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.
EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 03:52 UTC | 10:00 UTC | Tornado Watch | TSA |
| 08:33 UTC | 09:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA |
| 08:54 UTC | 10:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA |
| 09:28 UTC | 10:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA |
| 09:50 UTC | 13:45 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | TSA |
| 09:52 UTC | 10:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA |
| 10:05 UTC | 13:46 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | TSA |
| 10:22 UTC | 11:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | TSA |
| 10:29 UTC | 11:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA |
| 10:49 UTC | 11:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | TSA |
| 11:06 UTC | 11:40 UTC | Tornado Warning | TSA |
| 11:08 UTC | 11:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA |
| 11:15 UTC | 12:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA |
| 11:45 UTC | 12:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA |
| 12:33 UTC | 15:30 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | TSA |
| 13:21 UTC | 13:34 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA |
| 13:46 UTC | 18:44 UTC | Tornado Watch | TSA |
| 14:15 UTC | 18:49 UTC | Flash Flood Watch | TSA |
| 14:35 UTC | 16:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA |
| 16:09 UTC | 17:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA |
| 16:33 UTC | 17:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA |
| 17:00 UTC | 01:44 UTC | Flood Warning | TSA |
| 17:16 UTC | 18:01 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA |
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.
- 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
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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08:56 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | 6 W Maramec | Pawnee, OK | |
| 09:35 UTC | HAIL 2.5 | 2 S Pawnee | Pawnee, OK | RELAYED BY PAWNEE FIRE DEPT. |
| 09:50 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | Ssw Skedee | Pawnee, OK | |
| 09:55 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | 1 N Skedee | Pawnee, OK | |
| 09:55 UTC | HAIL 1.25 | Burbank | Osage, OK | |
| 09:58 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | 13 Wnw Pawnee | Pawnee, OK | |
| 10:00 UTC | HAIL 2.5 | 1 E Pawnee | Pawnee, OK | |
| 10:30 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Pawnee | Pawnee, OK | WATER FROM BLACK BEAR CREEK FLOODED HIGHWAY 64. |
| 10:30 UTC | HAIL 2.5 | 1 E Pawnee | Pawnee, OK | |
| 10:33 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | Blackburn | Pawnee, OK | |
| 10:35 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | 3 N Blackburn | Osage, OK | |
| 10:38 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | 4 N Hominy | Osage, OK | |
| 10:50 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 N Hominy | Osage, OK | THREE POWER POLES BROKEN OFF |
| 10:59 UTC | HAIL 2.75 | Wynona | Osage, OK | |
| 11:04 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | 1 N Skedee | Pawnee, OK | |
| 11:07 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 N Hominy | Osage, OK | ROOF BLOWN OFF AN OUTBUILDING |
| 11:07 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Hominy | Osage, OK | MAJOR STREET FLOODING OCCURRED. |
| 11:12 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Avant | Osage, OK | TIN ROOF BLOWN OFF GARAGE. BARN ROOF DAMAGED. |
| 11:12 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | Avant | Osage, OK | |
| 11:21 UTC | HAIL 2 | 2 Wsw Ramona | Washington, OK | |
| 11:30 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | Collinsville | Tulsa, OK | |
| 11:37 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | Wynona | Osage, OK | |
| 11:50 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 3 S Wynona | Osage, OK | WATER WAS FLOWING OVER A ROAD. |
| 11:54 UTC | HAIL 1 | 1 Nw Talala | Rogers, OK | |
| 11:58 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | Barnsdall | Osage, OK | |
| 12:15 UTC | HAIL 1.5 | Ochelata | Washington, OK | |
| 12:32 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | Ramona | Washington, OK | |
| 12:33 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | Ramona | Washington, OK | |
| 12:37 UTC | HAIL 1.25 | 2 Nne Ramona | Washington, OK | |
| 13:02 UTC | HAIL 1 | 2 S Watova | Rogers, OK | |
| 13:36 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | 10 Nne Ramona | Washington, OK | PENNY 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.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 31 | 1:23 AM CDT | EF0 | Oklahoma, OK | 0.2 | 20 | |||
| March 31 | 1:39 AM CDT | EF1 | Oklahoma, OK | 3.5 | 100 | $450,000 | ||
| March 31 | 7:25 AM CDT | EF0 | Washington, OK | 0.2 | 100 | |||
| March 31 | 9:20 AM CDT | EF0 | Noble, OK | 0.1 | 20 | $5,000 | ||
| March 31 | 9:48 AM CDT | EF0 | Hickory, MO | 3.4 | 100 | $25,000 | ||
| March 31 | 10:09 AM CDT | EF0 | Lawrence, MO | 0.5 | 40 | $20,000 | ||
| March 31 | 10:33 AM CDT | EF0 | Vernon, MO | 0.2 | 10 | |||
| March 31 | 11:59 AM CDT | EF0 | Cedar, MO | 0.6 | 75 | $5,000 | ||
| March 31 | 1:44 PM CDT | EF1 | Ottawa, OK to MO | 5.4 | 200 | $125,000 | ||
| March 31 | 1:59 PM CDT | EF0 | Newton, MO | 3.8 | 80 | 3 | $100,000 | |
| March 31 | 2:17 PM CDT | EF2 | Dallas, MO | 4.7 | 300 | 3 | $1.0 million | |
| March 31 | 2:46 PM CDT | EF2 | Laclede, MO | 1.8 | 75 | $500,000 | ||
| March 31 | 3:05 PM CDT | EF0 | Johnson, TX | 0.8 | 40 | $35,000 | ||
| March 31 | 3:10 PM CDT | EF0 | Johnson, TX | 1.5 | 40 | $75,000 | ||
| March 31 | 4:45 PM CDT | EF0 | Monroe, IL | 1.8 | 30 | |||
| March 31 | 5:06 PM CDT | EF0 | Polk, MO | 0.8 | 50 | $25,000 | ||
| March 31 | 5:12 PM CDT | EF0 | Ozark, MO | 0.2 | 20 | $1,000 | ||
| March 31 | 5:47 PM CDT | EF0 | Howell, MO | 0.0 | 20 | $10,000 | ||
| March 31 | 7:10 PM CDT | EF0 | Choctaw, OK | 0.1 | 75 | |||
| March 31 | 7:31 PM CDT | EF1 | McCurtain, OK | 4.9 | 450 | $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.