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May 15–17, 2013 tornado outbreak

Satellite image of supercell clusters in the Dallas–Fort Worth area during the evening of May 15.
Duration	1 day, 20 hours, 6 minutes
Tornadoes confirmed	23
Max. rating	EF4 tornado
Largest hail	4 in (10 cm) in diameter in Mineral Wells, TX
Fatalities	6
Damage	unknown
Areas affected	Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama
Most severe tornado damage; see Enhanced Fujita scale

The May 15–17, 2013 tornado outbreak was a small, but intense and deadly tornado outbreak that produced several damaging tornadoes in northern Texas, south-central Oklahoma, northern Louisiana, and northern Alabama. The outbreak produced 23 tornadoes, including a deadly EF4 that struck the town of Granbury, Texas, where six people were killed. Another large EF3 wedge tornado destroyed multiple homes in Cleburne, Texas. The outbreak was the deadliest tornado event in Texas since the 2007 Piedras Negras-Eagle Pass tornadoes.

The outbreak continued as the system moved eastward, with six more tornadoes (EF0 to EF1 ratings) from May 16 to May 17 (two in eastern Texas, two in Louisiana, and two in Alabama). Damage surveys are ongoing at this time.

Meteorological synopsis

The outbreak was caused by a upper-level shortwave trough that moved northeastward from Mexico into the Southern Plains states during the nighttime the morning of May 15. The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) in Norman, Oklahoma, a division of the National Weather Service, initially issued a slight risk of severe thunderstorms early that morning over northwestern Texas, for a threat of large hail and damaging winds. A low pressure area associated with the trough moved over Oklahoma that day, producing light to moderate rainfall and non-severe thunderstorms across that state into parts of North Texas. Later forecasts expanded the slight risk further into northern and central Texas, and later into far southern Oklahoma, and indicated an enhanced risk of a few isolated tornadoes in north Texas.

The atmosphere began to destabilize due to a decrease in cloud cover over western and central Texas; the sunshine and heating, combined with sufficient wind shear and abundant low-level moisture, combined to produce a very unstable air mass. The SPC issued a severe thunderstorm watch from southern Oklahoma to central Texas that afternoon around 3:00 p.m. CDT. Supercells broke out in parts of northwestern Texas during the late afternoon hours, one of which developed the first tornado of the day at 5:38 p.m., near Belcherville in Montague County. A second tornado spawned by the same storm, rated as an EF1, touched down near Lake Amon G. Carter, damaging four homes and destroying one. As forecasters realized that conditions now favored tornadic activity, the SPC issued a tornado watch from far southern Oklahoma into central Texas at 6 p.m. CDT, replacing parts of the original severe thunderstorm watch.

At 7:13 p.m. CDT, storm spotters reported a large tornado on the ground near Millsap in Parker County, which caused roof damage to several homes in the town. This tornado remained on the ground as another tornado began to intensify near Mile Marker 409 on Interstate 20 southeast of Weatherford, Texas at 7:19 p.m. NWS doppler radar briefly detected both tornadoes, indicating the storm was a cyclical supercell (a type of supercell that can produce successive tornadoes), before the Millsap tornado finally dissipated.

An EF4 tornado hit the town of Granbury, Texas in Hood County around 8 p.m. CDT, damaging or destroying around 100 homes and killing at least six people, with the most severe damage occurring in the Rancho Brazos neighborhood; the Granbury storm was the first category 4 tornado to hit North Texas since an F4 twister that killed three people in Lancaster in Dallas County on April 25, 1994. The supercell that produced the Granbury tornado later spawned an EF3 tornado that hit the Fort Worth suburb of Cleburne in Johnson County around 9:30 p.m. CDT, producing its most significant damage just east of Lake Pat Cleburne. The last twister of the outbreak touched down at 12:19 a.m., producing EF1 damage in the Ellis County town of Ennis, Texas, south-southeast of Dallas. In total, the system produced at least 16 tornadoes that afternoon and evening across north and central Texas, from Montague to Coryell counties.

The system continued to spin up tornadoes on May 16 and 17, though not of the same severity as the storms that occurred on the 15th, each causing only minor to moderate damage of EF0 and EF1 intensity. Four additional tornadoes occurred near the Shreveport metropolitan area on May 16, two of which touched down near Waskom, Texas, and two in Caddo Parish near the towns of Greenwood and Stonewall, Louisiana. Two short-lived tornadoes touched down in Limestone County, Alabama on May 17, causing scattered damage to trees, roofs and a barn.

Confirmed tornadoes

May 15 event

May 16 event

May 17 event

See also

Download coordinates as:

• KML
• GPX (all coordinates)
• GPX (primary coordinates)
• GPX (secondary coordinates)

• List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
• Tornadoes of 2013
• May 18–21, 2013 tornado outbreak
• April 3, 2012 tornado outbreak
• April 1994 tornado outbreak

References

1. Reuters (May 16, 2013). "Texas tornadoes: 6 confirmed dead, more than a dozen injured". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 16, 2013. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
2. "Tornadoes Across North Texas May 15, 2013". National Weather Service Fort Worth, Texas. May 16, 2013. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
3. "NWS Damage Survey Completed For The May 16th Storm That Occurred In Extreme East Texas And Northwest Louisiana". National Weather Service Shreveport, Louisiana. May 17, 2013. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
4. "Severe Weather Event on May 17, 2013". National Weather Service Huntsville, Alabama. May 18, 2013. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
5. Severe Weather Outlook at 12:53 p.m. CDT on May 15, 2013
6. Severe Weather Outlook at 11:38 a.m. CDT on May 15, 2013
7. ^ Texas Tornadoes: As They Happened, The Weather Channel, May 17, 2013.
8. ^ Hood County twister one of the deadliest tornadoes in the last 50 years, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, May 17, 2013.
9. Cleburne mayor: Three EF-3 tornadoes damage or destroy 600 homes, WFAA, May 16, 2013.
10. The 16 tornadoes that occurred Wednesday defied predictions, The Dallas Morning News, May 16, 2013.
11. Thursday's storms brought 4 tornadoes to ArkLaTex, KSLA-TV, May 17, 2013. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
12. Friday storms across Alabama cause small tornadoes, heavy rains; wet weather expected to continue Saturday, AL.com, May 18, 2013.
13. ^ "Storm's Wake (Gallery)". Star-Telegram. May 16, 2013. Retrieved May 18, 2012.

• Tornadoes in the United States
• Tornadoes of 2013
• F4 tornadoes
• Tornadoes in Alabama
• Tornadoes in Texas
• Tornadoes in Oklahoma
• Tornadoes in Louisiana