Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 2010

EF0 tornado, Bridgeport, Oklahoma, July 3, 2010

Name: EF0 tornado, Bridgeport, Oklahoma, July 3, 2010
Start: 2010-07-03T22:45:00.000Z
End: 2010-07-03T22:46:00.000Z
Location: Bridgeport, Oklahoma

This EF0 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Caddo County on July 3, 2010, touching down at 5:45 PM CDT and reaching 25 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
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: EF0
Date: July 3, 2010
Touchdown: 5:45 PM CDT (22:45 UTC)
Lifted: 5:46 PM CDT (22:46 UTC)
On the ground: 1 minutes
Path length: 0.1 miles (0.2 km)
Path width: 25 yards (23 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
County: Caddo County
Touchdown point: 35.537, -98.406
Lift-off point: 35.537, -98.406
Record number: 1007031645-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A moist, tropical air mass was in place across Oklahoma, with several days of moderate to heavy rainfall over many areas. In additional to the influx of rich, Gulf moisture, the remnants of tropical storm Alex moved over the western half of Oklahoma. Some increase in low-level wind shear moved with the precipitation, with a weak tornado developing near I-40 in Caddo county. No damage was reported with the tornado, with it dissipating shortly after developing.

Several witnesses observed a small tornado near I-40 in Caddo county. The tornado moved over mainly open land with no damage reported.

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

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Norman, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Jul 3, 2:34 PM CDT, 3 hours 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 3, 2:34 PM CDT, 3 hours 11 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
234 PM CDT SAT JUL 3 2010

.DISCUSSION...
THE AIRMASS ACROSS THE REGION REMAINS VERY MOIST THROUGH A DEEP
LAYER OF THE ATMOSPHERE WITH PRECIPITABLE H20 WELL ABOVE AVERAGE AS
IT WAS COMPUTED TO BE NEAR 2.4 INCHES IN THIS MORNING'S 12Z OUN
SOUNDING. WITHOUT THE PRESENCE OF A LOW-LEVEL BOUNDARY TO FOCUS
PRECIPITATION... RAINFALL AMOUNTS THUS FAR HAVE BEEN GENERALLY
MODERATE AS THE PRECIPITATION HAS BEEN MOVING ALONG... ALTHOUGH
THERE HAVE BEEN SOME POCKETS OF HEAVY RAIN. FOR TONIGHT... THE
MODELS SHOW A GENERAL AGREEMENT WITH MOVING A QPF MAXIMA ACROSS
PARTS OF WESTERN OK AND FAR WESTERN NORTH TX. THIS FEATURE MAY BE
PART OF THE REMNANT OF ALEX. WHILE SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE TO BE A
GOOD BET OVER MOST OF THE CWA OVERNIGHT... WE WILL PLAY THE
HIGHEST POPS AND QPF ACROSS THE WEST. IN SPITE OF A LACK OF A
REASONABLY WELL-DEFINED BOUNDARY ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT... SOME
LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AMOUNTS COULD OCCUR IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE
SYSTEM MOVING ACROSS THE WESTERN PART OF THE CWA. MOST OF THIS
AREA HOWEVER... MISSED OUT ON THE HEAVIER RAINS THAT OCCURRED
LAST NIGHT AND TODAY IN PARTS OF WEST TX AND CENTRAL OK. THAT
SAID... WE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A
MECHANISM THAT COULD RESULT IN EITHER STATIONARY RAIN AREAS... OR
FOCUSES REDEVELOPMENT IN THE SAME AREA... WHICH COULD LEAD TO
EXCESSIVE RAIN TOTALS GIVEN THE EXCEPTIONALLY HIGH WATER CONTENT IN
THE AIR.

RAIN CHANCES WILL CONTINUE TO BE RELATIVELY HIGH ON MONDAY DUE TO
ONGOING MORNING ACTIVITY. ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT IS ALSO POSSIBLE
LATER IN THE DAY AS THE SOUTHERN PART OF AN UPPER WAVE MOVING
THROUGH THE CENTRAL PLAINS BRUSHES THE AREA. THE GFS DOES DEVELOP
A SURFACE LOW OVER SOUTHWEST OK MONDAY NIGHT WHICH COULD ENHANCE
LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE IN THE AREA... HOWEVER... THIS APPEARS TO
BE A CONVECTIVELY-INDUCED FEATURE CONFINED TO THE GFS... WHICH
RESULTS IN A LOWER CONFIDENCE IN THIS SOLUTION. IN THE LONGER
TERM... THE CONTINUED PRESENCE OF DEEP MOISTURE... ALONG WITH WEAK
WAVES MOVING THROUGH THE AREA... WILL MAINTAIN THE CHANCE FOR
SHOWERS INTO MUCH OF THE UPCOMING WEEK. THE GFS ALSO INDICATES THE
POSSIBILITY FOR ADDITIONAL LOW-LEVEL FORCING TOWARDS THE END OF
THE WEEK AS A WEAK COLD FRONT IS FORECAST TO DRIFT SOUTH INTO THE
AREA.

CLOUD COVER... HIGH HUMIDITIES AND SCATTERED PRECIPITATION WILL
RESULT IN A RATHER NARROW RANGE IN TEMPERATURES INTO MONDAY... WITH
A GRADUAL WARM-UP TO NEAR NORMAL VALUES BY THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
OKLAHOMA CITY OK  72  83  72  85 /  60  60  50  60
HOBART OK         70  80  71  82 /  70  60  50  50
WICHITA FALLS TX  73  83  74  83 /  60  60  50  50
GAGE OK           72  82  70  85 /  60  50  40  40
PONCA CITY OK     73  81  72  84 /  60  60  50  60
DURANT OK         73  86  72  89 /  50  40  30  40

&&

.OUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OK...NONE.
TX...NONE.
&&

06/32

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 3, 11:15 AM CDT, 6 hours 30 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
1115 AM CDT SAT JUL 3 2010

OKZ004>048-050>052-TXZ083>090-041000-
HARPER-WOODS-ALFALFA-GRANT-KAY-ELLIS-WOODWARD-MAJOR-GARFIELD-NOBLE-
ROGER MILLS-DEWEY-CUSTER-BLAINE-KINGFISHER-LOGAN-PAYNE-BECKHAM-
WASHITA-CADDO-CANADIAN-OKLAHOMA-LINCOLN-GRADY-MCCLAIN-CLEVELAND-
POTTAWATOMIE-SEMINOLE-HUGHES-HARMON-GREER-KIOWA-JACKSON-TILLMAN-
COMANCHE-STEPHENS-GARVIN-MURRAY-PONTOTOC-COAL-COTTON-JEFFERSON-
CARTER-JOHNSTON-ATOKA-LOVE-MARSHALL-BRYAN-HARDEMAN-FOARD-WILBARGER-
WICHITA-KNOX-BAYLOR-ARCHER-CLAY-
1115 AM CDT SAT JUL 3 2010

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK COVERS NORTHERN...WESTERN...
CENTRAL...AND SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA...AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...

THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED THROUGH TONIGHT.

DISCUSSION...
MOISTURE REMAINS ABUNDANT...WITH TROPICAL AIR IN PLACE REGION WIDE.
THIS WILL SUPPORT RAIN AND SHOWERS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.
INSTABILITY WILL REMAIN WEAK IN THE ABSENCE OF STRONG SURFACE
HEATING HOWEVER...SOME EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE
POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THIS WILL POSE A HAZARD TO
PEOPLE OUTDOORS. EVEN WITH WEAK INSTABILITY...THE TROPICAL MOISTURE
WILL ALLOW ANY THUNDERSTORM TO PRODUCE HEAVY ACCUMULATIONS OF RAIN
OVER SHORT PERIODS OF TIME. PEOPLE IN FLOOD PRONE AREAS...SUCH AS
NEAR SMALL STREAMS...HILLY TERRAIN...OR IN CITIES...SHOULD REMAIN
ALERT TO THE POSSIBILITY OF HEAVY RAIN.

PROBABILITY TABLE...
VALID THROUGH 700 AM CDT SUNDAY JUL 4.
PROBABILITY OF THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRING IN THE
              NWS NORMAN COUNTY WARNING AREA...70 PERCENT.
PROBABILITY OF SEVERE STORMS IF STORMS OCCUR...5 PERCENT.

OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER...
NONE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...

THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...
RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY CONTINUE IN PARTS OF THE REGION
EACH DAY. THE PERIOD OF GREATEST INTEREST CURRENTLY APPEARS TO BE
SUNDAY AND MONDAY...WHEN AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL DIG INTO
COLORADO...AND DRAG A COLD FRONT CLOSE TO NORTHERN OKLAHOMA. AN
INCREASE OF WESTERLY WINDS AND LIFTING AT MID LEVELS MAY SUPPORT
DEVELOPMENT OF GREATER INSTABILITY...WHILE TROPICAL MOISTURE REMAINS
IN PLACE AT THE SURFACE. IF THE COLD FRONT OR ASSOCIATED OUTFLOW
BOUNDARIES ARE ABLE TO REACH NORTHERN OKLAHOMA TO PROVIDE A SOURCE
OF LIFT...THEN THE THREAT OF LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLOODING
COULD INCREASE.  PEOPLE IN FLOOD PRONE AREAS...SUCH AS NEAR SMALL
STREAMS...HILLY TERRAIN...OR IN CITIES...SHOULD REMAIN ALERT TO THE
POSSIBILITY OF HEAVY RAIN.

AFTER MONDAY...THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE SOMEWHAT SCATTERED AND
DISORGANIZED...UNTIL ANOTHER COLD FRONT APPROACHES THE REGION LATE
THURSDAY.

OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER...
NONE.

THE NEXT SCHEDULED HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED BY
5 AM SUNDAY.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 3, 11:59 AM CDT, 5 hours 46 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
1159 AM CDT SAT JUL 3 2010

OKZ019-020-025-026-029-030-031745-
LINCOLN OK-LOGAN OK-OKLAHOMA OK-POTTAWATOMIE OK-PAYNE OK-CLEVELAND OK-
1159 AM CDT SAT JUL 3 2010

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY...

THIS SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY IS FOR CLEVELAND...LINCOLN...
LOGAN...OKLAHOMA...PAYNE AND POTTAWATOMIE COUNTIES.

SHORTLY BEFORE NOON...RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF HEAVY RAIN
IN AND AROUND THE OKLAHOMA CITY METRO AREA.  HOURLY RAINFALL RATES
WILL APPROACH 1 INCH WHICH WILL CAUSE SOME MINOR FLOODING
OF POOR DRAINAGE AREAS.  THE HEAVY RAINFALL WILL ALSO REDUCE VISIBILITIES
TO BELOW 1 MILE AT TIMES.  THIS ALONG WITH SOME PONDING OF WATER
ON ROADWAYS WILL RESULT IN HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS.  THE
RAIN WILL LIFT INTO NORTHERN LINCOLN AND PAYNE COUNTIES OVER
THE NEXT 30 MINUTES TO AN HOUR.

LAT...LON 3614 9762 3609 9681 3502 9692 3538 9764

The surface observations

Weatherford (OJA), 24 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Gust (kt)	Pressure (mb)	Weather
00:00 UTC

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

The radar

The Norman radar (KTLX), 105 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:44 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.

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2010 tornado in Oklahoma Every tornado in Oklahoma since 1950 Warnings in force in Oklahoma now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of July 3, 2010

1 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 3	4:40 PM MDT	EF0	Sheridan, NE	0.1	25

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.