EF0 tornado, Hillsdale to Nash, Oklahoma, March 29, 2007

1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

   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 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. 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

EF0

Date

March 29, 2007

Touchdown

4:20 PM CDT (21:20 UTC)

Lifted

4:30 PM CDT (21:30 UTC)

On the ground

10 minutes

Path length

3.0 miles (4.8 km)

Path width

20 yards (18 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$30,000

Counties

Garfield and Grant counties

Touchdown point

36.570, -98.034

Lift-off point

36.617, -98.022

Record number

0703291520-01

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 initially touched down 3 miles west of Hillsdale causing damage. Several trees had been snapped and large limbs were broken. A wooden shed had parts of its roof and part of an overhang removed. The pieces of the overhang and roof were lying to the south 200 ft and to the east about 250 ft. Several sections of a metal gate (the sections were not attached to any fence) were blown approximately 25 feet. A small hay shed was also destroyed during the storm. One mile north of this location a metal gate had been blown over. The tornado moved north, crossing into Grant county before lifting 4 miles SSE of Nash. The tornado in Garfield produced EF0 damage, causing an estimated $15 thousand in damages. |

This tornado originally began 3 miles west of Hillsdale in Garfield county and crossed into Grant county 5 miles SSE of Nash. This tornado continued for one mile before lifting. Most of the damage was found around a farm 4 miles SSE of Nash, with the majority of the damage to trees. Two trees in a farm field were uprooted. A large portion of a roof to an outbuilding was found approximately 500 feet from the most probable origin (the home owner did not want pictures of the house/around the house to be taken and the survey complied). Other debris from outbuildings was found in the same area, including two feeders (troughs) with one hanging from a tree. An aluminum/vinyl barn was also damaged. Part of the vinyl covering was found approximately 1/4 mile from the barn. This portion of the tornado also produced EF0 damage, with estimated costs of $15 thousand.

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.

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.

The Vance AFB radar (KVNX), 19 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:20 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.