Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 2008

EF1 tornado, Hominy, Oklahoma, March 31, 2008

This EF1 tornado ran 5.5 miles across Osage County on March 31, 2008, touching down at 5:46 AM CDT and reaching 250 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $50,000 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 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.

The record

Rating
EF1
Date
March 31, 2008
Touchdown
5:46 AM CDT (10:46 UTC)
Lifted
5:54 AM CDT (10:54 UTC)
On the ground
8 minutes
Path length
5.5 miles (8.8 km)
Path width
250 yards (229 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$50,000
County
Osage County
Touchdown point
36.447, -96.414
Lift-off point
36.453, -96.300
Record number
0803310446-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Severe thunderstorms occurred across eastern Oklahoma on the 31st.

A tornado severely damaged the roof of a home west of the Hominy Airport and produced minor damage to the roofs of several other homes. Trees were snapped and barns were damaged or destroyed in the path of the tornado.

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

The warnings

24 minutes of warning. NWS TSA issued a tornado warning for this county at 10:22 UTC, 24 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 11:00 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 10:05 UTC and running to 13:46 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
03:52 UTC10:00 UTCTornado WatchTSA
08:33 UTC09:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSA
08:54 UTC10:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSA
09:28 UTC10:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSA
09:50 UTC13:45 UTCFlash Flood WarningTSA
09:52 UTC10:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSA
10:05 UTC13:46 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchTSA
10:22 UTC11:00 UTCTornado WarningTSA
10:29 UTC11:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSA
10:49 UTC11:30 UTCTornado WarningTSA
11:06 UTC11:40 UTCTornado WarningTSA
11:08 UTC11:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSA
11:15 UTC12:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSA
11:45 UTC12:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSA
12:33 UTC15:30 UTCFlash Flood WarningTSA
13:21 UTC13:34 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSA
13:46 UTC18:44 UTCTornado WatchTSA
14:15 UTC18:49 UTCFlash Flood WatchTSA
14:35 UTC16:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSA
16:09 UTC17:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSA
16:33 UTC17:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSA
17:00 UTC01:44 UTCFlood WarningTSA
17:16 UTC18:01 UTCSevere Thunderstorm 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 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.

Lamont, OK (KLMN), 00:00Z

10.8 hours before the tornado, 102 km from the path. March 31, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lamont, OK at 00:00Z on 2008-03-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1597 joules per kilogram, CIN -54, lifted condensation level 855 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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, Lamont, OK at 00:00Z on 2008-03-31The 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 203 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 53 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
1597 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-54 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1862 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
855 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
203 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
252 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.1
Supercell composite
10.5
0-3 km lapse rate
5.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 77 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 10:46 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
08:56 UTCHAIL 0.756 W MaramecPawnee, OK
09:35 UTCHAIL 2.52 S PawneePawnee, OKRELAYED BY PAWNEE FIRE DEPT.
09:50 UTCHAIL 1.75Ssw SkedeePawnee, OK
09:55 UTCHAIL 0.881 N SkedeePawnee, OK
09:55 UTCHAIL 1.25BurbankOsage, OK
09:58 UTCHAIL 0.7513 Wnw PawneePawnee, OK
10:00 UTCHAIL 2.51 E PawneePawnee, OK
10:30 UTCFLASH FLOODPawneePawnee, OKWATER FROM BLACK BEAR CREEK FLOODED HIGHWAY 64.
10:30 UTCHAIL 2.51 E PawneePawnee, OK
10:33 UTCHAIL 0.88BlackburnPawnee, OK
10:35 UTCHAIL 0.883 N BlackburnOsage, OK
10:38 UTCHAIL 0.754 N HominyOsage, OK
10:50 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 N HominyOsage, OKTHREE POWER POLES BROKEN OFF
10:59 UTCHAIL 2.75WynonaOsage, OK
11:04 UTCHAIL 0.751 N SkedeePawnee, OK
11:07 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 N HominyOsage, OKROOF BLOWN OFF AN OUTBUILDING
11:07 UTCFLASH FLOODHominyOsage, OKMAJOR STREET FLOODING OCCURRED.
11:12 UTCTSTM WND DMGAvantOsage, OKTIN ROOF BLOWN OFF GARAGE. BARN ROOF DAMAGED.
11:12 UTCHAIL 0.75AvantOsage, OK
11:21 UTCHAIL 22 Wsw RamonaWashington, OK
11:30 UTCTSTM WND GST 60CollinsvilleTulsa, OK
11:37 UTCHAIL 0.88WynonaOsage, OK
11:50 UTCFLASH FLOOD3 S WynonaOsage, OKWATER WAS FLOWING OVER A ROAD.
11:54 UTCHAIL 11 Nw TalalaRogers, OK
11:58 UTCHAIL 1.75BarnsdallOsage, OK
12:15 UTCHAIL 1.5OchelataWashington, OK
12:32 UTCHAIL 1.75RamonaWashington, OK
12:33 UTCHAIL 1.75RamonaWashington, OK
12:37 UTCHAIL 1.252 Nne RamonaWashington, OK
13:02 UTCHAIL 12 S WatovaRogers, OK
13:36 UTCHAIL 0.7510 Nne RamonaWashington, OKPENNY HAIL REPORTED IN OGLESBY.

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 31, 2008

20 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 311:23 AM CDTEF0Oklahoma, OK0.220
March 311:39 AM CDTEF1Oklahoma, OK3.5100$450,000
March 317:25 AM CDTEF0Washington, OK0.2100
March 319:20 AM CDTEF0Noble, OK0.120$5,000
March 319:48 AM CDTEF0Hickory, MO3.4100$25,000
March 3110:09 AM CDTEF0Lawrence, MO0.540$20,000
March 3110:33 AM CDTEF0Vernon, MO0.210
March 3111:59 AM CDTEF0Cedar, MO0.675$5,000
March 311:44 PM CDTEF1Ottawa, OK to MO5.4200$125,000
March 311:59 PM CDTEF0Newton, MO3.8803$100,000
March 312:17 PM CDTEF2Dallas, MO4.73003$1.0 million
March 312:46 PM CDTEF2Laclede, MO1.875$500,000
March 313:05 PM CDTEF0Johnson, TX0.840$35,000
March 313:10 PM CDTEF0Johnson, TX1.540$75,000
March 314:45 PM CDTEF0Monroe, IL1.830
March 315:06 PM CDTEF0Polk, MO0.850$25,000
March 315:12 PM CDTEF0Ozark, MO0.220$1,000
March 315:47 PM CDTEF0Howell, MO0.020$10,000
March 317:10 PM CDTEF0Choctaw, OK0.175
March 317:31 PM CDTEF1McCurtain, OK4.9450$10,000

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.