Home / Oklahoma / Atoka

EF2 tornado in Atoka County, Oklahoma

Tornado May 25, 2015 · Atoka County, Oklahoma

EF2

Rating

8.0 mi

Path length

1,000 yd

Path width

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 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

After the Blue-Caney tornado dissipated, the storm produced another tornado that developed 3.5 north-northwest of Bentley and moved north just west of Harmony, then last observed about 3 miles east of Atoka. Widespread areas were observed along the path with uprooted trees, and a number of houses were damaged (DI 2, up to DOD 6).

The wider storm

As an upper level trough continued to move over the central plains, storms formed ahead of a cold front in west Texas. These storms formed a line as the moved eastward and developed northward into Oklahoma.

Began near Bentley (34.2700, -96.0933).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF3 Bryan County 1 dead EF1 Atoka County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 582556. 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.