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EF4 tornado in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma

Tornado May 19, 2013 · Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma

EF4
Rating
23.0 mi
Whole path
1,500 yd
Path width
2
Deaths
10
Injuries

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,500 yards (0.85 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF4 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF4 is devastating damage: well-built houses levelled, consistent with estimated gusts of 166–200 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 large tornado moved east-northeast into Pottawatomie County then curving northeast as it approached State Highway 102. The tornado moved through a mobile home park north of Independence Road after crossing State Highway 102. Just northeast of the mobile home park, a permanent home was destroyed with much of the debris blown well to the northeast. It continued northeast crossing Interstate 40 near the intersection of US-177, then curved north-northeast finally dissipating near Wolverine Road and Coker Road. One fatality occurred in the mobile home park, and another man was killed in his vehicle.

The wider storm

A moist and very unstable airmass was in place over the eastern two thirds of Oklahoma, to the east of a dryline. Additionally, strong wind shear was present as a mid-level jet streak carved into the southern Plains. Several supercells developed along the dryline during the mid and late afternoon hours, producing large hail. Two supercells in central Oklahoma also produced tornadoes, including a few significant, damaging tornadoes.

Began near Pink (35.3080, -97.1420).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 451506. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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