EF1 tornado, Edmond, Oklahoma, March 31, 2008

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 mphthis tornado

   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

EF1

Date

March 31, 2008

Touchdown

1:39 AM CDT (06:39 UTC)

Lifted

1:45 AM CDT (06:45 UTC)

On the ground

6 minutes

Path length

3.5 miles (5.6 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$450,000

County

Oklahoma County

Touchdown point

35.650, -97.551

Lift-off point

35.683, -97.497

Record number

0803310039-01

A powerful storm system moved toward the plains during the day on the 30th. A area of low pressure had developed over northwest Oklahoma. A dry line was located south of the low. Severe thunderstorms developed on the dry line in western Oklahoma by late afternoon. The supercell thunderstorms produced hail larger than baseballs in some areas, with thunderstorm wind gusts to 60 mph also reported. These thunderstorms bacame more intense as the moved northeast through the evening into central and northern Oklahoma. These thunderstorms produced very large hail, and eventually a few tornadoes. One brief tornado occurred near Albert, with other tornadoes affecting the northern parts of the Oklahoma metro area. One tornado in Oklahoma City produced fairly widespread damage, with several homes sustaining moderate damage. Wind damage to trees, power lines, and some structures was also reported in parts of Logan county. Monetary damages were estimated.

The brief tornado was reported by a media storm chaser and estimated to be about one-quarter mile southwest of Edmond Road and Rockwell Avenue. The tornado produced no known damage.

From the official National Weather Service damage survey, the tornado appeared to have developed near the intersection of NW 178th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. The tornado caused most of its damage in the Valencia neighborhood. It was here that many homes sustained roof, window, garage door, and fence damage. One home sustained especially heavy damage, with a large portion of the roof being lost and extensive damage to the inside of the home. The tornado continued northeast and appeared to have dissipated just northeast of the subdivision, where some tree damage was noted. After a gap, additional damage was observed near the intersection of NW 192nd Street and Western Avenue, where several large power transmission poles were blown down, and some fence damage was also observed. While there was not a continuous damage path between the two damage sites, they do appear to be in line with the storm's path. A storm chaser also observed this tornado as far northeast as at least Covell Road between Santa Fe Avenue and Kelley Avenue where it is believed to have dissipated. Monetary damages were estimated.

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

7 minutes of warning. NWS OUN issued a tornado warning for this county at 06:32 UTC, 7 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 07:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 03:53 UTC and running to 09:25 UTC.

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 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), 18 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Norman radar (KTLX), 43 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 06:38 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 2008 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

20 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.