F1 tornado, Calumet to Concho, Oklahoma, May 29, 2004

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 29, 2004

Touchdown

8:14 PM CDT (01:14 UTC)

Path length

2.0 miles (3.2 km)

Path width

20 yards (18 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$10,000

County

Canadian County

Touchdown point

35.650, -98.080

Lift-off point

35.630, -98.050

Record number

950

On this day one supercell thunderstorm produced all the tornadoes in the state of Oklahoma and a majority of the extremely large hail. This storm began in extreme west central Oklahoma, moved through center sections of the state, and ended in extreme eastern Oklahoma. The storm affected portions of both the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metropolitan areas.

The tornado, 2.5 N of Geary in Blaine county, crossed into Canadian County at 1838 CST. Damage remained confined to the right side of the track of the circulation center. The tornado and the parent mesocyclone then turned to the NE, inflicting F1 and low-F2 damage to several rural homes northeast of Geary. Seven miles NE of Geary, the center turned back to the E at 1852, paralleling 220th Street (EW91 Road) for about 2 miles. It then turned to the NE at 1902 and eventually to the N by 1908. The tornado was wrapped in rain during its entire latter stages, and therefore was not visible. Doppler on Wheels (DOW) data indicate that the tornadic circulation crossed into Kingfisher County 11 miles west of Okarche.One farmstead, approximately 5-6 miles northeast of Geary, received heavy damage with the 100 year old farmhouse sustaining substantial damage and several outbuildings and barns destroyed.

This anti-cyclonic tornado formed from a new lowering that first developed WNW of Calumet. Unlike the earlier tornadoes, this one was not wrapped in rain and was documented visually by numerous spotters as well as the Doppler On Wheels (DOW). The tornadic circulation first formed at 1902 about 2 miles NNW of Calumet, based on DOW data, but spotters observed only a funnel cloud until debris was observed at 1904, 2 miles north of Calumet. The tornado tracked generally east near EW95 Road, with occasional jogs to the NE and SE. It ended 4-5 miles NE of Calumet at 1914 CST. This tornado was visible mainly as a debris cloud on the ground; the condensation funnel reached the ground only briefly at 1904 and again at 1910, otherwise it either remained aloft or was non-existent. The tornado had multiple vortices briefly.Two permanent homes received damage. One home towards the beginning of the tornado sustained minor roof damage with shingles blown off. Another home had an enclosure, that was built over the pool, destroyed. A nearby manufactured home also showed damage to its siding, roof, and windows. Damage was estimated at low end to middle F1.

This tornado, also anti-cyclonic, formed about 1 mile NW of the previous tornado (4.5 ENE Calumet) shortly after the latter dissipated. It touched down intermittently as it moved ESE, lifting 4 miles NW of Concho at 1920 after forming a very brief, needle-like condensation funnel seen by spotters and caught on video by local media (KWTV Ch. 9). Damage was reported by spotters at a location 3 miles north and 4 miles east of Calumet.

This brief tornado was observed at close range by spotters 2 miles NW of Concho. It likely originated from the same parent circulation that produced the previous two anti-cyclonic tornadoes near Calumet and WNW of Concho, but was likely a separate event. No damage was reported.

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

30 minutes of warning. NWS OUN issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:44 UTC, 30 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:15 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, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 01:02 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.

Oklahoma City/Wiley (PWA), 40 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Norman radar (KTLX), 79 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:14 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 2004 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

77 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 78 of them

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.