EF3 Tornado — Castro, Texas

2017-04-14 · near Dimmitt Muni Arpt, Castro, Texas

Event narrative

An exceptionally large and significant tornado affected areas west of Dimmitt in Castro County. Along with video provided by storm spotters, a NWS storm survey team determined this tornado began just south of Highway 86 about 4 miles southwest of Dimmitt, before quickly assuming a very large wedge formation while moving slowly northeast. This tornado then turned north and northwest, before ending around the intersection of County Roads 511 and 511A. A satellite tornado reportedly accompanied this large tornado, however multiple video sources revealed this was only a satellite funnel. The most significant damage observed by the NWS survey team was found near the intersection of Farm to Market Road 2392 and County Road 510A. Here, a metal systems building was completely destroyed with its remnants lofted several hundred feet to the northwest. Several nearby homes sustained damage up to EF-2 intensity, with some residents riding out the tornado in their shelters. Fortunately, no injuries or fatalities accompanied this 1.1 mile wide tornado. Elsewhere along this large tornado's path, numerous power poles and center pivot irrigation systems were destroyed.

Wider weather episode

On the afternoon of the 14th, isolated thunderstorms developed along a dryline over far east-central New Mexico and moved into Parmer and Bailey Counties. Mixed layer CAPE reached values on the order of 3000 J/kg by late afternoon, with low level wind shear amplifying by early evening. One of these storms evolved into a slow moving supercell that persisted for almost nine hours and produced at least seven known tornadoes, including an exceptionally large EF-3 tornado near Dimmitt (Castro County) that damaged some homes and destroyed several structures. It is possible that satellite tornadoes accompanied the larger tornado at times, but no definitive evidence to this point was available. After remaining in Castro County for nearly four hours and producing flash flooding north and northwest of Dimmitt, the supercell storm finally accelerated southeast before dissipating over Motley County around 0100 CST on the 15th. A plethora of video evidence was available from numerous storm chasers observing this supercell.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.5720, -102.3590)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 681566. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.