EF1 Tornado — Pottawatomie, Oklahoma

2026-01-08 · near Shawnee, Pottawatomie, Oklahoma

Event narrative

A tornado developed on the north side of Shawnee, just north of Shawnee Regional Airport. The tornado damaged one home moving through a neighborhood west of State Highway 3E, but damage was mostly to trees and fences. Crossing Interstate 40, a hotel received roof damage just east of Shawnee Mall, and a bread truck was blown over near a Wal Mart. Two businesses were damaged northeast of the hotel and just west of Harrison Avenue. At one business, a roof AC unit was damaged, garage doors were blown in, vehicle windows were broken, and trees and power lines were downed. The tornado dissipated near Harrison Avenue south of Garretts Lake Road.

Wider weather episode

A fast-moving quasi-linear convective system (QLCS) swept across portions of central, southern and eastern Oklahoma on the morning of the 8th. This convective system was tied to the passage of a compact upper wave across the region, resulting in very strong wind fields within a weakly unstable boundary layer. In addition to sporadic pockets of thunderstorm wind damage, and generally sub-severe hail, a few tornadoes occurred in a corridor from near Purcell, OK to Shawnee, OK.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.3690, -96.9400)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1311614. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.