Thunderstorm Wind — Ottawa, Oklahoma

2012-09-07 · near Miami, Ottawa, Oklahoma

Event narrative

Strong thunderstorm wind blew a tractor trailer over a concrete retaining wall on I-44, resulting in the death of the driver.

Wider weather episode

Severe thunderstorms developed ahead of and along a strong cold front that moved into the region during the early afternoon of the 7th. A couple of the storms evolved into supercell thunderstorms early in the event across southeastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma. One such storm developed over Washington County and moved eastward across Nowata County. This storm produced significant damage across central Nowata County as a result of hail up to baseball size and wind gusts of 80 to 100 mph. The supercell thunderstorm then merged into a developing line of severe thunderstorms along the cold frontal boundary over eastern Nowata County. The line of storms subsequently produced numerous reports of damaging wind across northeast and east-central Oklahoma.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.8407, -94.8612)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 399042. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.