Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 2001
F1 tornado, Maud, Oklahoma, April 11, 2001
This F1 tornado ran 5.0 miles across Pottawatomie County on April 11, 2001, touching down at 3:00 AM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $40,000 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 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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
- F1
- Date
- April 11, 2001
- Touchdown
- 3:00 AM CDT (08:00 UTC)
- Path length
- 5.0 miles (8.0 km)
- Path width
- 50 yards (46 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $40,000
- County
- Pottawatomie County
- Touchdown point
- 35.170, -96.830
- Lift-off point
- 35.230, -96.850
- Record number
- 610
What the Weather Service recorded
Six tornadoes across southern Oklahoma and one tornado across western north Texas developed during the overnight hours of the 11th. The most notable tornado formed across Coal County in Oklahoma and resulted in one fatality and one injury as it destroyed a mobile home. In addition to damage produced by severe thunderstorms, sustained winds of 40 to 50 mph with gusts as high as 73 mph developed just ahead of the most frequent period of severe weather and persisted for several hours. In Tillman County, at 2330 CST on the 10th, a barn roof was damaged 3 miles east of Frederick. A barn roof was blown off, and a fence was downed 4 miles east of Frederick, and a house roof sustained minor damage 4 miles north of Frederick. Trees and power lines were downed in Ponca City in Kay County, while in Garfield County, minor but widespread damage, was sustained to trees, power poles, and numerous other structures.
This tornado caused structural damage to oil pumping and storage equipment approximately 2 miles southwest of Harjo and structural damage to trailer homes 1 mile west of Harjo. The beginning and ending times of this tornado were listed incorrectly in the original version of storm data. The beginning time should be 0200 CST, while the ending time should be 0206 CST.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
4 minutes of warning. NWS OUN issued a tornado warning for this county at 07:56 UTC, 4 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 08:30 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 06:56 UTC | 07:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | OUN |
| 07:17 UTC | 07:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | OUN |
| 07:56 UTC | 08:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | OUN |
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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:29 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 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.
Norman, OK (KOUN), 00:00Z
8.0 hours before the tornado, 51 km from the path. April 11, 2001.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1767 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -45 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 1998 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 678 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 63 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 11 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 114 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 192 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.0
- Supercell composite
- 3.8
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.7 K/km
Norman, OK (KOUN), 12:00Z
4.0 hours after it, 51 km from the path. April 11, 2001.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -90859 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 3065 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 87 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 34 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -160 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 151 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.6 K/km
The surface observations
Shawnee Municipal Airport (SNL), 20 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 06:11 UTC | 68 | 64.4 | 160° 13 kt | 1003.4 | VCTS | |
| 06:34 UTC | 68 | 66.2 | 150° 10 kt | 1002.7 | -RA | |
| 06:51 UTC | 68 | 66.2 | 150° 10 kt | 1002.7 | VCTSRA | |
| 07:11 UTC | 68 | 66.2 | 160° 10 kt | 16 | 1002.4 | TSRA |
| 07:31 UTC | 360° | |||||
| 07:51 UTC | 66.2 | 64.4 | 190° 9 kt | 13 | 1001.4 | TSRA |
| 08:11 UTC | 68 | 66.2 | 150° 13 kt | 18 | 999.7 | -RA |
| 08:31 UTC | 68 | 64.4 | 170° 18 kt | 24 | 1000 | |
| 08:51 UTC | 68 | 66.2 | 150° 21 kt | 31 | 999.3 | -RA |
| 09:11 UTC | 68 | 66.2 | 160° 23 kt | 31 | 999 | -RA |
| 09:31 UTC | 68 | 66.2 | 160° 23 kt | 31 | 998 | VCTS |
| 09:51 UTC | 68 | 64.4 | 160° 25 kt | 34 | 998.6 | -VCTSDZ |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Norman radar (KTLX), 42 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 07:57 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 11, 2001
49 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 11 | 1:12 AM CDT | F0 | Webster, NE | 3.0 | 25 | $1,000 | ||
| April 11 | 1:14 AM CDT | F1 | Jewell, KS | 17.5 | 75 | $130,000 | ||
| April 11 | 1:30 AM CDT | F1 | Republic, KS | 10.0 | 75 | $20,000 | ||
| April 11 | 1:39 AM CDT | F1 | Nuckolls, NE | 12.0 | 300 | $40,000 | ||
| April 11 | 1:49 AM CDT | F1 | Thayer, NE | 1.0 | 75 | 1 | $30,000 | |
| April 11 | 1:55 AM CDT | F0 | Washington, KS | 6.0 | 75 | $10,000 | ||
| April 11 | 2:05 AM CDT | F1 | Washington, KS | 4.0 | 100 | $10,000 | ||
| April 11 | 2:30 AM CDT | F1 | Gage, NE | 1.0 | 40 | $150,000 | ||
| April 11 | 2:40 AM CDT | F2 | Gage, NE | 2.0 | 50 | 2 | $400,000 | |
| April 11 | 2:47 AM CDT | F1 | Cooke, TX | 5.5 | 50 | $10,000 | ||
| April 11 | 3:34 AM CDT | F1 | Cooke, TX | 7.8 | 100 | $10,000 | ||
| April 11 | 3:55 AM CDT | F1 | Cooke, TX to OK | 19.0 | 150 | $20,000 | ||
| April 11 | 4:40 AM CDT | F2 | Pontotoc, OK | 14.5 | 400 | $520,000 | ||
| April 11 | 4:45 AM CDT | F2 | Johnston, OK | 19.0 | 500 | 4 | $2.5 million | |
| April 11 | 4:47 AM CDT | F0 | Bryan, OK | 0.3 | 25 | $10,000 | ||
| April 11 | 5:25 AM CDT | F2 | Coal, OK | 13.0 | 200 | 1 | 1 | $80,000 |
| April 11 | 7:26 AM CDT | F1 | Haskell, OK | 3.0 | 400 | $100,000 | ||
| April 11 | 10:27 AM CDT | F0 | Cedar, MO | 0.1 | 10 | |||
| April 11 | 11:30 AM CDT | F3 | Worth, MO to IA | 76.5 | 500 | $1.9 million | ||
| April 11 | 12:15 PM CDT | F0 | Sarpy, NE | 0.1 | 30 | $10,000 | ||
| April 11 | 12:37 PM CDT | F0 | Mills, IA | 2.0 | 40 | $20,000 | ||
| April 11 | 12:45 PM CDT | F1 | Mills, IA | 2.0 | 40 | $50,000 | ||
| April 11 | 12:55 PM CDT | F1 | Pottawattamie, IA | 0.5 | 40 | $110,000 | ||
| April 11 | 12:55 PM CDT | F0 | Pottawattamie, IA | 2.0 | 30 | |||
| April 11 | 1:00 PM CDT | F0 | Pottawattamie, IA | 0.2 | 30 | |||
| April 11 | 1:30 PM CDT | F0 | Shelby, IA | 0.2 | 30 | $10,000 | ||
| April 11 | 1:37 PM CDT | F0 | Polk, IA | 0.5 | 35 | |||
| April 11 | 2:25 PM CDT | F1 | Guthrie, IA | 2.0 | 75 | $60,000 | ||
| April 11 | 2:45 PM CDT | F0 | Greene, IA | 0.5 | 25 | |||
| April 11 | 3:04 PM CDT | F0 | Boone, IA | 0.7 | 25 | $10,000 | ||
| April 11 | 3:05 PM CDT | F0 | Greene, IA | 1.0 | 35 | $10,000 | ||
| April 11 | 3:06 PM CDT | F1 | Boone, IA | 3.0 | 140 | $150,000 | ||
| April 11 | 3:10 PM CDT | F1 | Boone, IA | 4.0 | 40 | $70,000 | ||
| April 11 | 3:37 PM CDT | F0 | Webster, IA | 0.2 | 25 | $30,000 | ||
| April 11 | 3:38 PM CDT | F1 | Hamilton, IA | 2.2 | 50 | $70,000 | ||
| April 11 | 3:40 PM CDT | F1 | Jasper, IA | 17.5 | 45 | $10,000 | ||
| April 11 | 4:00 PM CDT | F2 | Wapello, IA | 8.4 | 100 | 2 | 3 | $400,000 |
| April 11 | 4:25 PM CDT | F0 | Keokuk, IA | 3.0 | 50 | $90,000 | ||
| April 11 | 4:40 PM CDT | F0 | Iowa, IA | 0.1 | 10 | |||
| April 11 | 4:50 PM CDT | F0 | Washington, IA | 0.1 | 10 | |||
| April 11 | 5:00 PM CDT | F0 | Johnson, IA | 2.0 | 50 | $30,000 | ||
| April 11 | 5:02 PM CDT | F0 | Johnson, IA | 0.1 | 10 | |||
| April 11 | 5:07 PM CDT | F1 | Black Hawk, IA | 10.0 | 50 | $120,000 | ||
| April 11 | 5:20 PM CDT | F0 | Johnson, IA | 0.1 | 10 | |||
| April 11 | 5:20 PM CDT | F0 | Linn, IA | 0.1 | 10 | |||
| April 11 | 5:20 PM CDT | F0 | Benton, IA | 0.1 | 10 | $20,000 | ||
| April 11 | 5:50 PM CDT | F1 | Fayette, IA | 2.0 | 75 | 1 | $40,000 | |
| April 11 | 7:40 PM EDT | F0 | Muskegon, MI | 0.1 | 20 | |||
| April 11 | 7:42 PM EDT | F0 | Ottawa, MI | 0.1 | 20 |
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.