Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 2010

EF1 tornado, Hulbert to Moodys, Oklahoma, May 13, 2010

From Hulbert to Moodys, this EF1 tornado ran 4.0 miles across Cherokee County on May 13, 2010, touching down at 5:51 AM CDT and reaching 200 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.

  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
May 13, 2010
Touchdown
5:51 AM CDT (10:51 UTC)
Lifted
5:55 AM CDT (10:55 UTC)
On the ground
4 minutes
Path length
4.0 miles (6.4 km)
Path width
200 yards (183 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Cherokee County
Touchdown point
36.030, -94.905
Lift-off point
36.030, -94.834
Record number
1005130451-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A line of thunderstorms intensified as it moved into eastern Oklahoma during the early morning hours of the 13th. A number of tornadoes developed on the leading edge of the bowing line of storms over northeastern Oklahoma. The storms also produced damaging wind gusts.

A tornado snapped large trees limbs, uprooted trees, and damaged outbuildings. The estimated peak wind in the tornado based on this damage was 90 mph.

A tornado uprooted trees and snapped large tree limbs. The estimated peak wind in the tornado based on this damage was 90 mph.

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

The warnings

6 minutes of warning. NWS TSA issued a tornado warning for this county at 10:45 UTC, 6 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 11:15 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
10:09 UTC11:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSA
10:45 UTC11:15 UTCTornado WarningTSA
10:52 UTC11:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSA
11:00 UTC11:47 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchTSA

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 forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:23 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 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.

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 00:00Z

10.9 hours before the tornado, 136 km from the path. May 13, 2010.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2010-05-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1283 joules per kilogram, CIN -126, lifted condensation level 1221 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2010-05-13The 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 179 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 33 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
1283 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-126 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2755 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1221 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
179 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
306 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
9.5
0-3 km lapse rate
5.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 12:00Z

1.1 hours after it, 136 km from the path. May 13, 2010.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2010-05-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 139 joules per kilogram, CIN -135, lifted condensation level 570 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2010-05-13The 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 259 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 70 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
139 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-135 J/kg
Surface CAPE
35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
570 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
70 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
259 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
313 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
10.4
0-3 km lapse rate
5.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 64 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 10:49 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
10:20 UTCTSTM WND DMG6 W WagonerWagoner, OKHIGHWAY SIGNS BLOWN OVER
10:25 UTCTSTM WND GST 583 Sse InolaRogers, OK
10:26 UTCTSTM WND DMGMuskogeeMuskogee, OKTREE LIMBS DOWN IN MUSKOGEE
10:30 UTCTSTM WND DMGPryorMayes, OKNUMEROUS REPORTS OF TREES AND POWER LINES DOWNED...AS WELL AS STRUCTURAL ROOF DAMAGE. REPORTED COUNTY WIDE.
10:30 UTCTSTM WND GST 60ChouteauMayes, OK
10:45 UTCTSTM WND DMGKetchumCraig, OKNUMEROUS REPORTS OF TREES AND POWER LINES DOWNED...AS WELL AS DAMAGE TO OUTBUILDINGS.
10:49 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 N TahlequahCherokee, OKNUMEROUS TREES DOWN IN THE MOODYS AREA
10:50 UTCTSTM WND DMGLeachDelaware, OKTREE LIMBS DOWN IN LEACH.
11:02 UTCTSTM WND DMGColcordDelaware, OKPOWER POLES DOWN IN TOWN...TREES DOWNED JUST EAST OF COLCORD
11:50 UTCTSTM WND DMGLeachDelaware, OKTREE LIMBS DOWN IN LEACH.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2010 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 13, 2010

15 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 134:19 AM CDTEF1Creek, OK20.01,000$75,000
May 134:43 AM CDTEF2Tulsa, OK22.7500$750,000
May 134:45 AM CDTEF1Tulsa, OK14.1500$125,000
May 134:52 AM CDTEF2Okmulgee, OK6.0300$200,000
May 135:04 AM CDTEF2Wagoner, OK5.15502$400,000
May 135:05 AM CDTEF2Rogers, OK6.0450$750,000
May 135:09 AM CDTEF0Rogers, OK3.1700$10,000
May 135:17 AM CDTEF2Rogers, OK8.71,0002$350,000
May 135:37 AM CDTEF1Cherokee, OK4.0200$10,000
May 136:05 AM CDTEF1Ottawa, OK8.0500$25,000
May 136:24 AM CDTEF1Washington, AR0.175
May 137:00 AM CDTEF1Barry, MO2.2200$500,000
May 137:42 AM CDTEF0Stone, MO0.350$10,000
May 138:00 AM CDTEF0Christian, MO4.3200$50,000
May 131:47 AM EDTEF1Van Wert, OH2.1150

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.