Here, the “Midland” tornado reached its best-organized stage, as a thick, tapered stovepipe, meandering slowly and erratically through the Permian Basin drilling region south of town. An EF3 rating was earned based on some damage in the oil fields, at about this time. Tornadoes that wreck actively used oil-field equipment or storage facilities can create spills and a hazardous materials (HAZMAT) situation, on top of the already-present human-safety emergency directly arising from the tornado itself. I dread the inevitable day that a strong or especially violent one goes through the giant refining, transfer and pipeline facilities at Cushing, or across a major pipeline in heavy use anywhere. As we watched this tornado from a safe distance, a lineup of oil-field service vehicles and workers inside, dismissed due to the tornado warnings, accumulated near our vehicle, which was pulled off the side of a side road. Those who spoke English occasionally asked us questions about what was happening and where it was going. Of course, we were glad to answer, alleviate fears, yet reinforce due respect for these powerful vortices. Another strong tornado that I witnessed nine years earlier and about 300 miles to the north injured some oil workers. Four years before that, a high-end violent tornado that I observed between El Reno and Piedmont earned an EF5 rating, based on engineering analysis of extreme and unprecedented damage it did to heavy, strongly anchored, metal oil rigging.
8 WSW Midkiff TX (30 May 24) Looking WNW
31.6089, -101.9775