EF0 tornado, Wheatland to Valley Brook, Oklahoma, May 31, 2013

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.

Rating

EF0

Date

May 31, 2013

Touchdown

7:35 PM CDT (00:35 UTC)

Lifted

7:37 PM CDT (00:37 UTC)

On the ground

2 minutes

Path length

0.5 miles (0.8 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$20,000

County

Oklahoma County

Touchdown point

35.411, -97.457

Lift-off point

35.410, -97.449

Record number

1305311835-01

162 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS OUN, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 110 mph.

• Center point of damage path.
• tops of trees have light shredding. center point. only a few houses wide.
• possible start. very light tree damage
• east facing windows blown out.

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 late afternoon and early evening hours of the 31st. A stalled front and deeply mixed dryline served as a focus for thunderstorm development. The front/dryline triple point was where the most intense supercells initiated. These storms traveled eastward, eventually impacting the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. Several tornadoes occurred, including the El Reno tornado, which unfortunately claimed several lives. In addition to the tornado, very large hail and heavy rains led to flash flooding in Oklahoma City. This flash flood event ranked as one of the worst in Oklahoma City history in terms of fatalities and damages to property. The event lasted well into the overnight hours.

A tornado moved into Oklahoma County from Canadian County in western Oklahoma City and moved generally east along and near SW 15th Street before dissipating near SW 15th and Meridian Avenue. Buildings, power lines and trees were damaged, including broken windows at a couple of motels along Meridian Avenue. Damage amounts were estimated.

An EF-0 tornado traveled from Creekwood Terrace southeast to Keith Drive near SE 54th Street. Minor damage to trees and power lines was noted. Damages estimated.

A tornado touched down just west of SW 59th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in southwest Oklahoma City, and moved east to just southwest of SW 59th Street and Western Avenue. Roof and tree damage occurred with this tornado. Damage amounts are estimated.

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

38 minutes of warning. NWS OUN issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:57 UTC, 38 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:27 UTC and running to 02:46 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 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 20:02 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.

Tinker Afb (TIK), 6 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Norman radar (KTLX), 18 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:32 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.