F1 tornado, Carmen, Oklahoma, May 25, 2000

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 mphthis tornado

   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

F1

Date

May 25, 2000

Touchdown

11:53 PM CDT (04:53 UTC)

Path length

7.0 miles (11.3 km)

Path width

50 yards (46 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$10,000

County

Alfalfa County

Touchdown point

36.580, -98.370

Lift-off point

36.650, -98.300

Record number

910

Severe thunderstorms first developed across portions of western and northern Oklahoma during the evening of the 25th, resulting in 4 confirmed tornadoes, one rated F2, and other areas of straight-line wind damage and large hail. Then during the early morning hours of the 26th, a line of severe thunderstorms formed across southwest Oklahoma and raced eastward into southeast Oklahoma, resulting in widespread damage from winds estimated between 80 and 100 mph at times.

This tornado, rated F1, touched down about 5 miles east of Carmen about ½ mile south of the intersection of EW29 Road and NS260 Road in Alfalfa County where scattered damage to trees was observed. At the intersection of EW29 Road and NS260 Road, very large limbs, some a foot or more in diameter, were blown off dozens of trees, while numerous other trees were pushed over. There was also damage to an oil storage tank made of metal. A telephone pole at the intersection was recently replaced and is assumed to have been downed during the tornado. A west to east chain link fence approximately 100 to 200 feet long was also downed southward. Major tree damage was then observed at a property about ½ mile northeast of this location with many trees laying in a westward direction. A well-designed brick home near the trees, lost dozens perhaps hundreds of shingles, especially on the west side of the house. About 1 mile northeast of this location another house sustained a broken window on the north side of the house and minor roof damage, consisting mostly of missing roof shingles. Metal siding was partially peeled back from a nearby storage barn, and a medium-aged pine tree on the west side of the house was snapped halfway to the top. Near the intersection of EW27 Road and NS262 Road damage was observed to 2 metal barns. One barn had sheet metal peeled back on the roof and west and east sides. The roof of a storage building was also blown off in an eastward direction and left nearly intact on the ground. About ½ to 1 mile north and east of this location a poorly constructed barn sustained minor roof and west-side wall damage, while another barn constructed of metal had its 2 west-facing doors blown inward and partially detached from its hinges. Continuing northward trees sustained major damage, and a grain storage silo was tossed a short distance eastward from its original location. The last area of damage was observed about ½ mile north of US Highway 64 on NS264 Road where 4 pieces of sheet metal were blown off a storage barn.

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

22 minutes of warning. NWS OUN issued a tornado warning for this county at 04:31 UTC, 22 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 05:00 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 Slight Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 01:08 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.

Vance Afb/Enid (END), 48 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Vance AFB radar (KVNX), 23 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 04:54 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 2000 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

12 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.