Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 2008

EF0 tornado, Council Hill, Oklahoma, March 27, 2008

This EF0 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Muskogee County on March 27, 2008, touching down at 6:32 PM CDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $125,000 of property damage.

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.

  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.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
March 27, 2008
Touchdown
6:32 PM CDT (23:32 UTC)
Path length
0.1 miles (0.2 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$125,000
County
Muskogee County
Touchdown point
35.550, -95.650
Lift-off point
35.550, -95.650
Record number
0803271732-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Severe thunderstorms occurred across a large part of Eastern Oklahoma on the evening of March 27th.

A tornado developed in Council Hill and moved east southeast, dissipating over open country in McIntosh County. The tornado damaged the roof of a church, damaged the roofs of several homes, and caused tree damage in Council Hill.

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

The warnings

10 minutes of warning. NWS TSA issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:22 UTC, 10 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:15 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 21:39 UTC and running to 04:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
21:39 UTC04:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchTSA
23:12 UTC00:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSA
23:22 UTC00:15 UTCTornado WarningTSA
23:34 UTC00:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSA
00:07 UTC01:00 UTCTornado WarningTSA
00:26 UTC01:03 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSA
00:42 UTC01:05 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 Slight Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 19:45 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.

Norman, OK (KOUN), 12:00Z

11.5 hours before the tornado, 163 km from the path. March 27, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Norman, OK at 12:00Z on 2008-03-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 789 joules per kilogram, CIN -280, lifted condensation level 849 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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, Norman, OK at 12:00Z on 2008-03-27The 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 364 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 27 knots.193958Sfc1 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
789 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-280 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1014 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
849 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
364 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
412 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.8
0-3 km lapse rate
5.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Norman, OK (KOUN), 00:00Z

0.5 hours after it, 163 km from the path. March 28, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Norman, OK at 00:00Z on 2008-03-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -74093, lifted condensation level 1805 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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, Norman, OK at 00:00Z on 2008-03-28The 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 163 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 50 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-74093 J/kg
Surface CAPE
4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1805 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
163 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
322 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
6.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Muskogee/Davis Field (MKO), 29 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
21:53 UTC8057200° 19 kt291004.4
22:53 UTC7756180° 17 kt231004.1
23:19 UTC7755.4180° 13 kt191004.1TS
23:53 UTC7360210° 13 kt1005.1VCTS -RA
00:05 UTC71.660.8230° 8 kt1005.1VCTS RA
00:12 UTC69.862.6240° 10 kt1005.1VCTS -RA
00:27 UTC6862.6240° 10 kt1005.1VCTS -RA
00:49 UTC6860.8180° 11 kt1005.4
00:53 UTC6860180° 7 kt171005.8
01:19 UTC62.653.6350° 18 kt221006.8-RA

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

The radar

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 70 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:31 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.

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
22:24 UTCHAIL 0.75HectorvilleOkmulgee, OK
22:30 UTCHAIL 0.75HectorvilleOkmulgee, OK
22:30 UTCHAIL 14 S HectorvilleOkmulgee, OKQUARTER SIZE HAIL 4 MILE SOUTH OF HECTORVILLE ON BIXBY ROAD
22:36 UTCHAIL 0.88N OkmulgeeOkmulgee, OKNICKEL SIZE HAIL IN NORTH OKMULGEE ON HIGHWAY 75
22:45 UTCHAIL 0.75LeonardTulsa, OK
22:45 UTCHAIL 1.752 N MorrisOkmulgee, OK
22:45 UTCHAIL 1.753 N MorrisOkmulgee, OK
22:53 UTCHAIL 11 N CowetaWagoner, OKHAIL COVERING GROUND
23:07 UTCHAIL 0.75BoyntonMuskogee, OK
23:12 UTCHAIL 1.754 E MorrisOkmulgee, OKQUARTER TO GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL 4 TO 5 MILES EAST OF MORRIS ON HIGHWAY 62.
23:18 UTCHAIL 1.755 E MorrisOkmulgee, OK
23:21 UTCHAIL 0.75BoyntonMuskogee, OK
23:30 UTCHAIL 1.752 S BoyntonMuskogee, OKQUARTER TO GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL 2 MILES SOUTH OF BOYNTON ON HIGHWAY 62
23:32 UTCTORNADO1 N Council HillMuskogee, OKTRAINED SPOTTERS REPORTED TORNADO 1 MILE NORTH OF COUNCIL HILL
23:35 UTCHAIL 0.75HenryettaOkmulgee, OK
23:52 UTCHAIL 1.253 S OktahaMcintosh, OKNICKEL TO HALF DOLLAR SIZE HAIL
00:05 UTCHAIL 0.88StidhamMcintosh, OK
00:25 UTCHAIL 0.757 Ne EufaulaMcintosh, OKREPORTED AT THE BELLE STARR THEATER ON TEXANNA ROAD
00:40 UTCHAIL 0.75EufaulaMcintosh, OKDIME TO PENNY SIZE HAIL IN EUFAULA
00:43 UTCHAIL 13 Ne CanadianPittsburg, OK
00:45 UTCHAIL 1.255 Sw EufaulaMcintosh, OK
01:00 UTCHAIL 15 Ene CanadianPittsburg, OK
01:30 UTCHAIL 0.75QuintonPittsburg, OK

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2008 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of March 27, 2008

2 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 276:32 PM CDTEF0McIntosh, OK0.9100$5,000
March 278:00 PM CDTEF0Texas, MO0.150

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.