordon to the southeast where it dissipated. Several minor injuries were reported with 4 hospital transports, but all 4 were already released the next morning.

Wider weather episode

On the afternoon of May 18, scattered thunderstorms ignited over the Big Country, initiated by an upper trough digging southeast over the Intermountain West. These storms formed along a dryline and rapidly intensified, spreading east into western North Texas. Several of these storms produced large hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes. A total of 6 tornadoes were surveyed were Eastland to Parker counties: one EF-Unknown, three EF-0s, and two EF-1s.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (32.5706, -98.3718)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1265214. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.