F0 tornado, Colcord, Oklahoma, April 17, 1995

1. F040 to 72 mphthis tornado

   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 mph

   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.

Rating

F0

Date

April 17, 1995

Touchdown

12:10 AM CDT (05:10 UTC)

Path length

0.1 miles (0.2 km)

Path width

40 yards (37 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$500 to $5,000

County

Delaware County

Touchdown point

36.270, -94.750

Record number

133

Severe thunderstorms moved across eastern Oklahoma during the evening of April 17th. The storms produced a total of 8 tornadoes, as well as large hail and damaging winds. The first five tornadoes all occurred with the same supercell thunderstorm. The first tornado touched down briefly 6 miles east southeast of Henryetta at 2100CST. No damage occurred with this F-0 tornado. The second tornado was another brief touchdown just west northwest of Hoffman at 2119CST. No damage occurred with this F-0 tornado. The third tornado was another brief touchdown 2.25 miles northeast of Council Hill at 2130CST. Trees were downed by this F-0 tornado. The fourth tornado touched down in a residential area 1 mile south of Okay at 2214CST. The tornado heavily damaged 2 homes and caused minor damage to 9 homes in the residential area. 5 mobile homes were also destroyed, and 5 other mobile homes were damaged. Several vehicles were either damaged or destroyed, numerous power poles were downed, and numerous trees were uprooted. The tornado continued east northeast for approximately 4.5 miles before lifting 4 miles east of Okay at 2221CST just before reaching the Fort Gibson Lake Dam. This tornado was 125 yards wide and was rated as an F-2. The fifth tornado touched down 2.5 miles south of Peggs at 2232CST. The tornado damaged a Free Will Baptist Church camp building and also damaged a barn and uprooted trees. This F-1 tornado was on the ground for 1/4 mile and was 50 yards wide. The sixth tornado touched down near Qualls at 2235CST and moved northeast for 7 miles before lifting 8 miles south of Tahlequah near the town of Keys at 2245CST. The tornado damaged Carter's Automotive Building 8 miles south of Tahlequah, and several vehicles were thrown a considerable distance from the building. The tornado also caused approximately $100,000 damage to a county solid waste plant in the same general area. This tornado was 200 yards wide and was rated as an F-2. The seventh tornado touched down 3 miles southeast of Stilwell at 2302CST and moved northeast for 1 mile before lifting 3 miles east southeast of Stilwell at 2304CST. The tornado destroyed 1 modular home, 1 mobile home, and 2 chicken houses, and caused minor damage to several other homes. This tornado was 75 yards wide and was rated as an F-1. The eighth tornado was spawned by the same storm which produced the first five tornadoes. It touched down briefly 3.5 miles northwest of Colcord at 2310CST. The tornado damaged the roof of 1 home and also damaged 3 barns. This tornado was 40 yards wide and was rated as an F-0. The storms also produced strong straight-line winds which caused considerable damage. Strong thunderstorm winds destroyed 2 mobile homes and damaged 4 other mobile homes at the Robinson Trailer Park 3 miles northeast of Sapulpa. 1 resident of the park suffered a back injury as a result of the storms. A mobile home was destroyed and a chicken house was damaged by strong thunderstorm winds 4 miles east of Stilwell, and strong winds damaged a trailer house near Council Hill. A house was damaged by high winds 2 miles south of Hulbert, and chicken houses were blown over in Rose. Thunderstorm winds estimated at 80 miles an hour in Muskogee blew the roofs off a couple buildings and knocked down light poles and large tree branches. A barn was destroyed, a window was blown out, and trees were downed by strong winds just southwest of Muskogee. Several roofs were blown off outbuildings and windows were blown out 3 miles west of Muskogee, and a chimney was blown off a roof and several large tree limbs were downed in Nowata. Strong thunderstorm winds blew a large tree onto the roof of a house in Avant, and the skirting was blown off a trailer and numerous trees were downed 4 miles north of Sand Springs. Strong thunderstorm winds damaged a brick building in Henryetta, blowing off bricks near the top of the building, and trees were blown down onto a house near Grove. Lines, trees, and an amateur radio tower were downed by strong winds 2 miles north of Oaks, and strong winds downed a large radio tower near Mannford. 60 mile an hour winds blew the windows out of a store and downed trees in Poteau, and up to 50 large trees were blown down just east of Eucha. Strong thunderstorm winds downed numerous trees from 2.5 miles south of Peggs to 3 miles east of Peggs, and 3 barns were destroyed 3 miles east of Peggs. Thunderstorm winds downed trees and power lines in Battiest, 3 miles south of Leach, and 2 miles north of Twin Oaks, and several trees were blown over onto power lines in Quapaw. A large tree was blown down 4 miles west of Sand Springs, and large tree limbs were blown down in Sand Springs and in Weleetka. Strong thunderstorm winds downed numerous large tree limbs in Bearden, and several large tree limbs were downed by strong winds near Big Cabin. Thunderstorm winds gusted to 70 miles an hour 3 miles west of Okay, to 67 miles an hour in Sapulpa, and to 65 miles miles an hour 5 miles southwest of Oologah. Thunderstorm winds gusted to 65 to 70 miles an hour at Sequoyah State Park 8 miles east of Wagoner, and to 60 to 70 miles an hour in Collinsville. Thunderstorm winds gusted to 60 miles an hour 7 miles west of Nowata, 8 miles west of Claremore, and at several locations in McIntosh County. Large hail also accompanied some of the storms. Half dollar size hail fell at Dewar, and nickel size hail fell at Hitchita, 10 miles west of Checotah, and at Fountainhead State Park 6 miles north of Eufaula. Dime size hail fell in Vera. Very heavy rainfall from the thunderstorms also resulted in flash flooding in parts of northeast Oklahoma. Street flooding occurred in the south and southeast parts of Osage County, 10 miles east of Terlton, and in Mannford. Street flooding also occurred in Muskogee, and U.S. Highway 69 was flooded 3 miles north of Muskogee. Streets were closed by flooding in Morris, and State Highway 62 was closed east of Morris due to 3 feet of water covering the roadway. Water also entered some garages and basements in Morris, and a bridge was damaged by flooding 2.25 miles south of Morris.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

17 minutes of warning. NWS TSA issued a tornado warning for this county at 04:53 UTC, 17 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 05:30 UTC.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 06:36 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

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.

Siloam Spring(Awos) (SLG), 25 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 74 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 05:07 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

The live radar over the trackEvery 1995 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

20 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

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