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F1 tornado in Cotton County, Oklahoma

Tornado April 24, 2006 · Cotton County, Oklahoma

F1
Rating
6.3 mi
Whole path
200 yd
Path width
$5K
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Cotton County → Clay County, Texas; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 200 yards (0.11 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F1 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F1 meant moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken; the scale paired it with winds of 73–112 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

What the National Weather Service wrote

A tornado that was observed by several storm chasers and spotters touched down near Randlett on the evening on April 24,2006. Video showed that the tornado began as a dust whirl on the ground with no condensation funnel for the first few minutes. A condensation funnel eventually developed from cloud base to the ground and was described as a fat stove-pipe at times. This tornado crossed the Red River into Clay County Texas at 1938 CST (see west north Texas tornado entry) before dissipating. The tornado caused some damage in Oklahoma. A meteorologist at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas did a survey of the damage. Numerous hardwood, mainly elm, trees were snapped or uprooted, with large limbs also downed. One large elm tree, about 2.5 foot in diameter, was snapped about 4 feet above the ground. One large tree was partially debarked. Power poles were also snapped. A few calves were also missing.

Began near Randlett (34.1167, -98.5000).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

F1 Canadian CountyF1 Canadian County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5500891. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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