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EF2 tornado in Love County, Oklahoma

Tornado February 10, 2009 · Love County, Oklahoma

EF2
Rating
34.6 mi
Whole path
300 yd
Path width
8
Deaths
46
Injuries
$3.0M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Jefferson County → Love County → Carter County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 300 yards (0.17 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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

The thunderstorm that produced this tornado began near Breckenridge and Graham, TX. The storm moved northeast. A long-track tornado developed over far southeast Jefferson County, near the Red River. The tornado continued northeast into Love County crossing through rural farmland north of Courtney, Rubottom and Oswalt. Sporadic structural damage was noted in both Jefferson and Love counties, with tree damage also seen. The tornado then crossed into Carter County, where it did its most significant damage in and around the Lone Grove area. The tornado continued northeast, with major damage reported in the Majestic Hills addition and crossing Interstate-35 about a mile and a half north of the Prairie Valley Road exit. At least eight homes and a small private school were destroyed in the Majestic Hills neighborhood. It moved through rural areas of Northeast Carter County to the east of Springer. Approximately 46 people were injured, with 14 seriously injured. Eight people died in the Lone Grove area. At least 114 homes were damaged or destroyed, with at least 3500 losing power in and around Carter county. Debris from this tornado was carried as far away as Sulphur. Monetary damages were estimated.

The wider storm

Thunderstorms developed early in the afternoon, from near the Lawton area, northeast toward the Oklahoma metro area. Thunderstorms became severe relatively quickly as they moved through Caddo and Grady counties, and began to show signs of rotation as they moved toward western Oklahoma City. One supercell thunderstorm spawned several tornadoes as it moved through western and northern Oklahoma. Sporadic damage was reported along its path, some of it significant as it moved through northern Oklahoma county and southern Logan county. Other supercells developed near the same areas of Caddo and Grady counties and moved northeast. Some locations received several rounds of very large hail through the afternoon.

Later in the afternoon, a second area of thunderstorms developed over northern Texas. Several supercell thunderstorms developed and moved northeast toward the Red River. One supercell thunderstorm moved northeast over Clay county and northwest Montague county. A tornado developed as it moved into Jefferson county near the Red River. It continued northeast through western Love county and into Carter County. Significant damage was reported in and around the Lone Grove area and over the far north sides of Ardmore. There were eight fatalities in and around Lone Grove. The tornado crossed Interstate 35 and eventually crossed into southern Murray county. Wind damage was reported in Coal and Atoka counties. Minor injuries were reported with the Atoka county thunderstorms. Monetary damages were estimated.

Began near Rubottom (33.9620, -97.5610).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 154266. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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