EF1 tornado, Stratford to Byars, Oklahoma, April 29, 2009

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

April 29, 2009

Touchdown

10:11 AM CDT (15:11 UTC)

Lifted

10:20 AM CDT (15:20 UTC)

On the ground

9 minutes

Path length

6.8 miles (10.9 km)

Path width

40 yards (37 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Counties

Garvin and McClain counties

Touchdown point

34.794, -97.031

Lift-off point

34.871, -96.961

Record number

0904290911-01

A complex of thunderstorms developed over westeTexas and moved northeast toward southwest Oklahoma. Tornadoes, very strong winds, large hail, and heavy rainfall were reported as the thunderstorms moved northeast. Several locations reported flash flooding due to the heavy rainfall, with several roadways impassable. Three tornadoes were reported near Stratford, near Dixon and Wewoka, and near Yeager, with damage reported near Ada. Monetary damages were not available in some cases.

A tornado touched down west of Stratford and just south of state highway 19. The tornado initially moved northeast destroying two outbuildings and damaging trees west of Stratford. After crossing state highway 19, the tornado turned to the north-northeast damaging home roofs, destroying a shed, and partially removing a roof from a barn. The most significant damage occurred on the south side of the road defining the Garvin-McClain County line where a home had a portion of its roof removed. The tornado then crossed into McClain County about one-half mile west of U.S. Highway 177.

This tornado developed west of Stratford in Garvin County and moved into McClain County about one half mile west of U.S. Highway 177. The tornado destroyed a greenhouse and damaged a barn to the west of the highway before crossing the highway and dissipating about one mile north of the county line.

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 severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 08:50 UTC and running to 16:00 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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 12:53 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), 61 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 15:11 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 2009 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

21 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.