Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 1984

F4 tornado, Pawnee and Creek counties, Oklahoma, April 26, 1984

This F4 tornado ran 22.0 miles across Pawnee and Creek counties on April 26, 1984, touching down at 10:05 PM CST and reaching 880 yards wide. It killed 3 people and injured 37, and did $500,000 to $5 million of property damage.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mphthis tornado

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

The record

Rating
F4
Date
April 26, 1984
Touchdown
10:05 PM CST (04:05 UTC)
Path length
22.0 miles (35.4 km)
Path width
880 yards (805 m)
Deaths
3
Injuries
37
Property damage
$500,000 to $5 million
Counties
Pawnee and Creek counties
Touchdown point
36.080, -96.600
Lift-off point
36.200, -96.320
Record number
210

The air that afternoon

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Ok Cty/Will Rgrs, OK (KOKC), 00:00Z

4.1 hours before the tornado, 132 km from the path. April 27, 1984.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Ok Cty/Will Rgrs, OK at 00:00Z on 1984-04-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1567 joules per kilogram, CIN -35, lifted condensation level 1430 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Ok Cty/Will Rgrs, OK at 00:00Z on 1984-04-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 308 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 68 knots.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1567 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-35 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2185 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1430 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
68 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
308 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
446 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.4
Supercell composite
17.3
0-3 km lapse rate
7.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Ok Cty/Will Rgrs, OK (KOKC), 12:00Z

7.9 hours after it, 132 km from the path. April 27, 1984.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Ok Cty/Will Rgrs, OK at 12:00Z on 1984-04-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -14855, lifted condensation level 2916 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Ok Cty/Will Rgrs, OK at 12:00Z on 1984-04-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -217 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 88 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-14855 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2916 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
88 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-217 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-612 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 1984 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 26, 1984

27 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 262:15 PM CSTF1Richland Parish, LA2.0100$50,000 to $500,000
April 262:15 PM MSTF1Bennett, SD7.030$50,000 to $500,000
April 264:35 PM CSTF1Stevens, MN3.1300$500,000 to $5 million
April 264:40 PM CSTF2Sac, IA22.0200$500,000 to $5 million
April 264:50 PM CSTF2Grant, MN12.5800$500,000 to $5 million
April 265:53 PM CSTF0Logan, OK39.0101$50,000 to $500,000
April 266:00 PM CSTF1McPherson, KS0.5150$500 to $5,000
April 266:05 PM CSTF1Logan, OK30.010$50,000 to $500,000
April 266:35 PM CSTF1Winnebago, IA8.0105$50,000 to $500,000
April 267:13 PM CSTF0Greene, IA0.5100$50 to $500
April 267:24 PM CSTF0Harper, KS0.110$500 to $5,000
April 267:32 PM CSTF0Pawnee, OK0.110under $50
April 267:35 PM CSTF0Harper, KS0.110$500 to $5,000
April 267:45 PM CSTF0Harvey, KS0.110$50 to $500
April 268:33 PM CSTF3Ramsey, MN5.560152$5 million to $50 million
April 268:38 PM CSTF0Montgomery, KS0.110$50 to $500
April 269:20 PM CSTF2Payne, OK6.0708$50,000 to $500,000
April 269:25 PM CSTF1Polk, WI0.527$50,000 to $500,000
April 269:25 PM CSTF2Shawnee, KS0.61004$50,000 to $500,000
April 269:45 PM CSTF2Jackson, KS10.04001$500,000 to $5 million
April 2610:02 PM CSTF3Atchison, KS32.01,2009$5 million to $50 million
April 2610:20 PM CSTF1Elk, KS28.0200$5,000 to $50,000
April 2610:55 PM CSTF1Tulsa, OK5.08805$50,000 to $500,000
April 2611:09 PM CSTF2Washington, OK0.117$50,000 to $500,000
April 2611:20 PM CSTF2Gentry, MO7.0100$50,000 to $500,000
April 2611:28 PM CSTF2Tulsa, OK3.05001$500,000 to $5 million
April 2611:33 PM CSTF3Okmulgee, OK22.01,760895$5 million to $50 million

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.