Tornado in Reeves County, Texas

A spotter report from a NWS employee and a damage survey both determined that at approximately 1756 CST, a tornado developed about 11 miles southeast of Verhalen, TX. It then moved southeastward damaging a total of 12 powers poles. All but two of these poles were broken into 3 or 4 pieces each. The broken poles were indicative of EF-2 type damage. At 1802 CST, a Pecos County Sherriff���s Deputy took a photo of the tornado near the Pecos and Reeves County line. Finally, at 1806 CST the NWS employee captured the tornado in its dissipating stage.

This tornado formed from a very young cell that became a small classic supercell very quickly. The cell was on the southern end of a small cluster of cells. The tornado formed near the Pecos River in extreme eastern Reeves County and crossed into western Loving County. As the tornado crossed the river the largest vegetation in the area, lines of Salt Cedar trees were snapped or uprooted. Many of these trees were well established and approximately 25-30 feet tall. The funnel exhibited a condensation funnel to the ground for much of its life.

The large outflow boundary that was enhanced by severe storms over southern Midland and northern Upton Counties continued west across the western Permian Basin and the Upper Trans Pecos. This feature was observed using local warning radar until it interacted with strong to severe convection moving off the higher terrain of southwest Texas. As the outflow boundary encountered this convection near Pecos, local officials observed the first of two tornadoes that occurred in eastern Reeves County south of Pecos near State Highway 17. This tornado may have been a landspout given that at the time the parent thunderstorm was not characterized by severe indicators in reflectivity and velocity Doppler radar data, however, explosive development was noted within the next ten to fifteen minutes prior to the following events. No damage was reported.