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EF3 tornado in Stephens County, Oklahoma

Tornado November 3, 2024 · Stephens County, Oklahoma

EF3
Rating
21.7 mi
Path length
500 yd
Path width
6
Injuries
$5.0M
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 500 yards (0.28 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF3 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF3 is severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, consistent with estimated gusts of 136–165 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 near US Highway 81 and the Jefferson County line south of Comanche and moved northeast for nearly 22 miles. At least two dozen buildings were damaged by the tornado including a number of homes that were destroyed. Hundreds of trees were reported downed along the path as well as numerous power lines and power poles. Numerous large trees were destroyed and debarked at the tornado moved over the Comanche Golf Course and Comanche Lake to the east of the town of Comanche with the tree damage significant enough for an EF3 rating. After crossing Comanche Lake, the tornado continued northeast crossing State Highway 7 between Duncan and Velma, and dissipating a few miles southwest of Lake Fuqua.

The wider storm

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).

Began near Comanche (34.2910, -97.9690).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1225047. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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