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EF2 tornado in Tillman County, Oklahoma

Tornado May 16, 2015 · Tillman County, Oklahoma

EF2
Rating
40.4 mi
Whole path
1,300 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 1,300 yards (0.74 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 tornado moved out of Jackson County and continued northeast passing into Kiowa County north of Manitou. EF2 damage continued to be observed north of Tipton, but again the tornado moved through sparsely populated farmland across northwestern Tillman County. The tornado width decreased from 1300 yards to 700 yards by the time it moved into Kiowa County.

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 Tipton Arpt (34.5055, -99.2079).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF1 Roger Mills CountyEF1 Dewey CountyEF1 Major CountyEF1 Comanche CountyEF0 Beckham CountyEF0 Caddo CountyEF0 Comanche CountyEF0 Caddo CountyEF0 Tillman County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 582234. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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