EF1 tornado, Paoli, Oklahoma, May 7, 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

May 7, 2008

Touchdown

4:56 PM CDT (21:56 UTC)

Lifted

4:57 PM CDT (21:57 UTC)

On the ground

1 minutes

Path length

0.5 miles (0.8 km)

Path width

30 yards (27 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

1

Property damage

$50,000

County

Garvin County

Touchdown point

34.802, -97.179

Lift-off point

34.802, -97.179

Record number

0805071556-01

A strong upper level low pressure system moved into southwest Oklahoma, and continued moving east throughout the day. Extremely strong lift ahead of the storm system and abundant moisture allowed for widespread showers and thunderstorms to develop over much of Oklahoma. The better chances for severe convection was located along and south of a stationary boundary that setup near Interstate 44. Severe thunderstorms developed during the afternoon hours south of the boundary, with large hail, flash flooding, and tornadoes reported. Several tornadoes were reported in the Oklahoma City metro area during the evening rush hour, with damage reported from Yukon through the northern portion of the city. Other tornadoes were reported south of the city, with damage also reported in this area. The slow movement of the precipitation quickly added up, with widespread amounts of at least two to four inches of rainfall. Flash flooding became a concern as the afternoon progressed, with several reports around central Oklahoma of roads being closed. The upper level storm system moved east during the evening, with the precipitation moving east as well. Monetary damages were estimated.

A tornado briefly touched down five miles east-southeast of Paoli. At this location, a mobile home was moved off of its foundation, causing damage to the home. A few trees were also damaged near the residence. One person received minor injuries as a result of being inside of the mobile home. No other damage was reported. Monetary damages were estimated.

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.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:37 UTC and running to 23:40 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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:14 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 Norman radar (KTLX), 60 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:56 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

10 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.