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EF3 tornado in Coleman County, Texas

Tornado May 18, 2019 · Coleman County, Texas

EF3
Rating
7.8 mi
Path length
300 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 300 yards (0.17 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF3 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF3 is severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, consistent with estimated gusts of 136–165 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

This tornado also remained mostly in rural areas. However, it destroyed a cabin, a recreational vehicle, outbuildings and numerous trees. The tornado completely removed the upstairs story of a well built two story residence and caused two exterior walls to collapse. The roof of a church was also damaged. This tornado was observed by a trained spotter and videotaped by a member of the public.

The wider storm

A highly sheared environment coupled with a very unstable airmass resulted in the development of strong tornadoes during the early morning hours of May 18. At least seven of the eight tornadoes damaged or destroyed several hundred homes across portions of West Central Texas. One of the supercells produced four long track strong tornadoes.

Began near Glen Cove (31.8604, -99.5939).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

7 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF3 Runnels CountyEF3 Runnels CountyEF2 Schleicher CountyEF2 Tom Green CountyEF2 Taylor CountyEF1 Taylor CountyEFU McCulloch County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 827376. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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