F2 tornado, Waynoka to Carmen, Oklahoma, April 17, 2002

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 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.

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

F2

Date

April 17, 2002

Touchdown

12:27 AM CDT (05:27 UTC)

Path length

34.0 miles (54.7 km)

Path width

1,500 yards (1372 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

1

Property damage

$110,000

Counties

Major, Woods and Alfalfa counties

Touchdown point

36.430, -98.730

Lift-off point

36.780, -98.420

Record number

515

Numerous severe thunderstorms were observed over western Oklahoma during the afternoon and evening of the 17th and early morning of the 18th. Four tornadoes were confirmed, and there were several reports of very large hail, even one report of softball size hail (4.5 inches in diameter). The tornadoes were at night with the largest tornado, believed to be up to one mile wide, causing a maximum of F2 damage over a 34 mile path across northwest Oklahoma. Another tornado resulted in F3 damage.

This tornado is a continuation of the tornado that moved out of Major County at 0032 CST. The tornado curved to the right as it crossed the Cimarron River and moved northeastward for 15 miles before entering Alfalfa County at 0005 CST on April 18th. In Woods County, about 2 miles southwest of the intersection of State Highway 45 and the Woods County line, the roof of a trailer house was completely removed, and an exterior wall on the northeast side of the house was badly damaged and partially removed from the structure. The owner of the house received minor abrasions to his arm. Across the road from the house, a barn was unroofed, and most of the walls were destroyed. Otherwise, only tree damage was observed across Woods County.

This tornado is a continuation of the tornado that developed in Major County and moved through Woods County. The tornado tracked for another 15 miles in Alfalfa County before dissipating 2 miles southwest of Ingersoll. As the tornado entered Alfalfa County, damage was sustained to outbuildings, trees and power lines, along State Highway 45 to the west of Carmen. Large trees were uprooted or snapped, and a windmill was destroyed along EW 25 Road to the east of NS 253 Road, or about 4.5 miles southwest of Lambert. Along the west side of NS 255 Road, between EW 23 Road and EW 22 Road (about 2.5 miles west of Lambert), a barn roof was removed as was the west section of the barn. Numerous power poles were snapped along EW 22 Road in a ½ mile area to the east of NS 255 Road. Several high-tension power poles were damaged or destroyed west of NS 256 Road and south of EW 21 Road. Significant tree damage and a couple of destroyed outbuildings were observed at the northeast corner of EW 20 and NS 256 Roads, about 5.5 miles southwest of Cherokee. The tornado continued north-northeast with the last damage observed along EW 17 Road just east of NS 257 Road, 2 miles southwest of Ingersoll, or about 4 miles west-northwest of Cherokee.In total, the tornado persisted for 62 minutes and traveled 34 miles.

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

34 minutes of warning. NWS OUN issued a tornado warning for this county at 04:53 UTC, 34 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 no categorical risk area, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:48 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.

Alva Regional Airport (AVK), 21 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The live radar over the trackEvery 2002 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

5 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.