Last Map Update: Tue, May 12, 2026 at 4:40:33 pm CDT



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Local Weather History For May 12th...
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2005: A significant outbreak of severe thunderstorms with at least eight tornadoes occurred across the southern Texas
Panhandle and the South Plains from the early afternoon of Thursday, May 12, 2005 into the early morning hours of Friday, May 13. The weather pattern on this day was highly conducive for severe thunderstorms, specifically, very large hail and tornadoes. A southward moving cold front early in the day became nearly stationary by afternoon as a strong flow of moisture overspread the area from the southeast. Numerous waves of severe thunderstorms developed throughout the afternoon Thursday and continued well into the after midnight hours on Friday. In addition to the tornadoes, very large hail reports were common throughout this outbreak event, including a number of tennis to baseball-size hail reports, with even a few softball-size hailstones that accompanied a large tornado near South Plains. A well-documented and much-photographed F2 tornado occurred near South Plains and crossed Highway 207 before growing to nearly 1/2 mile in width. This tornado snapped several poles and overturned two unoccupied vehicles in a field. By far the most devastation was from two nighttime tornadoes that impacted the southwest and northwest sides of the city of Ralls in Crosby County. The first of these was rated F3 and caused over $300,000 in damage to property. This tornado completely destroyed a 2500 square-foot residence and tossed two pick-up trucks into the air. Fortunately, no one was home at the time. This cyclic tornadic supercell then produced an F2 tornado that tracked just northwest of Ralls producing extensive damage to a residence and barn. This tornado also proceeded to move several 2000 pound bales of hay from a field, over Highway 62, and into another field. |