NWS Lubbock, TX, April 1st, 2013 severe weather event

April 1, 2013 Severe Thunderstorms and A Tornado

Photograph of the tornado near Silverton. Courtesy Davi Drummond.

Picture taken by David Drummond of the Silverton Tornado. The picture was taken about a mile east of the intersection of FM 145 and State Highway 86, looking west. The tornado at this time is just north of FM145.

Thunderstorms developed across the far southern Texas Panhandle and northern portions of the South Plains and Rolling Plains Monday afternoon in the vicinity of a cold front and dryline intersection.
Some of these storms developed into supercell thunderstorms (having persistent rotation) and brought a variety of severe weather as they moved generally east-southeast across much of the Rolling Plains Monday evening. A couple storms produced hail up to hen-egg size (2 inches in diameter) which smashed several vehicle windshields across Hall and Childress Counties. One of the supercell thunderstorms produced a weak short lived tornado a few miles southeast of Silverton, TX in Briscoe County.

Below is a Google Map highlighting some of the details from this event
(zoom in on the damage survey layer to see the surveyed tornado track):



Toggle Storm Reports	Toggle Tornado Damage Survey	Maximum Expected Hail Size	Radar Rotation Tracks
Some Data courtesy of the National Severe Storms Laboratory

The Silverton tornado has been rated an EF1 by a survey team from the Lubbock NWS office. The Public Information Statement on the tornado can be found here.

A text summary of the preliminary storm reports for this severe event can be found here.

Radar analysis of the tornado near Silverton

Data from the Lubbock NWS Radar near the midpoint of the tornado track. The 0.9 degree tilt shown here is at an elevation approximately 7000 feet AGL. The circulation symbols in the upper two panes of the above photo show the radar estimate of the tornado TVS (tornado vortex signature). The actual track based on the survey put the tornado track a bit farther south than the radar data suggested. The radar data above are from approximately 4:46 pm CDT, Monday, April 1, 2013.