EF3 tornado in Gray County, Texas
Tornado November 16, 2015 · Gray County, Texas
NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Gray County → Roberts County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.
The path drawn at its surveyed width of 750 yards (0.43 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.
What the National Weather Service wrote
This long track tornado caused damage mainly to power lines and trees due to its rural track. It was the first tornado to pass near Pampa. Some trees were debarked and completely defoliated leaving only the trunks. The collapse of a high tension power line metal truss tower is the basis for the EF-3 rating. Maximum winds were estimated to be 140 mph. The tornado continued into Roberts County.
The wider storm
A powerful storm system brought significant severe weather to the region. Tornadoes, damaging winds, and large hail accompanied thunderstorms that formed during the afternoon hours and persisted into the evening. This was a very unusual event for late fall in the Central High Plains. One significant factor in this anomalous event was the presence of an unusual amount of moisture for mid-November, contributing to relatively high values of instability. No tornadoes had previously been documented in the Texas Panhandle during the month of November.
Began near Kings Mill (35.2990, -101.0210).
Other tornadoes from the same storm system
14 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 608861. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.
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