EF0 tornado in Swisher County, Texas

Storm chasers, including a meteorologist from the National Weather Service Warning Decision Training Branch, observed a large tornado that moved east-northeast just south of the Swisher and Armstrong County line approximately fifteen miles east of Happy. The tornado remained over open country and no damage was reported.

An outbreak of severe weather impacted much of the central U.S. from Minnesota to Texas during the late afternoon and evening hours of the 21st. The west Texas South Plains and the extreme southern Texas Panhandle were affected by a series of significant tornadoes. At least five tornadoes were spawned by a single cyclic supercell thunderstorm that resulted in more than $3.5 million in damages.

The most severely impacted communities included Olton (Lamb County) and Tulia (Swisher County). Both of these west Texas towns were impacted by EF-2 tornadoes that destroyed property and injured four people, and more than 14,000 customers were without electrical power throughout the night.

The tornado outbreak was caused by a potent storm system that progressed east over the Four Corners region of the western U.S. on the 21st. A potent upper level jet stream spread over the Southern Plains of the U.S., and helped to create a favorable environment for supercell thunderstorms and tornadoes along a dryline that was stretched across west Texas.