EF5 Moore tornado, Oklahoma, May 20, 2013

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 mph

   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 mphthis tornado

   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

EF5

Date

May 20, 2013

Touchdown

2:56 PM CDT (19:56 UTC)

Lifted

3:35 PM CDT (20:35 UTC)

On the ground

39 minutes

Path length

13.8 miles (22.3 km)

Path width

1,900 yards (1737 m)

Deaths

24

Injuries

212

Property damage

$2.0 billion

Counties

Cleveland and McClain counties

Touchdown point

35.284, -97.628

Lift-off point

35.341, -97.400

Record number

1305201356-01

600 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS ABR and NWS OUN, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF5. The highest wind the damage implies is 201 mph.

• centerline. small fence down, grass scoured
• end of path was abrupt! roped out here
• truck spun several times while sliding at end of path
• debris facing east, picture taken facing SW.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

A tornado outbreak occurred during the afternoon and evening hours of the 20th. Several tornadoes occurred from central Oklahoma down through south central Oklahoma near the Red River. The strongest tornado touched down near Newcastle and traveled through Moore and south Oklahoma City. This tornado caused catastrophic damage in these areas, with a maximum rating of EF-5. The tornado claimed 24 lives and caused billions of dollars in damage. In addition to the tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds cause damage in many areas.

The violent Newcastle-Moore tornado was first observed developing about one-half mile south of State Highway 37 in northwest Newcastle to the east of Rockwell Avenue. EF4 damage was observed soon after the tornado crossed State Highway 37. The tornado continued to expand in size as it approached the Canadian River and moved into Cleveland County.||Of the 212 direct injuries documented with this tornado, 5 are estimated to have occurred in McClain County.

The violent Newcastle-Moore tornado moved into Cleveland County from McClain County as it moved northeast across the Canadian River near Interstate 44. The tornado then turned more east and then east-northeast after crossing Interstate 44. Violent EF4 damage was again observed as it began to move into progressively higher density residential areas approaching May Avenue.||The center of the large tornado path passed near SW 149th Street and Western Avenue. After crossing Western Avenue, numerous buildings were destroyed and horses killed at Orr Family Farm. Two storage tanks estimated to weigh approximately 10 tons were lifted from Orr Family Farm and landed about one-half mile east. Moving east, the tornado destroyed much of Briarwood Elementary School, where the NWS storm survey team initially rated the damage as EF5. However, further evaluation indicated that an EF4 rating was more appropriate at the school. Despite the destruction of this elementary school during school hours, no fatalities occurred at the school. As the tornado continued to move east and east-northeast, it moved through much more densely populated suburban neighborhoods of southwest Oklahoma City and Moore where violent destruction was widespread and a few houses were rated EF5. The width of EF4 and greater damage was up to 250 yards wide as the tornado moved through neighborhoods east of Western Avenue. The first two fatalities occurred in a house in the neighborhood just east of Briarwood Elementary, with another fatality in a house as the tornado approached Santa Fe Avenue. ||After crossing Santa Fe Avenue, the tornado moved through more suburban neighborhoods and toward Plaza Towers Elementary School. Damage to the school was extensive and seven children were killed when a wall collapsed at the school. Nine other people were killed in eight different neighborhood homes within one-quarter mile of Plaza Towers Elementary, most occurring just south of the school.||The tornado turned northeast as it approached Telephone Road, made a loop near the intersection of Telephone Road and 4th Street, then moved southeast crossing the interstate. Three people were killed when a convenience store along Telephone Road was destroyed. Crossing Telephone Road, the tornado inflicted significant damage to the Moore Medical Center, a post office and numerous businesses along Telephone Road and Interstate 35. Although the tornado was more narrow after crossing Interstate 35, it continued to produce EF4 damage in neighborhoods east of the interstate as it curved east and then again east-northeast. One fatality occurred at a business just east of the interstate, and one final fatality occurred in a home between Eastern Avenue and Bryant Avenue. Consistent EF4 damage continued until the tornado passed SE 4th Street just east of Bryant Avenue. Moving east from Bryant, the tornado continued to produce EF2 damage with isolated EF4 damage noted. The density of housing also decreased east of Bryant as the tornado moved east and east-northeast before dissipating east of Air Depot Blvd. between SE 119th Street and SE 134th Street in southeast Oklahoma City.||Overall, over 300 homes experienced EF4/EF5 damage along the tornado path. Of the 212 direct injuries documented from this tornado, 207 are estimated to have occurred in Cleveland County.

The deaths

24 direct deaths are recorded for this tornado, each with what Storm Data knows of it.

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

16 minutes of warning. NWS OUN issued a tornado warning for this county at 19:40 UTC, 16 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 20:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:10 UTC and running to 00:46 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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:31 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.

Norman/Westheimer (OUN), 9 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Norman radar (KTLX), 22 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:55 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 2013 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

35 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.