EF1 tornado in Alfalfa County, Oklahoma

Tornado May 16, 2015 · Alfalfa County, Oklahoma

EF1

Rating

16.0 mi

Whole path

100 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 100 yards (0.06 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

The tornado moved into Alfalfa County from Major county and moved east-northeast. An outbuilding was destroyed about 5 miles east-southeast of Aline near the end of the tornado path.

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 Aline (36.4629, -98.4077).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF3 Wilbarger County EF1 Roger Mills County EF1 Dewey 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 582250. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.