Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 2013

EF0 tornado, Pernell, Oklahoma, May 30, 2013

This EF0 tornado ran 0.4 miles across Garvin County on May 30, 2013, touching down at 5:58 PM 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 mphthis tornado

    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 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
EF0
Date
May 30, 2013
Touchdown
5:58 PM CDT (22:58 UTC)
Lifted
5:59 PM CDT (22:59 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.4 miles (0.7 km)
Path width
200 yards (183 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Garvin County
Touchdown point
34.565, -97.501
Lift-off point
34.570, -97.498
Record number
1305301658-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A stalled frontal boundary and dryline became the focus for scattered supercell thunderstorms during the afternoon hours of the 30th. While a couple of brief tornadoes occurred, very large hail and damaging winds were the main hazards of the day.

Brief rain wrapped tornado was reported via Spotter Network. No damage was reported.

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

The warnings

36 minutes of warning. NWS OUN issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:22 UTC, 36 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 17:52 UTC and running to 02:54 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
17:52 UTC02:54 UTCTornado WatchOUN
21:08 UTC22:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN
21:36 UTC22:30 UTCTornado WarningOUN
21:59 UTC22:30 UTCTornado WarningOUN
22:15 UTC23:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN
22:22 UTC23:15 UTCTornado WarningOUN
22:57 UTC23:40 UTCTornado WarningOUN
23:38 UTC23:56 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN
00:04 UTC01:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN
00:45 UTC01:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN
00:52 UTC01:15 UTCTornado WarningOUN
01:05 UTC01:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN
01:10 UTC01:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN
01:27 UTC02:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN
01:34 UTC04:30 UTCFlash Flood WarningOUN
01:54 UTC02:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN

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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:50 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.

Norman, OK (KOUN), 12:00Z

11.0 hours before the tornado, 73 km from the path. May 30, 2013.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Norman, OK at 12:00Z on 2013-05-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2281 joules per kilogram, CIN -7, lifted condensation level 542 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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, Norman, OK at 12:00Z on 2013-05-30The 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 366 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
2281 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2668 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
542 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
366 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
703 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
4.2
Supercell composite
22.1
0-3 km lapse rate
5.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Norman, OK (KOUN), 00:00Z

1.0 hours after it, 73 km from the path. May 31, 2013.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Norman, OK at 00:00Z on 2013-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 854 joules per kilogram, CIN -157, lifted condensation level 1286 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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, Norman, OK at 00:00Z on 2013-05-31The 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 163 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 54 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
854 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-157 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2451 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1286 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
163 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
210 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
3.3
0-3 km lapse rate
6.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Norman radar (KTLX), 87 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:59 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
21:18 UTCHAIL 1Rush SpringsGrady, OK
22:09 UTCHAIL 13 E BrayStephens, OK
22:12 UTCHAIL 1.753 E BrayStephens, OK
22:27 UTCHAIL 4.253 E BrayStephens, OKWINDSHEILD BROKEN BY SOFTBALL SIZED HAIL. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
22:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Se MarlowStephens, OKTREES UP TO 16 INCHES DIAMETER SNAPPED. SMALLER TRES UPROOTED. ROOF DAMAGE TO A FEW STRUCTURES, FENCES BLOWN DOWN.
23:40 UTCHAIL 1HennepinMurray, OK
00:46 UTCTSTM WND GST 653 W Pauls ValleyGarvin, OK
00:47 UTCTSTM WND GST 601 Se WhitebeadGarvin, OK
00:51 UTCHAIL 12 Nnw Pauls ValleyGarvin, OK
01:35 UTCHAIL 4WynnewoodGarvin, OK

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2013 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 30, 2013

28 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 302:08 PM CDTEF1Polk, AR0.8200$35,000
May 303:00 PM CDTEF2Montgomery, AR3.44002$250,000
May 303:03 PM CDTEF1Pike, AR1.5300$10,000
May 303:08 PM CDTEF0Payne, OK0.3100
May 303:15 PM CDTEF0Payne, OK0.7100
May 303:16 PM CDTEF2Pike, AR9.03005$145,000
May 303:26 PM CDTEF0Payne, OK1.6200
May 303:35 PM CDTEF2Polk, OK to AR8.68005$295,000
May 303:35 PM CDTEF1Garland, AR to OK8.7300$100,000
May 303:37 PM CDTEF0Payne, OK0.450
May 303:49 PM CDTEF1Garland, AR7.2300$500,000
May 304:01 PM CDTEF0Creek, OK0.150
May 304:10 PM CDTEF1Muscatine, IA2.4100$25,000
May 304:32 PM CDTEF1Polk, AR2.4200$75,000
May 304:44 PM CDTEF1Rock Island, IL to IA4.0150$140,000
May 305:35 PM CDTEF0Whiteside, IL0.625
May 306:10 PM CDTEF1Montgomery, AR3.2200$15,000
May 306:49 PM CDTEF0Mayes, OK0.150
May 306:54 PM CDTEF0Mayes, OK0.150
May 307:08 PM CDTEF0Mayes, OK0.6100
May 307:24 PM CDTEF1Mayes, OK2.1200
May 307:46 PM CDTEF1Saline, AR1.7250$25,000
May 308:40 PM CDTEF2Tulsa, OK5.6450$3.0 million
May 309:13 PM CDTEF1Pulaski, AR0.2150$150,000
May 309:36 PM CDTEF1Grant, AR0.42001$25,000
May 3012:20 AM CDTEF1Howell, MO4.3400$5,000
May 3012:25 AM CDTEF1Monroe, AR0.4100$25,000
May 3012:50 AM CDTEF1Monroe, AR3.32001$150,000

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.