EF0 Tornado — Palo Pinto, Texas

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

Event narrative

Storm chaser and spotter videos of a rapidly cyclic, multi-vortex tornado was confirmed by scattered tree damage along a path that stretched from Panama Road southwest of Santo to FM 4 south of Santo. For the most part, each of the vortices were relatively shorted-lived, lasting from just a few seconds to up to 30 seconds. At one point, two vortices near FM 4 appeared to nearly rotate around each other before they dissipated. Based on the observed tree damage, this tornado was rated an EF-0 multi-vortex tornado with maximum estimated winds of 80 mph.

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 → (32.5820, -98.2443)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1265225. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.