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EF2 tornado in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma

Tornado May 19, 2013 · Oklahoma County, Oklahoma

EF2
Rating
20.8 mi
Whole path
1,000 yd
Path width
4
Injuries

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,000 yards (0.57 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

A tornado touched down just south of Triple XXX Road and Coffee Creek Road to the northwest of Luther and began to move east-northeast. The tornado began producing EF2 damage soon after crossing Luther Road where an outbuilding was destroyed. At least two mobile homes were destroyed as the tornado continued to the east-northeast. The tornado crossed Waterloo Road and moved into Logan County.

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 Luther (35.6930, -97.2320).

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 451533. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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