Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 2001
F2 tornado, Balko, Oklahoma, April 10, 2001
This F2 tornado ran 12.0 miles across Beaver County on April 10, 2001, touching down at 11:40 PM CDT and reaching 200 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $450,000 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.
F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
F2113 to 157 mphthis tornado
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.
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.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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
- F2
- Date
- April 10, 2001
- Touchdown
- 11:40 PM CDT (04:40 UTC)
- Path length
- 12.0 miles (19.3 km)
- Path width
- 200 yards (183 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $450,000
- County
- Beaver County
- Touchdown point
- 36.520, -100.680
- Lift-off point
- 36.680, -100.520
- Record number
- 700
What the Weather Service recorded
Severe thunderstorms with large hail...damaging winds...and tornadoes affected much of the Oklahoma panhandle during the evening hours. A total of one hundred and twenty-two power poles were blown down due to the wind and tornadoes in Beaver county alone.
An official storm damage survey was made and the tornado path length and width were estimated. Extensive damage to two homes...several barns...farm equipment...power poles...trees and a windmill.
An official storm damage survey was made and the tornado path length and width were estimated. The tornado destroyed at least two barns...some farm equipment...uprooted large trees and snapped power poles.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 04:06 UTC | 05:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA |
| 04:37 UTC | 05:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA |
| 05:18 UTC | 05:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | AMA |
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 forecast that day
The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 00:45 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 surface observations
Liberal_muni (LBL), 59 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02:55 UTC | 66.2 | 66.2 | 150° 24 kt | 36 | 992.2 | |
| 03:15 UTC | 66.2 | 66.2 | 160° 34 kt | 42 | 992.2 | |
| 03:35 UTC | 66.2 | 66.2 | 160° 35 kt | 42 | 992.6 | |
| 03:55 UTC | 66.2 | 66.2 | 170° 26 kt | 39 | 992.6 | |
| 04:15 UTC | 64.4 | 180° 22 kt | 36 | 993.6 | ||
| 04:35 UTC | 60.8 | 210° 22 kt | 28 | 993.6 | ||
| 04:55 UTC | 48.2 | 48.2 | 220° 21 kt | 43 | 994.2 | |
| 05:15 UTC | 50 | 220° 13 kt | 993.9 | |||
| 05:35 UTC | 51.8 | 200° 10 kt | 993.9 | |||
| 05:55 UTC | 53.6 | 53.6 | 200° 13 kt | 993.9 | ||
| 06:15 UTC | 51.8 | 50 | 210° 14 kt | 993.6 | ||
| 06:35 UTC | 51.8 | 51.8 | 210° 14 kt | 993.2 |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 141 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 04:37 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.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2001 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of April 10, 2001
28 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 10 | 5:20 PM CDT | F1 | Johnson, MO | 8.0 | 75 | $2.0 million | ||
| April 10 | 5:45 PM CDT | F1 | Pettis, MO | 10.0 | 75 | $50,000 | ||
| April 10 | 6:11 PM CDT | F1 | Cooper, MO | 5.0 | 50 | $30,000 | ||
| April 10 | 6:47 PM CDT | F0 | Moniteau, MO | 0.1 | 25 | |||
| April 10 | 7:20 PM CDT | F1 | Callaway, MO | 3.0 | 100 | 1 | 2 | $70,000 |
| April 10 | 8:20 PM CDT | F0 | Warren, MO | 0.1 | 50 | $20,000 | ||
| April 10 | 8:30 PM CDT | F0 | Saint Charles, MO | 4.0 | 50 | |||
| April 10 | 8:45 PM CDT | F1 | Saint Charles, MO | 1.0 | 100 | $5.0 million | ||
| April 10 | 9:35 PM CDT | F1 | Madison, IL | 2.0 | 100 | 1 | $5.0 million | |
| April 10 | 9:42 PM CDT | F1 | Kearny, KS | 5.1 | 150 | $150,000 | ||
| April 10 | 10:22 PM CDT | F1 | Carson, TX | 1.5 | 100 | $70,000 | ||
| April 10 | 11:06 PM CDT | F2 | Hansford, TX | 4.0 | 200 | 2 | $750,000 | |
| April 10 | 11:08 PM CDT | F2 | Trego, KS | 40.1 | 400 | $750,000 | ||
| April 10 | 11:35 PM CDT | F1 | Rooks, KS | 14.0 | 300 | $100,000 | ||
| April 10 | 11:45 PM CDT | F0 | Rooks, KS | 3.0 | 75 | 1 | $100,000 | |
| April 10 | 12:00 AM CDT | F1 | Beaver, OK | 6.0 | 100 | $250,000 | ||
| April 10 | 12:05 AM CDT | F1 | Osborne, KS | 9.0 | 100 | $150,000 | ||
| April 10 | 12:10 AM CDT | F2 | Ford, KS | 17.3 | 380 | $190,000 | ||
| April 10 | 12:10 AM CDT | F0 | Beaver, OK | 2.0 | 50 | $100,000 | ||
| April 10 | 12:17 AM CDT | F2 | Wheeler, TX | 6.0 | 200 | $150,000 | ||
| April 10 | 12:24 AM CDT | F1 | Smith, KS | 4.0 | 100 | $70,000 | ||
| April 10 | 12:25 AM CDT | F1 | Osborne, KS | 2.0 | 75 | $50,000 | ||
| April 10 | 12:25 AM CDT | F1 | Osborne, KS | 13.0 | 200 | $160,000 | ||
| April 10 | 12:39 AM CDT | F2 | Ford, KS | 10.0 | 200 | $420,000 | ||
| April 10 | 12:46 AM CDT | F1 | Wichita, TX | 4.5 | 100 | $150,000 | ||
| April 10 | 12:48 AM CDT | F1 | Ford, KS | 9.6 | 150 | $170,000 | ||
| April 10 | 12:49 AM CDT | F0 | Smith, KS | 3.5 | 50 | $10,000 | ||
| April 10 | 12:57 AM CDT | F0 | Edwards, KS | 7.4 | 100 |
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.