EF1 tornado in Montague County, Texas

Within a larger swath of damaging thunderstorms winds in Bowie, subtle evidence of a tornado was discovered. Beginning near the Best Western Hotel near Highway 59 and US 287, the orientation of damage suggested weak convergence. The intensity of the damage also suggested higher wind speeds on the order of 90 to 95 mph. Similar indicators were noted from this area northeast along a mile-long path into the central business district of Bowie, where substantial roof damage and wall damage occurred to single story and multi-story buildings. This damage was suggestive of estimated tornado wind speeds topping out around 95 mph.

May 22nd - 24th, 2020 was an active few days with two main time frames of severe weather, and scattered severe weather reports punctuated elsewhere within these few days. The highlight of this period was damaging straight-line winds across Montague, Cooke and Grayson Counties with an EF-1 tornado in Bowie (Montague County) on May 22nd. These storms formed along an outflow boundary and front combined across our northwestern counties. The second significant round of convection was scattered diurnal storms on the 24th that produced a few instances of large hail. This second event occurred ahead of an upper level trough that set the stage for severe weather in the state.