EF1 tornado in Cherokee County, Oklahoma

This is the first segment of a two segment tornado. The tornado developed north of Highway 62 and west of the 742 Road. It moved east through the 580 Road, and then turned more southeast, crossing Highway 62, and then moved into Adair County. The tornado uprooted and snapped numerous trees, some of the trees fell onto homes. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in this segment of the tornado was 95 to 105 mph.

Thunderstorms developed over north central and northwestern Oklahoma during the early evening of the 17th, near an outflow boundary from earlier thunderstorms, and north of a developing warm front that stretched across the area. The atmosphere ahead of the thunderstorms over eastern Oklahoma had become very unstable. The strong instability combined with strong wind fields and strong wind shear associated with an intense upper level disturbance moving through the region, resulted in a few supercells that evolved into a severe squall line that moved through the area during the mid to late evening of the 17th, and early morning of the 18th. Widespread damaging wind, multiple tornadoes, and large hail up to golf ball size occurred across northeastern Oklahoma as the storms moved through the area.