Flash Flood — Cleveland, Oklahoma

2015-05-06 · near Stanley Draper Lake Dam, Cleveland, Oklahoma

Event narrative

One woman perished while seeking shelter from a tornado in a below ground storm cellar. Heavy rains flooded the cellar, and the woman drowned.

Wider weather episode

A potent Spring storm system took shape across the Southern and Central Plains. Strong surface cyclogenesis took shape during the day, allowing ample moisture to return northward with strong southerly flow. At the same time, a strong upper level shortwave trough allowed strong mid level westerlies to overspread much of the Plains region. With large instability and wind shear, the stage was set for widespread severe storm development. Storms initiated within the open warm sector ahead of the dryline. The first storm developed near Lawton and moved northeast along I-44 into parts of central Oklahoma, resulting in several tornadoes and large hail. Additional supercells spawned tornadoes across northern Oklahoma, and the slow moving nature of storms lead to several occurrences of flash flooding. Storms continued well into the night.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.3095, -97.3939)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 587315. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.