F1 Tornado — Canadian, Oklahoma

2006-04-24 · near El Reno, Canadian, Oklahoma

Event narrative

This unusual anti-cyclonic tornado touched down 5.1 miles southwest of El Reno while another cyclonic tornado (see tornado entry that began at 1823 CST) was still moving across part of the area west of El Reno. These two tornadoes were observed, by numerous storm chasers and 3 media helicopters, moving across the area simultaneously for several minutes before the initial tornado dissipated while the anti-cyclonic tornado continued. The anti-cyclonic tornado moved quickly to the east-southeast. The most significant tornado damage that occurred on April 24 was by the second tornado when it moved through the El Reno Regional Airport (KRQO) which is located southwest of town. A storm survey of the airport showed that the damage was confined to two large hanger buildings, one of which was brand new, that were constructed mainly from tin, sheet metal panel walls on rigid metal frame. The damage was confined to only the metal panel walls and metal seam roof, with no observed damage to the rigid metal frame. Some interior "walls" were damaged, but these were not part of the rigid load-bearing construction, and hanging from the rigid frame and not anchored to the foundation. Ten aircraft, some of which were vintage planes, were also damaged inside the hangars, with 5 planes declared a complete loss. In addition to the numerous videos, there was also some evidence of anti-cyclonic swirls in sprayed aircraft oil. The two structures were estimated at about $1 million. The damage to the airplanes were estimated from $35,000-$225,000 each for an estimated total loss of $500,000 to aircraft at the airport. The total damage to the El Reno Regional Airport was approximately $1.5 million.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.2500, -95.9833)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5500822. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.