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EF3 tornado in Kingfisher County, Oklahoma
Tornado May 24, 2011 · Kingfisher County, Oklahoma
NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Canadian County → Kingfisher County → Logan County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.
The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,200 yards (0.68 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.
What the National Weather Service wrote
This tornado is labeled B2 (Segment #2 of Calumet-El Reno-Piedmont-Guthrie tornado). The tornado entered far southeast Kingfisher county before moving into Logan county. However, EF-3 damage occurred just over the Kingfisher county border, debarking trees and significantly damaging buildings. As the tornado continued northeast, the damage was mainly considered EF-2, with damage to mostly outbuildings and trees. The tornado continued into Logan County. Monetary damage estimates were not available.
The wider storm
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.
Began near Cashion (35.7250, -97.6970).
Other tornadoes from the same storm system
11 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 315839. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.
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