Tornado in Reeves County, Texas

Tornado March 13, 2020 · Reeves County, Texas

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Not rated

9.0 mi

Whole path

300 yd

Path width

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Reeves County → Loving County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

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.

Not rated. NOAA lists no rating for this tornado. Ratings come from surveying damage, and the National Weather Service now records “EFU” (unknown) when a tornado hit nothing a survey team could rate.

What the National Weather Service wrote

A thunderstorm in Reeves County produced a tornado about eight miles west of Mentone. A National Weather Service survey team was unable to locate damage directly caused by the tornado due to poor road networks. Photos provided by the public and emergency management suggested that the tornado was significant, however due to a lack of damage indicators, the survey team was unable to determine a path and intensity. Thus, the tornado was rated an EF-U. It was estimated that the tornado traveled roughly 12 miles before lifting from storm spotter reports and radar signatures. The tornado started in Reeves County and moved east into Loving County. It lifted before reaching Highway 302 and moved just north of Mentone.

The wider storm

An upper level low over southern California moved east and developed into an upper trough over Arizona and New Mexico. An upper level jet stream moved over West Texas and produced more lift in the atmosphere. A cold front moved south into the area and stalled near the Pecos River. There was moderate instability and high moisture and wind shear across the area. These conditions resulted in thunderstorms that produced tornadoes and wind damage near the Pecos River.

Began near Balmorhea (31.6892, -103.7300).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF1 Ward County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 874513. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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