Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 2007
EF0 tornado, Pawhuska, Oklahoma, April 24, 2007
This EF0 tornado ran 5.5 miles across Osage County on April 24, 2007, touching down at 3:27 PM CDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody.
The rating scale
Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.
EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
EF2111 to 135 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.
EF3136 to 165 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
EF5over 200 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
- EF0
- Date
- April 24, 2007
- Touchdown
- 3:27 PM CDT (20:27 UTC)
- Lifted
- 3:35 PM CDT (20:35 UTC)
- On the ground
- 8 minutes
- Path length
- 5.5 miles (8.8 km)
- Path width
- 100 yards (91 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Osage County
- Touchdown point
- 36.703, -96.430
- Lift-off point
- 36.731, -96.406
- Record number
- 0704241427-01
What the Weather Service recorded
A strong storm system translated into the Southern Plains on the 24th from the Southern Rockies. As the system approached, a dry line shifted into central Oklahoma. With warm, moist and unstable air along and ahead of the dry line, thunderstorms erupted and moved northeast into eastern Oklahoma during the afternoon. Other severe thunderstorms moved into eastern Oklahoma from north central Texas.
A storm chaser for KOTV reported a tornado over open country.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Tulsa, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Apr 24, 2:05 PM CDT, 1 hour 22 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 24, 2:05 PM CDT, 1 hour 22 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 205 PM CDT TUE APR 24 2007 .MESOSCALE UPDATE... SUPERCELLS HAVE DEVELOPED IN NORTH-CENTRAL TEXAS WITHIN THE SUB-TROPICAL JET REGIME. SUPERCELLS WILL LIKELY SPREAD INTO SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA DURING LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. STRONG LOW-LEVEL SHEAR NEAR 30 KNOTS IN THE 0 TO 1 KM LAYER WILL SUPPORT A TORNADO THREAT. && .TSA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OK...NONE. AR...NONE. && SHORT TERM...08
Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 24, 2:40 PM CDT, 47 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
240 PM CDT TUE APR 24 2007
ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-251000-
ADAIR OK-BENTON AR-CARROLL AR-CHEROKEE OK-CHOCTAW OK-CRAIG OK-
CRAWFORD AR-CREEK OK-DELAWARE OK-FRANKLIN AR-HASKELL OK-LATIMER OK-
LE FLORE OK-MADISON AR-MAYES OK-MCINTOSH OK-MUSKOGEE OK-NOWATA OK-
OKFUSKEE OK-OKMULGEE OK-OSAGE OK-OTTAWA OK-PAWNEE OK-PITTSBURG OK-
PUSHMATAHA OK-ROGERS OK-SEBASTIAN AR-SEQUOYAH OK-TULSA OK-WAGONER OK-
WASHINGTON OK-WASHINGTON AR-
240 PM CDT TUE APR 24 2007
...WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT...
THIS OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS AS WELL AS
MUCH OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA.
.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT.
TORNADO.
RISK...ELEVATED.
AREA...EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS .
ONSET...AFTER 2 PM .
AREA AT GREATEST RISK...SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA...MAINLY SOUTH OF
INTERSTATE 40.
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM.
RISK...ELEVATED.
AREA...EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS .
ONSET... AFTER 2 PM .
AREA AT GREATEST RISK...EASTERN OKLAHOMA.
DISCUSSION...
A STRONG UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM WAS LOCATED OVER NORTHERN NEW MEXICO EARLY
THIS AFTERNOON. A SURFACE DRY LINE EXTENDED ACROSS WESTERN
OKLAHOMA. ELEVATED STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS HAD DEVELOPED EARLY
THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS WESTERN OKLAHOMA IN AN AREA OF UPPER
DIFFLUENCE...RESULTING FROM A SUBTROPICAL JET TO THE EAST AND
THE APPROACHING UPPER LOW TO THE WEST. OTHER ELEVATED STORMS WERE
DEVELOPING ACROSS NORTHEAST TEXAS AND WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHEAST
OKLAHOMA THIS AFTERNOON. A STRONG CAP IN PLACE THUS FAR HAS
PRECLUDED STORMS FROM BECOMING SURFACE BASED. AS THE AFTERNOON
PROGRESSES...THIS CAP IS EXPECTED TO WEAKEN AS A RESULT OF ONGOING
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY AND THE APPROACHING UPPER LOW. MUCH
UNCERTAINTY EXISTS AS TO HOW FAR THE DRY LINE WILL PROGRESS
EAST...AS THIS FEATURE IS EXPECTED TO BE A PRIMARY FOCUS FOR ANY
SURFACE BASED STORMS FOR THE AFTERNOON AND OVERNIGHT. ONGOING
STORMS ACROSS WESTERN AND CENTRAL OKLAHOMA THAT MOVE INTO
NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA...AS WELL AS ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT ACROSS
SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME SURFACE BASED
DESPITE BEING WELL REMOVED FROM THE BOUNDARY. GIVEN THE
INSTABILITY AND SHEAR IN PLACE...ESPECIALLY SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA
WHERE SHEAR AN INSTABILITY ARE MAXIMIZED...ANY STORM THAT BECOMES
SURFACE BASED WILL LIKELY BECOME SUPERCELLULAR WHICH WILL RESULT
IN STRONG ROTATING UPDRAFTS SUPPORTIVE OF LARGE HAIL...AS WELL AS
TORNADIC DEVELOPMENT.
ADDITIONAL SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP IN TEXAS
OVERNIGHT...WITH THE ACTIVITY POSSIBLY AFFECTING PORTIONS OF
SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AFTER MIDNIGHT.
SPOTTER AND EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT ACTION STATEMENT... EMERGENCY MANAGERS SHOULD ENSURE
THAT STAFF IS PREPARED FOR ACTIVATION BY MID TO LATE AFTERNOON.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY.
WEDNESDAY...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL.
THURSDAY...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL.
FRIDAY...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL.
SATURDAY...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL.
SUNDAY...NO HAZARDS.
MONDAY...NO HAZARDS.
EXTENDED DISCUSSION...
HE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT WILL CONTINUE ON WEDNESDAY AS THE DRY LINE
PUSHES INTO THE AREA AND THE UPPER LOW TRACKS ACROSS NORTHEAST
OKLAHOMA. THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON
ALONG THE DRY LINE...WITH ADDITIONAL STORMS POSSIBLE WITH THE COLD
CORE OF THE UPPER LOW. LARGE HAIL WILL BE THE PRIMARY SEVERE WEATHER
THREAT.
THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE LATE THIS WEEK AND INTO THE WEEKEND AS
ANOTHER UPPER LOW MOVES ACROSS THE AREA.
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PLANNING STATEMENT...
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SHOULD PREPARE FOR ACTIVATION WEDNESDAY
AFTERNOON.
WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TULSA CONTAINS ADDITIONAL TABULAR AND GRAPHICAL
INFORMATION.In the hours before
Special weather statement, Apr 24, 1:52 PM CDT, 1 hour 35 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
152 PM CDT TUE APR 24 2007
OKZ054-059-241945-
OSAGE OK-PAWNEE OK-
152 PM CDT TUE APR 24 2007
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TULSA HAS ISSUED A
SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT EFFECTIVE UNTIL 245 PM CDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES:
IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA
WESTERN OSAGE AND PAWNEE
AT 150 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED SEVERAL STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
OVER NOBLE AND PAYNE COUNTIES...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.
SOME LOCATIONS THAT WILL BE AFFECTED BY THESE STORMS INCLUDE...
SHIDLER...FAIRFAX...BURBANK...APPERSON...WEBB CITY...PEARSONIA...
FORAKER...GRAINOLA...PAWNEE...MARAMEC...BLACKBURN...SKEDEE AND
RALSTON.
THESE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING SMALL HAIL AND WIND GUSTS
TO 40 MPH. RESIDENTS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT IN CASE THE
SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT IS UPGRADED TO A WARNING.Special weather statement, Apr 24, 3:27 PM CDT, 0 minutes before
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</html>The surface observations
Bartlesville/Philli (BVO), 37 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00 UTC |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Tulsa radar (KINX), 97 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:27 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 2007 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of April 24, 2007
22 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 24 | 11:58 AM MDT | EF0 | Cheyenne, CO | 0.5 | 10 | $25,000 | ||
| April 24 | 12:15 PM MDT | EF0 | Cheyenne, CO | 4.0 | 25 | |||
| April 24 | 12:38 PM MDT | EF0 | Lincoln, CO | 2.0 | 50 | |||
| April 24 | 12:58 PM MDT | EF0 | Lincoln, CO | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| April 24 | 2:00 PM CDT | EF1 | Hood, TX | 0.5 | 50 | $200,000 | ||
| April 24 | 2:20 PM CDT | EF0 | Denton, TX | 1.0 | 50 | $40,000 | ||
| April 24 | 1:26 PM MDT | EF1 | Cheyenne, CO | 4.5 | 25 | $1,000 | ||
| April 24 | 1:37 PM MDT | EF0 | Cheyenne, CO | 4.0 | 25 | |||
| April 24 | 1:48 PM MDT | EF0 | Wallace, KS | 0.5 | 10 | |||
| April 24 | 1:55 PM MDT | EF0 | Cheyenne, CO | 5.0 | 50 | |||
| April 24 | 2:00 PM MDT | EF0 | Cheyenne, CO | 0.5 | 10 | |||
| April 24 | 2:00 PM MDT | EF0 | Cheyenne, CO | 0.5 | 10 | |||
| April 24 | 6:20 PM CDT | EF0 | Barton, MO | 2.8 | 25 | $5,000 | ||
| April 24 | 7:01 PM CDT | EF0 | Reno, KS | 0.0 | 25 | |||
| April 24 | 7:01 PM CDT | EF3 | Maverick, TX | 4.0 | 400 | 7 | $80 million | |
| April 24 | 7:09 PM CDT | EF0 | Reno, KS | 0.0 | 25 | |||
| April 24 | 7:12 PM CDT | EF0 | Reno, KS | 0.0 | 25 | |||
| April 24 | 7:14 PM CDT | EF0 | Reno, KS | 0.0 | 25 | |||
| April 24 | 7:16 PM CDT | EF0 | Reno, KS | 0.0 | 25 | |||
| April 24 | 7:19 PM CDT | EF1 | Denton, TX | 2.5 | 50 | $100,000 | ||
| April 24 | 7:29 PM CDT | EF0 | Reno, KS | 0.0 | 25 | |||
| April 24 | 7:43 PM CDT | EF1 | Franklin, AR | 1.0 | 100 | $125,000 |
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.