EF3 Tornado — Cleveland, Oklahoma

2024-11-03 · near Moore, Cleveland, Oklahoma

Event narrative

This tornado developed just northeast of SE 104th Street and Sunnylane Road in southeast Oklahoma City, and moved north-northeast. A number of homes were damaged, including at least one with most of the exterior walls collapsed and significant roof damage. The tornado moved into Oklahoma County by crossing Southeast 89th Street between Sunnylane Road and Sooner Road.

Wider weather episode

An expansive (high-amplitude) longwave trough, in combination with unseasonable moisture/instability and wind shear, yielded a prolonged period of severe weather and flooding across the southern two-thirds of Oklahoma and portions of western-north Texas. While thunderstorms began during the daytime on the 2nd, the episode's first (and most impactful) convective period occurred during the late evening hours of the 2nd into early morning of the 3rd. Both linear and cellular convective modes were observed during this time, producing numerous reports of damaging winds and a localized tornado event along the Interstate 44 corridor. This included three EF-3 tornadoes, causing significant damage across the eastern/southeastern suburbs of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan area and in areas east of Duncan/Comanche in Stephens County.

Another widespread round of strong to severe thunderstorm activity occurred from the early afternoon into mid-evening on the 3rd, primarily across south-central into southeast Oklahoma. Once again, a mixed-mode event produced numerous reports of severe weather (mainly wind and a few tornadoes).

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.3640, -97.4380)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1224841. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.