EF2 tornado, Yukon to Piedmont, Oklahoma, March 29, 2007

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. EF186 to 110 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. EF2111 to 135 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. 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.

5. EF4166 to 200 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. 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.

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

EF2

Date

March 29, 2007

Touchdown

4:05 PM CDT (21:05 UTC)

Lifted

4:25 PM CDT (21:25 UTC)

On the ground

20 minutes

Path length

7.5 miles (12.1 km)

Path width

50 yards (46 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

5

Property damage

$500,000

County

Canadian County

Touchdown point

35.500, -97.715

Lift-off point

35.631, -97.692

Record number

0703291505-01

Showers and thunderstorms developed during the morning hours over central Oklahoma. During the afternoon hours, thunderstorms began to show brief, but persistent signs of rotation, that later resulted in three tornadoes. The most significant tornado of the day struck the western Oklahoma City metro area, producing EF2 damage. Other tornadoes were reported near Okeene, and over northwest Garfield county. Damage was reported with each of these thunderstorms, which included roof damage, tree and power line damage, and automobile accidents. No fatalities were reported, but five direct injuries were reported in western Oklahoma City.

The tornado developed around 1505 CST near the intersection of NW 39th Street and Sara Road in western Oklahoma City, and moved north northeast. In this area several homes suffered roof and garage door damage. The tornado continued north along and just west of the Kilpatrick Turnpike. Significant damage was noted along NW 63rd Street, where a home was heavily damaged, several travel trailers and a boat were rolled and damaged. Several vehicles were also pushed by the wind.|Another area of significant damage was noted along Wilshire Blvd., just west of the Kilpatrick Turnpike. In this area a travel trailer was destroyed, with additional damage to a home and several outbuildings. Two people were directly injured in the travel trailer. In addition, several hardwood trees were snapped, indicative of EF2 damage.|The tornado appeared to have been at its widest toward the end of its path along Morgan Road just north of NW 122nd Street, and it was at this point along the path where the intensity appeared to have been at its highest. Several homes sustained significant roof and siding damage and several wooden power poles were snapped. A metal building was severely damaged. Just to the east of this location, three large electrical transmission towers were damaged. Spotty light damage continued a little further north before the tornado dissipated along Morgan Road north of Memorial Road at 1525 CST. Three additional people were directly injured on the Kilpatrick Turnpike. This EF2 tornado injured 5 people and caused an estimated half of a million dollars in damage.

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

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

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 Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:06 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), 6 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Norman radar (KTLX), 46 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:06 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.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2007 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

2 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.