EF2 tornado in Lincoln County, Oklahoma

Tornado May 19, 2013 · Lincoln County, Oklahoma

EF2

Rating

7.2 mi

Whole path

450 yd

Path width

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 450 yards (0.26 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

This tornado moved into Lincoln County from Pottawatomie County and affect areas to the west and north of Prague. Large sctions of roof were removed from two homes northwest of Prague.

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 Prague (35.4630, -96.7890).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF4 Pottawatomie County 2 dead EF3 Oklahoma County EF1 Oklahoma County EF1 Oklahoma County EF1 Lincoln County EF0 Pottawatomie County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 451518. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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