EF3 Tornado — Midland, Texas

2019-05-20 · near Warfield, Midland, Texas

Event narrative

A thunderstorm moved across Ector County and produced a tornado southeast of Odessa. The tornado developed in Ector County approximately nine miles southeast of Odessa, northeast of the Pleasant Farms community, and moved northeastward into southwest portions of Midland County. The aerial survey of this tornado revealed a clearly defined path. Numerous power poles were broken. The survey also showed pump jacks and other oil field equipment that were toppled by the tornado. The tornado had a lifespan of 15 minutes. Based on research that occurred in association with the May 14, 2010 Notrees tornado, a tornado that also knocked down oil field pump jacks, this tornado was rated as an EF-3 tornado. The cost of damage is a very rough estimate.

Wider weather episode

An upper level trough was over the Great Basin during the morning hours and moved over the Rocky Mountains during the day. Upper level disturbances moved over West Texas along the edge of this upper trough. A surface trough was over far West Texas and resulted in an abundance of moisture across the area. The atmosphere quickly became unstable as temperatures warmed up at the surface. A dryline was backed up to the higher terrain of West Texas and southeast New Mexico with very good wind shear and atmospheric rotation in place. During the late evening hours, upper lift increased with the approaching upper trough and the area was in a favorable position for lift with the upper jet stream. A low-level jet stream also moved across the area providing more lift. A Pacific front associated with the upper trough moved east and interacted with the dryline to create additional lift. These conditions resulted in thunderstorms rapidly developing and becoming severe with large hail, strong and damaging winds, tornadoes, and flash flooding across West Texas.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (31.7451, -102.2870)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 822538. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.