EF2 tornado in Lynn County, Texas

Storm chasers observed what at first looked to be a harmless gustnado southeast of New Home, but this innocuous dirt whirl quickly grew taller and phased with a rotating wall cloud immediately aloft. This tornado slowly intensified just west of US Highway 87 and moved southeast before crossing the highway around 1655 CST. The NWS storm survey found only minimal wind damage along the highway, but this tornado rapidly intensified as it turned nearly due south just east of US Highway 87. It was here that the tornado inflicted EF2 damage to power poles approximately 2.7 miles N-NE of Tahoka. The tornado crossed US Highway 380 about 3 miles east of Tahoka around 1705 CST and grew to just over one mile in width. Visibility was compromised during much of this wedge phase due to large amounts of dust wrapping around the tornado. EF1 damage was noted to a residence along US Highway 380. About a half mile south of the highway the tornado caused EF1 to EF2 damage to a manufactured home and farm equipment. By 1730 CST, the tornado and parent mesocyclone halted their S-SE motion and wobbled back to the west as indicated by the radar data and storm chaser video. Based on reports from a few storm chasers, at least one additional tornado may have accompanied this larger tornado at times a mile or two to its northeast, but a lack of sufficient evidence prevented these reports from being submitted.

Very strong instability developed across the South Plains this afternoon east of a sharp dryline. Scattered thunderstorms developed along the length of this dryline by 1600 CST and slowly matured into severe thunderstorms, including supercells. A remnant outflow boundary near the US Highway 84 corridor drifted west and interacted with an already stout supercell in southwest Lubbock County. This supercell proceeded to anchor to this boundary as it moved slowly southward and supported at least two sizable tornadoes in Lynn County over the next two hours. One of these tornadoes lasted 65 minutes and grew very intense with over 150 knots of gate-to-gate rotation noted per the Lubbock WSR-88D. These tornadoes narrowly missed population centers such as Tahoka and O'Donnell, but extensive lead time from warnings and excellent storm spotter reports gave the public plenty of time to seek shelter. This prolific supercell also produced very large hail to tennis ball size, intense RFD winds over 80 mph, and flash flooding.