Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 2004

F0 tornado, Kellyville to Sapulpa, Oklahoma, May 29, 2004

From Kellyville to Sapulpa, this F0 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Creek County on May 29, 2004, touching down at 12:33 AM CDT and reaching 75 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $10,000 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.

  1. F040 to 72 mphthis tornado

    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 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.

The record

Rating
F0
Date
May 29, 2004
Touchdown
12:33 AM CDT (05:33 UTC)
Path length
0.1 miles (0.2 km)
Path width
75 yards (69 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$10,000
County
Creek County
Touchdown point
35.970, -96.130
Lift-off point
35.970, -96.130
Record number
985

What the Weather Service recorded

Another tornado was produced by the storm which produced tornadoes earlier in the vicinity of Depew and Bristow. This tornado went to the west and north of Kellyville producing F1 damage to mainly trees and power poles.

The storm which produced other tornadoes across Creek County earlier produced a brief tornado to the southwest of Sapulpa. This tornado destroyed a barn.

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

The warnings

25 minutes of warning. NWS TSA issued a tornado warning for this county at 05:08 UTC, 25 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 06:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
03:42 UTC04:45 UTCTornado WarningTSA
04:30 UTC05:30 UTCTornado WarningTSA
05:08 UTC06:00 UTCTornado WarningTSA

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 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 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.

Lamont, OK (KLMN), 00:00Z

5.6 hours before the tornado, 141 km from the path. May 30, 2004.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lamont, OK at 00:00Z on 2004-05-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 3494 joules per kilogram, CIN -56, lifted condensation level 992 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Lamont, OK at 00:00Z on 2004-05-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 195 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 42 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
3494 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-56 J/kg
Surface CAPE
3787 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
992 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
195 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
402 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
7.0
Supercell composite
22.4
0-3 km lapse rate
6.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Lamont, OK (KLMN), 12:00Z

6.4 hours after it, 141 km from the path. May 30, 2004.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lamont, OK at 12:00Z on 2004-05-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 550 joules per kilogram, CIN -301, lifted condensation level 1014 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Lamont, OK at 12:00Z on 2004-05-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 74 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 56 knots.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
550 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-301 J/kg
Surface CAPE
53 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1014 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
74 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
68 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.4
0-3 km lapse rate
4.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Tulsa/Lloyd Jones (RVS), 15 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
03:42 UTC80.673.4160° 11 kt1001
03:53 UTC8173160° 12 kt1001VCTS
04:08 UTC80.673.4170° 10 kt1001.4VCTS
04:53 UTC7874260° 4 kt1002.7TSRA BR
05:05 UTC75.273.4 4 kt1002.7+TSRA BR
05:16 UTC75.273.4310° 6 kt1002.7+TSRA BR
05:26 UTC73.473.4340° 12 kt181002+TSRA BR
05:53 UTC7068350° 12 kt201002+TSRA BR
05:58 UTC69.86850° 7 kt201001.4-TSRA BR
06:06 UTC71.66870° 11 kt1001.4TS
06:53 UTC7471150° 7 kt999.7

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

The radar

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 56 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 05:32 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 2004 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 29, 2004

77 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 294:21 PM CDTF0Lincoln, NE1.020
May 294:30 PM CDTF1Lincoln, NE1.040$120,000
May 294:43 PM CDTF0Mitchell, KS0.150
May 294:55 PM CDTF0Custer, NE0.210
May 294:55 PM CDTF0Custer, NE0.110
May 294:55 PM CDTF0Lincoln, NE0.210
May 295:04 PM CDTF0Lincoln, NE0.110
May 295:06 PM CDTF0Custer, NE0.220
May 295:08 PM CDTF0McIntosh, ND0.020
May 295:10 PM CDTF0Dawson, NE0.150
May 295:14 PM CDTF1McIntosh, ND3.060
May 295:25 PM CDTF0Custer, NE0.110
May 295:30 PM CDTF0Holt, NE0.110
May 295:30 PM CDTF0Thayer, NE0.150
May 295:33 PM CDTF0Holt, NE0.110
May 295:33 PM CDTF0Holt, NE0.210$10,000
May 295:53 PM CDTF0Loup, NE0.110
May 295:57 PM CDTF1Cloud, KS4.0200$180,000
May 296:08 PM CDTF0Brown, SD0.110
May 296:11 PM CDTF2Cloud, KS5.0200$2.1 million
May 296:20 PM CDTF1Republic, KS1.0100
May 296:22 PM CDTF0Brown, SD0.330
May 296:23 PM CDTF0Edmunds, SD1.530
May 296:25 PM CDTF1Cloud, KS2.0100
May 296:28 PM CDTF1Republic, KS3.5200$3.2 million
May 296:29 PM CDTF0Custer, OK6.0200$1,000
May 296:30 PM CDTF3Buchanan, MO7.0400$30,000
May 296:35 PM CDTF0Edmunds, SD1.530
May 296:45 PM CDTF0Republic, KS0.550
May 297:17 PM CDTF0Harper, KS0.540
May 297:17 PM CDTF2Blaine, OK19.71,760$2.5 million
May 297:20 PM CDTF0Republic, KS1.050
May 297:20 PM CDTF0Republic, KS1.050
May 297:25 PM CDTF1Harper, KS6.075$50,000
May 297:28 PM CDTF0Marshall, KS1.075$10,000
May 297:30 PM CDTF0Gage, NE0.150
May 297:35 PM CDTF0Clinton, MO1.075
May 297:36 PM CDTF0Republic, KS1.075
May 297:39 PM CDTF0Leflore, MS2.050
May 297:43 PM CDTF2Harper, KS8.0500$180,000
May 297:50 PM CDTF0Republic, KS1.050
May 297:56 PM CDTF1Republic, KS0.5100$50,000
May 298:00 PM CDTF0Harper, KS0.540
May 298:04 PM CDTF1Canadian, OK4.550$30,000
May 298:05 PM CDTF0Buchanan, MO0.250
May 298:09 PM CDTF0Republic, KS0.250$10,000
May 298:10 PM CDTF1Marshall, KS1.075
May 298:13 PM CDTF0Pawnee, NE0.2100
May 298:14 PM CDTF1Canadian, OK2.020$10,000
May 298:15 PM CDTF0Lincoln, NE0.120
May 298:19 PM CDTF1Harper, KS2.5440$1.2 million
May 298:22 PM CDTF0Canadian, OK0.120
May 298:25 PM CDTF0Republic, KS1.050
May 298:28 PM CDTF1Sumner, KS6.0500$250,000
May 298:30 PM CDTF1Hickman, KY5.4100
May 298:32 PM CDTF0Sumner, KS1.060$30,000
May 298:32 PM CDTF0Republic, KS0.550
May 298:35 PM CDTF0Washington, KS1.050
May 298:40 PM CDTF1Clinton, MO20.0150$30,000
May 298:42 PM CDTF3Sumner, KS2.56001$18 million

All 78 of them

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.