Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 2015
EF0 tornado, Jumbo, Oklahoma, May 10, 2015
This EF0 tornado ran 1.7 miles across Pushmataha County on May 10, 2015, touching down at 6:18 PM CDT and reaching 100 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.
EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
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 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.
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
- EF0
- Date
- May 10, 2015
- Touchdown
- 6:18 PM CDT (23:18 UTC)
- Lifted
- 6:21 PM CDT (23:21 UTC)
- On the ground
- 3 minutes
- Path length
- 1.7 miles (2.7 km)
- Path width
- 100 yards (91 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Pushmataha County
- Touchdown point
- 34.422, -95.711
- Lift-off point
- 34.438, -95.688
- Record number
- 1505101718-01
The damage survey
2 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS TSA, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0.
- chasers reported a tornado
- Chasers reported a tornado
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 slow-moving low pressure trough moved from the Rockies into the Plains during the 9th and 10th. Several disturbances rotating through this trough translated across the Southern Plains during this period. With very moist and unstable air in place over the region, multiple periods of thunderstorms occurred. Locally heavy rainfall as well as severe weather was prevalent across eastern Oklahoma.
Storm chasers witnessed a tornado over rugged terrain east of the Indian Nation Turnpike. The area where the tornado occurred was inaccessible by road.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
8 minutes of warning. NWS TSA issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:10 UTC, 8 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:45 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:31 UTC and running to 04:00 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14:25 UTC | 15:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA |
| 14:28 UTC | 20:31 UTC | Tornado Watch | TSA |
| 20:31 UTC | 04:00 UTC | Tornado Watch | TSA |
| 22:52 UTC | 05:00 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | TSA |
| 22:59 UTC | 23:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA |
| 23:10 UTC | 23:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | TSA |
| 23:36 UTC | 00:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | TSA |
| 23:52 UTC | 00:14 UTC | Tornado Warning | TSA |
| 02:00 UTC | 01:35 UTC | Flood Warning | TSA |
| 04:55 UTC | 08:00 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | TSA |
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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:43 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
11.3 hours before the tornado, 178 km from the path. May 10, 2015.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1564 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -39 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 2080 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 614 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 52 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 36 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 255 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 256 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 2.9
- Supercell composite
- 11.8
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.7 K/km
Norman, OK (KOUN), 00:00Z
0.7 hours after it, 178 km from the path. May 11, 2015.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 191 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -72 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 2630 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1025 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 76 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 9 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 94 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 155 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- -0.1
- Supercell composite
- -3.2
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 6.4 K/km
The surface observations
Atoka Municipal Airport (AQR), 41 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21:35 UTC | 68 | 68 | 0° 0 kt | 1012.5 | -VCTSRA | |
| 21:55 UTC | 68 | 68 | 250° 7 kt | 1012.9 | DZ | |
| 22:15 UTC | 68 | 68 | 110° 3 kt | 1012.2 | TSRA | |
| 22:35 UTC | 68 | 68 | 140° 3 kt | 1012.2 | +TSRA | |
| 22:55 UTC | 66.2 | 66.2 | 260° 3 kt | 1012.5 | +TSRA | |
| 23:15 UTC | 66.2 | 66.2 | 0° 0 kt | 1011.9 | -TSRA | |
| 23:35 UTC | 66.2 | 66.2 | 0° 0 kt | 1012.2 | +TSRA | |
| 23:55 UTC | 64.4 | 64.4 | 0° 0 kt | 1012.9 | +TSRA | |
| 00:15 UTC | 64.4 | 64.4 | 100° 3 kt | 1011.9 | VCTSRA | |
| 00:35 UTC | 64.4 | 64.4 | 0° 0 kt | 1011.5 | VCTSRA | |
| 00:55 UTC | 64.4 | 64.4 | 0° 0 kt | 1011.5 | +VCTSRA | |
| 01:15 UTC | 64.4 | 64.4 | 210° 8 kt | 1013.5 | +TSRA |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
What was reported nearby
Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22:50 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 6 Ese Lane | Atoka, OK | |
| 22:50 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | 6 Ese Lane | Atoka, OK | |
| 23:18 UTC | TORNADO 0 | 7 Nw Moyers | Pushmataha, OK | STORM CHASER REPORTED 3 MINUTE LONG TORNADO OVER OPEN COUNTRY. NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM COULD NOT ACCESS AREA IN WHICH TORNADO OCCURRED. |
| 23:30 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Stringtown | Atoka, OK | DELAYED REPORT OF CREEKS AND STREAMS OUT OF THEIR BANKS AND FLOODING HOMES IN AREAS IN AND EAST OF STRINGTOWN. |
| 23:55 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 E Stringtown | Atoka, OK | DELAYED REPORT OF TREES DOWN AND TREE DEBRIS IN THE ROAD |
| 23:55 UTC | NON-TSTM WND DMG | 2 E Stringtown | Atoka, OK | DELAYED REPORT OF TREES DOWN AND TREE DEBRIS IN THE ROAD |
| 00:17 UTC | TORNADO | S Damon | Latimer, OK | REPORTED TORNADO DAMAGE CROSSING HIGHWAY 2...NEAR INTERSECTION WITH HIGHWAY 1...SOUTH OF DAMON. LOCATION ESTIMATED. LARGE TREES BLOWN DOWN. WIDTH OF DAMAGE ABOUT 50 YARDS AT THE HIGHWAY. |
| 00:18 UTC | TORNADO 2 | 4 N Yanush | Latimer, OK | A TORNADO SNAPPED OR UPROOTED NUMEROUS TREES...DESTROYED A METAL BUILDING...SEVERELY DAMAGED TWO HOMES...DAMAGED THE CRAVENS VFD...DAMAGED AN OIL DRILLING SITE...AND DESTROYED OUTBUILDINGS. THE TORNADO WAS ON THE GROUND |
| 01:40 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Coalgate | Coal, OK | NUMEROUS CREEKS, STREAMS, AND RIVERS OUTSIDE THEIR BANKS AND OVER ROADS. FLOODING CONTINUED INTO THE NIGHT. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2015 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of May 10, 2015
23 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 10 | 9:01 AM CDT | EF1 | Pittsburg, OK | 3.8 | 240 | $35,000 | ||
| May 10 | 10:21 AM CDT | EF2 | Charles Mix, SD | 16.2 | 400 | 9 | $1.5 million | |
| May 10 | 11:15 AM CDT | EF0 | Davison, SD | 4.2 | 50 | |||
| May 10 | 2:16 PM CDT | EF1 | Denton, TX | 5.2 | 100 | $3.5 million | ||
| May 10 | 2:39 PM CDT | EF0 | Denton, TX | 2.9 | 75 | $40,000 | ||
| May 10 | 3:28 PM CDT | EF0 | Sioux, IA | 0.8 | 50 | |||
| May 10 | 4:08 PM CDT | EF1 | Grayson, TX | 2.6 | 100 | $50,000 | ||
| May 10 | 4:45 PM CDT | EF1 | Hamilton, TX | 5.1 | 105 | $100,000 | ||
| May 10 | 6:03 PM CDT | EF0 | Hill, TX | 0.6 | 50 | |||
| May 10 | 6:07 PM CDT | EF0 | Kaufman, TX | 0.1 | 20 | |||
| May 10 | 6:34 PM CDT | EF0 | Kaufman, TX | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| May 10 | 7:10 PM CDT | EF1 | Carroll, IA | 23.3 | 700 | $1.0 million | ||
| May 10 | 7:16 PM CDT | EF0 | Miner, SD | 0.3 | 50 | |||
| May 10 | 7:18 PM CDT | EF2 | Latimer, OK | 15.0 | 880 | $100,000 | ||
| May 10 | 7:20 PM CDT | EF0 | Hill, TX | 1.4 | 150 | |||
| May 10 | 7:46 PM CDT | EF0 | Latimer, OK | 3.7 | 75 | |||
| May 10 | 8:14 PM CDT | EF0 | Calhoun, IA | 1.0 | 400 | |||
| May 10 | 8:46 PM CDT | EF3 | Van Zandt, TX | 10.2 | 700 | 2 | 43 | $40 million |
| May 10 | 9:19 PM CDT | EF1 | Smith, TX | 1.4 | 440 | $125,000 | ||
| May 10 | 10:50 PM CDT | EF1 | Smith, TX | 1.1 | 450 | $125,000 | ||
| May 10 | 11:18 PM CDT | EF2 | Howard, AR | 6.7 | 400 | 2 | 8 | $1.5 million |
| May 10 | 11:25 PM CDT | EF0 | Marion, TX | 0.3 | 172 | |||
| May 10 | 11:28 PM CDT | EF0 | Marion, TX | 2.6 | 345 |
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.