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EF2 tornado in Canadian County, Oklahoma

Tornado May 31, 2013 · Canadian County, Oklahoma

EF2
Rating
5.0 mi
Path length
150 yd
Path width
1
Injury
$20K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 150 yards (0.09 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

The storm damage survey and Doppler on Wheels mobile radar detected a long-lived anticyclonic tornado southwest of Yukon. Some structural damage was noted along with damage to trees. Damages estimated.

The wider storm

A tornado outbreak occurred during the late afternoon and early evening hours of the 31st. A stalled front and deeply mixed dryline served as a focus for thunderstorm development. The front/dryline triple point was where the most intense supercells initiated. These storms traveled eastward, eventually impacting the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. Several tornadoes occurred, including the El Reno tornado, which unfortunately claimed several lives. In addition to the tornado, very large hail and heavy rains led to flash flooding in Oklahoma City. This flash flood event ranked as one of the worst in Oklahoma City history in terms of fatalities and damages to property. The event lasted well into the overnight hours.

Began near Yukon (35.4858, -97.8511).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF3 El Reno Tornado (2013) 8 deadEF1 Cleveland CountyEF1 Canadian CountyEF1 Oklahoma CountyEF0 Kingfisher CountyEF0 Canadian CountyEF0 Canadian CountyEF0 Oklahoma CountyEF0 Grady CountyEF0 Canadian CountyEF0 Canadian County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 453691. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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