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EF1 tornado in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma

Tornado April 26, 2024 · Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma

EF1
Rating
10.1 mi
Whole path
70 yd
Path width
$30K
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Pottawatomie County → Lincoln County → Lincoln County → Okfuskee County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 70 yards (0.04 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 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

This tornado developed west of US Highway 377 near Hazel Dell Road and moved northeast crossing into Lincoln County about one mile east of US Highway 377. Damage in Pottawatomie County was primarily to trees, although at least one home along US-377 received some roof damage.

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 Johnson (35.4470, -96.6750).

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 1173844. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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