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EF0 tornado in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma

Tornado April 26, 2024 · Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma

EF0
Rating
2.4 mi
Path length
40 yd
Path width
$5K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 40 yards (0.02 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF0 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF0 is light damage: shingles and siding peeled, gutters torn, branches broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 65–85 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

Two nearly-simultaneous tornadoes occurred in northwestern Pottawatomie County from a QLCS storm. The first one developed just east of the Cleveland-Pottawatomie County line along Lake Road and moved northeast and then north dissipating or merging with a second tornado near Fishmarket Road and Oakridge Lane. Two barns had siding damage, but otherwise damage was primarily to trees along the path.

The wider storm

During the early morning of the 26th, ahead of a strong upper wave passage, a quasi-linear convective system (QLCS) developed across portions of central into eastern Oklahoma. Despite strong kinematics (wind shear) in place, the initial phase of the linear complex was rather benign (in terms of severe weather outcomes). However, as the complex overspread the Interstate 35 corridor, organization increased rapidly, including the development of several strong mesovortices. A cluster of weak tornadoes and wind damage occurred across portions of east-central Oklahoma, associated with these mesovortices. By the afternoon, while stronger synoptic support had lifted into portions of the Missouri Valley, strong convergence along a trailing boundary/pseudo-dryline promoted development of a few transient storms. A report of small hail was received with one of these storms across Seminole County.

Began near Pink (35.3330, -97.1410).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

5 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1173241. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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