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EF1 tornado in Major County, Oklahoma

Tornado May 16, 2015 · Major County, Oklahoma

EF1
Rating
16.0 mi
Whole path
400 yd
Path width

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Major County → Alfalfa County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 400 yards (0.23 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 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

A tornado developed northwest of Fairview and moved northeast, brushing the northwest corner of Cleo Springs, and moved into Alfalfa County 1.5 miles east of state highway 8. A house northwest of Fairview was moved off of the foundation (DI 2, DOD 5, est. winds 105-110 mph.) Northeast along the tornado path, damage was observed to trees, outbuildings and utility poles as it approached and passed near the northwest corner of Cleo Springs. North and northeast of Cleo Springs, a mobile home was damaged. The storm moved northeast and overturned a truck as it moved into Alfalfa County to the east of state highway 8.

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 Fairview (36.3175, -98.5609).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF3 Wilbarger CountyEF1 Roger Mills CountyEF1 Dewey CountyEF1 Comanche CountyEF0 Beckham CountyEF0 Caddo CountyEF0 Comanche CountyEF0 Caddo CountyEF0 Tillman County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 582249. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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