EF0 tornado in Jackson County, Oklahoma

Tornado May 16, 2015 · Jackson County, Oklahoma

EF0

Rating

40.4 mi

Whole path

1,000 yd

Path width

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Hardeman County, Texas → Wilbarger County, Texas → Jackson County → Wilbarger County, Texas → Jackson County → Tillman County → Kiowa 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 EF0 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF0 is light damage: shingles and siding peeled, gutters torn, branches broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 65–85 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 Oklahoma from Wilbarger County Texas and continued to expand as it moved east-northeast across southern Jackson County. Despite the expansion of the tornado to an estimated 1000 yards wide, no significant damage is known to have occurred in this portion of Jackson County. The tornado crossed the Red River back into Wilbarger County before entering Jackson County again at 4:43 pm CST.

The wider storm

With an upper low traversing the region, a cold front stationed over the panhandles, and a developing dryline, storms developed out in the panhandles early on the 16th and made their way eastward across Oklahoma through the day. Toward evening, when the severe weather occurred, the front surged eastward with a line of storms forming along it.

Began near Elmer (34.3923, -99.4648).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF1 Roger Mills County EF1 Dewey County EF1 Major County EF1 Comanche County EF0 Beckham County EF0 Caddo County EF0 Comanche County EF0 Caddo County EF0 Tillman County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 582222. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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