EF1 Tornado — Harmon, Oklahoma

2024-11-18 · near Gould, Harmon, Oklahoma

Event narrative

This tornado began south of Gould, along or just west of State Highway 5 and north of E1660 Road. The tornado moved to the north and then northwest, before dissipating just to the west of the city of Gould. Numerous power poles were snapped and broken along E1650 road, while several central pivot irrigation units sustained damage.

Wider weather episode

An intense (90-knot) mid-level jet streak lifted from the Texas Big Bend region into the Southern High Plains early on the 18th. An extensive quasi-linear convective system (QLCS) took shape across West Texas and moved into portions of western Oklahoma and western-north Texas during this time. With anomalously strong kinematics and marginally sufficient wind shear, a few portions of the line produced reports of thunderstorm wind damage and multiple brief/weak tornadoes. With time, the convective system gradually weakened into portions of central and eastern Oklahoma, producing only sporadic wind gusts/damage by daybreak.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.6120, -99.7750)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1221992. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.