EF5 Tornado — Canadian, Oklahoma

2011-05-24 · near Calumet, Canadian, Oklahoma

Event narrative

This tornado is labeled Tornado B2 (Segment #1 of the Calumet-El Reno-Piedmont-Guthrie tornado). This tornado began very close to the Caddo/Canadian county border and quickly became a strong/violent tornado. The tornado destroyed numerous trees, many of them were debarked, before crossing Interstate 40. Three people died in vehicles near the I-40 Calumet exit, and two other fatalities occurred just northeast of that location. Cars were thrown thousands of feet off the roadways. It is believed that the tornado reached its maximum intensity just after crossing I-40, and it was here that a mobile radar measured winds of greater than 210 mph just off the surface. The El Reno Oklahoma Mesonet station (5 miles west) measured wind gusts of 131 and 151 mph. From this location, the tornado continued northeast, narrowly missing the town of Piedmont. Widespread EF-3, occasional EF-4 damage occurred between El Reno and Piedmont. More widespread EF-4 damage was seen west and north of Piedmont. Especially hard hit was the Falcon Lake neighborhood, near the Kingfisher county border. Two children were killed at this location. The tornado continued into southeastern Kingfisher County. Monetary damage estimates were not available at this time, but were probably going to be well in the tens of millions.

Wider weather episode

A tornado outbreak occurred over parts of northern and central Oklahoma during the day on the 24th, with violent tornadoes devastating several communities. By the end of the day, one EF-5, two EF-4, and two EF-3 tornadoes destroyed buildings, ripped up trees and power poles, and unfortunately, resulted in 11 deaths. The day began with a strong upper level trough ejecting out of the southwest United States. The trough took on a negative tilt as it approached the southern Plains. A strong jet stream was located at both the middle and upper levels rotating around the upper trough. At the surface, a low pressure strengthened rapidly over northwest Oklahoma, keeping the low-level flow of warm, moist air to flow east of a dry line that had moved into western Oklahoma. Thunderstorms developed by early afternoon over western Oklahoma, and quickly became supercellular as they moved northeast. Strong low-level rotation developed early, with the first tornado occurring over Blaine county, and moved northeast into Major county. Another supercell rapidly gained low-level rotation as it moved from Caddo into Canadian County. This tornado became the strongest of them all as it moved north of El Reno, west of Piedmont, and to south of Guthrie in Logan county. Nine people died as a result of this tornado. Two more powerful supercells developed over Grady county, and they moved northeast into McClain and Cleveland counties. Finally, the final tornado occurred east of Norman into Pottawatomie county. The timing of this outbreak could not have come at a worse time, as rush hour was just unfolding as the tornadoes neared the Oklahoma City metro area.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.4440, -98.2870)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 315837. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.