EF3 Tornado — Mayes, Oklahoma

2024-05-25 · near Pryor, Mayes, Oklahoma

Event narrative

This is the second segment of a two-segment tornado. The tornado moved into Mayes County at about the W 470 Road, and continued to produce significant damage, snapping many trees at the county line. As it moved east-southeast, the tornado destroyed a mobile home less than a mile east of the county line, where two fatalities and four injuries occurred. The tornado destroyed several homes near the N 428 Road, about four miles northwest of Pryor, and then dissipated about two miles northwest of Pryor. In total, about 60 homes were damaged, eighteen of which were destroyed, more than 50 outbuildings were destroyed, and many power poles were blown down. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in this segment of the tornado was 145 to 155 mph.

Wider weather episode

Severe thunderstorms developed over western Oklahoma during the afternoon of the 25th, along a sharpening dry line, and moved east across Oklahoma through the evening and into the early morning hours of the 26th. The atmosphere east of the dry line across Oklahoma was moist and very unstable. Wind fields above the ground and deep layer wind shear strengthened during the afternoon through the early morning hours of the 26th, as an upper level disturbance translated into the Southern Plains. Additionally, low level wind shear increased late in the evening and continued very strong into the early morning hours of the 26th. These conditions were very supportive for the development of supercell thunderstorms. One of these supercells became particularly intense and long-tracked as it moved across northeastern Oklahoma and northwestern Arkansas, producing multiple tornadoes, several of which were strong. Large hail to base ball size and swaths of damaging straight-line wind also occurred, resulting in considerable damage.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.3370, -95.4360)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1184520. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.