EF1 Tornado — Hughes, Oklahoma

2025-04-19 · near Spaulding, Hughes, Oklahoma

Event narrative

Tornado began south of Spaulding, moving to the north into Spaulding and then northeast. EF1 damage was found in Spaulding at a manufactured home which suffered major damage along E138 Road where one man was killed and a woman injured. Several homes had at least minor damage, with several homes losing roofs, windows, and walls.

Wider weather episode

A severe weather and flash flood episode occurred across central and southern portions of the WFO Norman Forecast Area from the evening of the 19th into the early morning hours of the 20th. A slow-moving upper system continued to approach the area on the 19th. This, along with strong/moist low-level ascent atop a quasi-stationary boundary, helped initiate widespread thunderstorms across the region mentioned above. Strong wind shear and instability, especially along and ahead of the surface boundary, promoted organized thunderstorms, producing hail, wind and tornadoes. A few strong tornadoes also occurred (near Courtney in Love County and Little City in Marshall County). This episode also observed the first fatal weak (F/EF0-1) tornado since 1988 across the WFO Norman Forecast Area. Flash flooding also became a concern by the late evening of the 19th, with two flood-related fatalities occurring in the city of Moore, as multiple vehicles were swept off of Eastern Avenue into a nearby creek.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.0040, -96.4500)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1254340. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.