© Leslie RichardsonRare April 1st tornado touches down near Silverton, Texas.
Storm chasers and the public reported the tornado touched down near the small city of Silverton in Briscoe County, just after 4:30 p.m. Monday.
The National Weather Service reported the tornado caused damage to a metal barn in its path. Power poles were also snapped and blown over as winds were recorded up to 66 mph with the tornadic storm.
Briscoe County Sheriff Garrett Davis said he did not see the tornado but saw what he assumed was its aftermath, several broken power lines and a damaged irrigation pivot, the Amarillo Globe-News reported.
Xcel Energy reported an outage affecting more than 400 customers in and around Silverton shortly after the tornadic storm moved through the area.
This tornado was briefly captured on video as it passed near Silverton by passerby, Leslie Richardson.
Environmental conditions overall were not ideal for tornadoes on Monday, but the storm that produced the tornado was able to take advantage of a southward-moving boundary located in a localized area where surface winds converged. The storm was able to latch onto this boundary and turn right, enhancing its shear and or spin (known as Storm Relative Helicity, or SRH).
While the month of April marks the beginning of the most active period for tornadoes in the United States, April 1st has historically been fairly quiet of late.
Before Monday's tornado, there had only been four reports of tornadoes on April 1st since 2000. The last April 1st tornado occurred back in 2009, according to the Storm Prediction Center.
Tornado activity is expected to increase as we head into the mid and latter parts of April and into May, specifically in the Southeast and Plains.
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