1999 Loyal Valley tornado

Tornado summary

The tornado touched down 9 miles (14 km) northwest of Loyal Valley near the Llano River. The National Weather Service (NWS) office in San Angelo noted that this was an extremely slow-moving tornado, which tracked approximately 7 miles (11 km). Along the path, two homes were obliterated, with debris being scattered "great distances". One home was completely swept away, with its foundation said to be gone. Parts of a pickup truck were found 0.75 miles (1.21 km) from the house. In another home, a person was killed and five others were injured after they took shelter in a car, which was located in a stone garage. As the tornado destroyed the house, the car was smashed, resulting in the casualties. At times, the tornado's width grew to 0.75 miles (1.21 km) wide. Sixteen other homes sustained damage, along with the complete destruction of several barns and outbuildings. As the tornado crossed Farm-to-Market Road 152, a 720 feet (220 m) stretch of asphalt was ripped off the road surface. In total, the tornado killed one person, injured six others, and caused $1 million (1999 USD) in damage as it traveled at an average forward speed of 10 miles per hour (16 km/h).

A reporter said: "I hadn't seen anything like that. I couldn't believe what it did to animals. This was wiped clean, too, but the cattle – their hides had been ripped right off of them. Some of them were missing heads, and some were caught up and entwined in barbed wire." Meteorologist Bill Hecke believed the tornado was capable of devastation comparable to that suffered by Oklahoma City in the Bridge Creek–Moore tornado or damage from the 1997 Jarrell F5 Tornado.

Possible F5 intensity

In 2023, the NWS office in San Angelo stated this was the strongest tornado ever recorded in their forecasting area and that "considerations were made for an F5 rating". However, the survey found that the structures impacted were not built well enough to ultimately warrant the F5 rating.