Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 2015

EF2 tornado, Moore to Stanley Draper Lake Dam, Oklahoma, March 25, 2015

Name: EF2 tornado, Moore to Stanley Draper Lake Dam, Oklahoma, March 25, 2015
Start: 2015-03-25T23:34:00.000Z
End: 2015-03-25T23:50:00.000Z
Location: Moore to Stanley Draper Lake Dam, Oklahoma

From Moore to Stanley Draper Lake Dam, this EF2 tornado ran 11.2 miles across Cleveland County on March 25, 2015, touching down at 6:34 PM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody and injured 7, and did $50 million of property damage.

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 mph
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 mphthis tornado
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: EF2
Date: March 25, 2015
Touchdown: 6:34 PM CDT (23:34 UTC)
Lifted: 6:50 PM CDT (23:50 UTC)
On the ground: 16 minutes
Path length: 11.2 miles (18.0 km)
Path width: 50 yards (46 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 7
Property damage: $50 million
County: Cleveland County
Touchdown point: 35.348, -97.566
Lift-off point: 35.285, -97.383
Record number: 1503251734-01

The damage survey

390 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 EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 115 mph.

no significant roof damage around house
carport from unknown location.
storage shed turned over after house roof section landed. pic facing south.
lowest wind value for this DI/DOD, probably overestimated for surface wind speed.

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

What the Weather Service recorded

A strong upper level storm system moved across the Southern Plains during the late afternoon and evening. At the surface, a slow moving cold front and dryline served as foci for severe thunderstorm development. With strong instability and wind shear, very large hail and damaging winds were widespread. A couple of tornadoes also developed, with the most significant tornado moving through portions of the south Oklahoma City metro.

The tornado began at 634 PM near Southwest 119th street in southwest Oklahoma City, then moved east southeastward. The tornado moved through Moore, then continued to its ending location just southeast of Indian Hills road and 36th Ave northeast in far north Norman. The tornado had an eleven mile discontinuous path, with minor to moderate damage to homes and businesses. Seven people were injured, but no fatalities occurred.

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

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:53 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.

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 Mar 25, 6:26 PM CDT, 8 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 25, 6:26 PM CDT, 8 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
626 PM CDT WED MAR 25 2015

.AVIATION...
0Z TAFS... VFR/MVFR CEILINGS EXPECTED. COLD FRONT WILL CONT TO
MOVE ACROSS THE AREA THIS EVENING WITH STRONG NORTH WINDS BEHIND
THE FRONT. STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE IN PARTS
OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN OK... AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS THIS
EVENING... WITH STRONG AND VARIABLE WIND GUSTS AND LARGE HAIL.

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 237 PM CDT WED MAR 25 2015/

DISCUSSION...
PRIMARY ISSUE IS THE SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL TONIGHT. SATELLITE
SHOWS STORM DEVELOPMENT WILL LIKELY BE OCCURRING SOON. LARGE HAIL
LOOKS TO BE THE PRIMARY THREAT IN THE AREA GIVEN THE RELATIVELY
HIGH CLOUDS BASES EXPECTED. STORMS WILL BE MOST NUMEROUS ALONG THE
FRONT... BUT ISOLATED STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ALONG THE COLD FRONT
AS WELL. STORMS WILL LIKELY EVOLVE INTO A LINE ALONG THE COLD
FRONT AS IT BARRELS SOUTHEAST THROUGH THE AREA.

ALSO OF CONCERN ARE THE VERY STRONG NORTH WINDS EXPECTED BEHIND
THE FRONT... ESPECIALLY IN WEST CENTRAL OKLAHOMA WHERE WE UPGRADED
TO THE HIGH WIND WARNING EARLIER THIS EVENING. GUSTS OF 60 MPH
WILL CERTAINLY BE POSSIBLE. THESE WINDS WILL SLOWLY DIMINISH
EARLY THURSDAY MORNING.

COOLER WEATHER IS EXPECTED THURSDAY AND FRIDAY BEHIND THIS FRONT
WITH A SLIGHT WARMING THIS WEEKEND. THE 12Z GFS IS MUCH MORE
AGGRESSIVE WITH PRECIPITATION EARLY NEXT WEEK WITH AN UPPER TROUGH
APPROACHING THE AREA. THIS SOLUTION IS STILL QUITE AN OUTLIER WITH
OTHER MEDIUM RANGE MODELS PERSISTING WITH NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT...
SO HAVE NOT MADE ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN THE EXTENDED PERIODS.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
OKLAHOMA CITY OK  43  61  40  63 /  60   0  10   0
HOBART OK         40  62  38  66 /  20   0   0   0
WICHITA FALLS TX  45  63  42  69 /  30   0   0   0
GAGE OK           33  66  36  70 /  30   0   0   0
PONCA CITY OK     38  60  36  59 /  60  10  10   0
DURANT OK         49  62  41  66 /  70  10   0   0

&&

.OUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OK...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 4 AM CDT THURSDAY FOR OKZ004>010-012-013-019-
     020-025.

     HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 1 AM CDT THURSDAY FOR OKZ011-014>018-024.

     WIND ADVISORY FROM 1 AM TO 4 AM CDT THURSDAY FOR OKZ011-014>018-
     021>024-027-033>036-038.

     WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 4 AM CDT THURSDAY FOR OKZ026-028>032-037-
     039>047-050-051.

     HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 1 AM CDT THURSDAY FOR OKZ021>023-027-
     033>036-038.

TX...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 4 AM CDT THURSDAY FOR TXZ083>090.

&&

11/25/25

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 25, 11:49 AM CDT, 6 hours 45 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
1149 AM CDT WED MAR 25 2015

OKZ004>048-050>052-TXZ083>090-261200-
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-
1149 AM CDT WED MAR 25 2015

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHERN...
WESTERN...CENTRAL...AND SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA...AND WESTERN NORTH
TEXAS.

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

.THUNDERSTORMS...
THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE STORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING ACROSS PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND NORTH CENTRAL OKLAHOMA.
THERE IS ALSO A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE STORMS ACROSS PORTIONS OF
NORTH TEXAS... AND SOUTHERN... CENTRAL AND WESTERN OKLAHOMA.

.LOCATION...
THE MODERATE RISK AREA IS SOUTH AND EAST OF A LINE FROM PONCA CITY
TO KINGFISHER TO CHICKASHA... AND NORTH OF A LINE FROM CHICKASHA TO
PURCELL TO SEMINOLE. THE SLIGHT RISK AREA IS EAST OF A LINE FROM
MEDFORD TO SEILING TO CLINTON TO HOBART OKLAHOMA TO VERNON AND
SEYMOUR TEXAS.

.TIMING...
THE MOST LIKELY TIME FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE FROM 3 PM
THROUGH MIDNIGHT.

.IMPACTS...
LARGE HAIL TO THE SIZE OF TENNIS BALLS AND WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH
WILL BE THE MAIN HAZARDS WITH THE STRONGEST STORMS. FREQUENT
CLOUD-TO-GROUND LIGHTNING AND HEAVY RAINFALL WILL ALSO BE
CONCERNS.

.DISCUSSION...
A WEAK BOUNDARY THAT PUSHED THROUGH MUCH OF THE AREA ON TUESDAY
IS MOVING NORTH THROUGH NORTHERN OKLAHOMA LATE THIS MORNING. AS
THIS OCCURS INCREASING AMOUNTS OF MOISTURE WILL SPREAD NORTHWARD
ACROSS THE AREA. BY MID AFTERNOON... THIS BOUNDARY IS EXPECTED TO
BE NEAR THE OKLAHOMA KANSAS BORDER WITH A MODERATELY UNSTABLE
AIRMASS TO THE SOUTH OF IT ACROSS MUCH OF OKLAHOMA AND WESTERN
NORTH TEXAS. DAYTIME HEATING WILL AID IN INITIATING THUNDERSTORM
DEVELOPMENT NEAR THIS BOUNDARY BY MID AFTERNOON. A FEW OF THESE
STORMS WILL LIKELY BECOME SEVERE... CAPABLE OF LARGE HAIL AND
STRONG WIND GUSTS.

MEANWHILE... AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE FROM THE CENTRAL
ROCKIES OUT INTO THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN PLAINS. AS THIS OCCURS...
A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL BEGIN TO SURGE SOUTH AND EAST ACROSS
OKLAHOMA. ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG
THE FRONT BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON FROM PORTIONS OF NORTHERN INTO
WESTERN OKLAHOMA.

THERE IS ALSO A CHANCE THAT ISOLATED STORMS MAY DEVELOP ON A
DRYLINE IN SOUTHWEST OKLAHOMA AND WESTERN SECTIONS OF NORTH
TEXAS... HOWEVER A WARM LAYER OF AIR ALOFT WILL KEEP THE CHANCE OF
STORMS LOWER ALONG THE DRYLINE AND MAY PREVENT STORM DEVELOPMENT
COMPLETELY IN SOUTHWEST OKLAHOMA AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS.

INSTABILITY AND WIND SHEAR WILL BE SUFFICIENT FOR SEVERE STORMS
CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS. THE
STORMS ALONG THE FRONT ARE EXPECTED TO QUICKLY DEVELOP INTO A LINE
OF STORMS THAT WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS CENTRAL AND NORTHERN
OKLAHOMA. SCATTERED STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE FARTHER SOUTH AS THE
FRONT PUSHES THROUGH THE AREA DURING THE EVENING AND OVERNIGHT
PERIOD.

.STRONG WINDS...
VERY STRONG AND GUSTY NORTH WINDS ARE EXPECTED LATE THIS
AFTERNOON AND OVERNIGHT BEHIND A COLD FRONT. WINDS MAY GUST OVER
60 MPH IN SOME AREAS OF WESTERN OKLAHOMA. USE CAUTION IF
TRAVELING... ESPECIALLY ON EAST- WEST ROADS. SEE WIND ADVISORY AND
HIGH WIND WARNING FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS.

.FIRE WEATHER...
A DRYLINE WILL WORK EAST ACROSS WESTERN NORTH TEXAS AND EXTREME
SOUTHWEST OKLAHOMA THIS AFTERNOON. THIS DRIER AIR WILL COMBINE
WITH VERY WARM TEMPERATURES AND STRONG WINDS TO ELEVATE WILDFIRE
CONCERNS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO THIS EVENING.

.COLD TEMPERATURES...
TEMPERATURES WILL DROP BEHIND A COLD FRONT TONIGHT. SOME LOCATIONS
OF NORTHWEST OKLAHOMA WILL DROP TO NEAR FREEZING FOR A SHORT TIME
AROUND SUNRISE THURSDAY MORNING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...

.THUNDERSTORMS...
THUNDERSTORM CHANCES RETURN TO OKLAHOMA AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS
NEXT MONDAY AND TUESDAY.

GET GRAPHICS AND MORE DETAILS AT WEATHER.GOV/NORMAN...AND FOLLOW
OUR WEATHER FORECAST OFFICE ON TWITTER AND FACEBOOK.

.26.
CORRECTED TO REMOVE EXTRA WORD

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 25, 5:46 PM CDT, 48 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
546 PM CDT WED MAR 25 2015

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0455 PM     HAIL             4 E STILLWATER          36.12N 96.99W
03/25/2015  E1.75 INCH       PAYNE              OK   PUBLIC

0515 PM     HAIL             COLONY                  35.35N 98.68W
03/25/2015  E1.75 INCH       WASHITA            OK   PUBLIC

&&

OUN

Local storm report, Mar 25, 5:56 PM CDT, 38 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
556 PM CDT WED MAR 25 2015

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0551 PM     HAIL             4 N LUTHER              35.72N 97.19W
03/25/2015  M1.75 INCH       OKLAHOMA           OK   STORM CHASER

&&

OUN

Local storm report, Mar 25, 5:59 PM CDT, 35 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
559 PM CDT WED MAR 25 2015

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0557 PM     HAIL             GUTHRIE                 35.88N 97.42W
03/25/2015  E1.00 INCH       LOGAN              OK   EMERGENCY MNGR

            AT I-35 AND HIGHWAY 77

&&

OUN

Local storm report, Mar 25, 6:20 PM CDT, 14 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
620 PM CDT WED MAR 25 2015

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0608 PM     HAIL             EL RENO                 35.53N 97.96W
03/25/2015  E1.75 INCH       CANADIAN           OK   OTHER FEDERAL

0600 PM     TSTM WND GST     4 NNW FORT COBB         35.15N 98.46W
03/25/2015  M60 MPH          CADDO              OK   MESONET

&&

OUN

Local storm report, Mar 25, 6:24 PM CDT, 10 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
624 PM CDT WED MAR 25 2015

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0540 PM     HAIL             11 NNW EDMOND           35.80N 97.56W
03/25/2015  E1.25 INCH       LOGAN              OK   NWS EMPLOYEE

            CHARTER OAK ROAD BETWEEN PENN AND WESTERN.

&&

OUN

Local storm report, Mar 25, 6:27 PM CDT, 7 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
627 PM CDT WED MAR 25 2015

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0540 PM     HAIL             EL RENO                 35.53N 97.96W
03/25/2015  E1.25 INCH       CANADIAN           OK   TRAINED SPOTTER

            AT I-40 AND ROUTE 81

&&

OUN

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

11.6 hours before the tornado, 13 km from the path. March 25, 2015.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

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: 1301 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -224 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 429 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 889 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 42 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 147 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 324 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.7
0-3 km lapse rate: 4.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Norman, OK (KOUN), 00:00Z

0.4 hours after it, 13 km from the path. March 26, 2015.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

Mixed-layer CAPE: 1928 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -15 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 2922 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1591 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 40 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 171 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 294 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.1
Supercell composite: 16.1
0-3 km lapse rate: 7.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Norman/Westheimer (OUN), 8 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), 18 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:33 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 2015 tornado in Oklahoma Every tornado in Oklahoma since 1950 Warnings in force in Oklahoma now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of March 25, 2015

9 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 25	5:21 PM CDT	EF2	Tulsa, OK	11.1	800	1	30	$2.1 million
March 25	5:26 PM CDT	EF1	Madison, AR	3.9	650			$250,000
March 25	5:32 PM CDT	EF0	Madison, AR	1.0	200			$25,000
March 25	6:01 PM CDT	EF0	Tulsa, OK	2.3	600			$200,000
March 25	6:07 PM CDT	EF0	Howell, MO	0.6	100			$5,000
March 25	6:12 PM CDT	EF0	Canadian, OK	0.7	50
March 25	6:29 PM CDT	EF0	Oklahoma, OK	0.2	30			$1,000
March 25	7:02 PM CDT	EF0	Mayes, OK	0.1	50
March 25	8:06 PM CDT	EF0	Adair, OK	0.1	50

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.