EF3 tornado in Donley County, Texas

The tornado formed in the northwest part of Donley county at 1839 CST three miles south southwest of Jericho and tracked north northwest for about three miles before exiting Donley county one and a half miles west northwest of Jericho at 1848 CST.The tornado continued in Gray county for about another three miles before dissipating at 1854 CST.

Damage was first noted two miles south of Interstate 40 along County Road 9 in northwest Donley County. The roof of a horse barn was completely destroyed...as was the rear room addition. Beside the barn...welded steel fencing was bent or mildly twisted. A refrigerated boxcar that had contained tools and horse feed was rolled northward eleven times and found on its side almost one hundred yards north of its original location. A feeding trough originally near the boxcar was carried one hundred yards northwest of its previous location. Three hundred yards away...the mobile home of the property owner suffered only minor damage.

One mile north northwest of this location...a large home apparently lost a substantial portion of its roof. An irrigation pivot was overturned in a field just northwest of the home.

The most significant damage from this tornado occurred to three semi trucks that were caught and badly damaged in the tornado on Interstate 40 on the Donley county and Gray county line. In this area...power poles were snapped near their bases. The cab of one of the semi trucks was reportedly lifted and deposited atop its trailer. The driver and his wife were sucked out of the cab. The driver was completely disrobed some distance away from the truck. His clothing was found tangled in the engine of the truck. The driver and his wife were reported to be in critical and serious condition...respectively. Additionally the cab was crushed to the steering column. The trailer roof appeared to have been pried up and twisted...and at least one of the side walls failed. The contents of the truck were scattered downstream into a field for nearly a mile. In this field...irrigation pivots were overturned. The property owner also reported that irrigation pivot tires weighing three hundred pounds were relocated and a fifteen hundred gallon fertilizer tank that was one quarter full was gone.

Severe thunderstorms during the evening hours produced numerous tornadoes and large hail across the southern...central and eastern Texas panhandle. Heavy rains caused flash flooding in the eastern Texas panhandle during the late night and early morning hours. One man was killed by a tornado in the northeastern Texas panhandle and another person was injured.