Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 2015

EF0 tornado, Holdenville, Oklahoma, May 23, 2015

Name: EF0 tornado, Holdenville, Oklahoma, May 23, 2015
Start: 2015-05-24T00:13:00.000Z
Location: Holdenville, Oklahoma

This EF0 tornado ran 0.2 miles across Hughes County on May 23, 2015, touching down at 7:13 PM CDT and reaching 50 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 23, 2015
Touchdown: 7:13 PM CDT (00:13 UTC)
Path length: 0.2 miles (0.3 km)
Path width: 50 yards (46 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
County: Hughes County
Touchdown point: 35.109, -96.400
Lift-off point: 35.109, -96.400
Record number: 1505231813-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Storms developed in the panhandles on the 23rd under the influence of an upper level trough. These storms merged into a line and moved eastward over Oklahoma producing widespread flooding.

A tornado was observed approximately 2 miles north of Holdenville. No damage was reported.

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

The warnings

7 minutes of warning. NWS OUN issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:06 UTC, 7 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 22:30 UTC and running to 04:02 UTC.

Issued (UTC)	Expired	Product	Office
22:30 UTC	04:02 UTC	Tornado Watch	OUN
23:01 UTC	23:30 UTC	Tornado Warning	OUN
23:26 UTC	00:00 UTC	Tornado Warning	OUN
00:06 UTC	00:30 UTC	Tornado Warning	OUN
00:28 UTC	01:00 UTC	Tornado Warning	OUN
01:11 UTC	01:27 UTC	Tornado Warning	OUN
04:52 UTC	12:45 UTC	Flash Flood Warning	OUN
12:38 UTC	12:00 UTC	Flood Warning	OUN
17:45 UTC	09:15 UTC	Flood Warning	OUN

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 Marginal Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:45 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 May 23, 6:28 PM CDT, 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 23, 6:28 PM CDT, 45 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
628 PM CDT SAT MAY 23 2015

.AVIATION...24/00Z TAF ISSUANCE...
ACTIVE AVIATION PERIOD FOR THIS EVENING... OVERNIGHT AND THROUGH
SUNDAY. A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS
CENTRAL OKLAHOMA THROUGH THE FIRST HALF OF THE TAF PERIOD... WITH
IFR CONDITIONS PERSISTING FOR MOST OF THE NIGHT INTO SUNDAY. RAIN
WILL GRADUALLY END FROM WEST TO EAST THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING... BUT
CHANCES REMAIN HIGH THROUGH THE END OF THE PERIOD.

JTK

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 236 PM CDT SAT MAY 23 2015/

DISCUSSION...
DANGEROUS SITUATION SETTING UP ACROSS PARTS OF OKLAHOMA AND NORTH
TEXAS AS ROUNDS OF VERY HEAVY RAINFALL ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE
TONIGHT/SUNDAY. MANY RIVERS ARE IN FLOOD AND ADDITIONAL TORRENTIAL
RAINFALL AND RAINFALL RATES OF IN EXCESS OF 2 INCHES AN HOUR WILL
CONTINUE TO EXACERBATE THE SITUATION. PLEASE BE CAREFUL. WILL CONT
WITH FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH 12Z MONDAY.

THERE IS ALSO A THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER... MAINLY ACROSS
SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTH TEXAS THIS AFTN AND EVENING. LOW AND
DEEP LAYER SHEAR... HOWEVER INSTABILITY REMAINS RATHER LIMITED
OUTSIDE OF FAR SOUTHERN SECTIONS OF THE AREA.

PATTERN REMAINS RATHER ACTIVE AS ANOTHER UPPER DISTURBANCE WILL
KEEP A CHANCE OF STORMS AND POSSIBLY SOME SEVERE STORMS IN THE
FORECAST INTO THE DAY ON MONDAY. RAIN CHANCES THEN DECREASE FOR A
COUPLE OF DAYS... HOWEVER THEY DO REMAIN. HIGHER RAIN CHANCES
RETURN BY LATE IN THE WEEK AS YET ANOTHER UPPER SHORTWAVE
APPROACHES BY THE END OF THE WEEK.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
OKLAHOMA CITY OK  63  73  62  80 / 100  90  20  30
HOBART OK         61  75  58  81 /  60  50  20  30
WICHITA FALLS TX  63  77  62  81 / 100  80  20  40
GAGE OK           58  76  56  82 /  40  30  20  20
PONCA CITY OK     63  74  61  81 / 100  80  30  20
DURANT OK         66  73  65  79 / 100 100  60  40

&&

.OUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OK...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH MONDAY MORNING FOR OKZ004>048-050>052.

TX...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH MONDAY MORNING FOR TXZ083>090.

&&

Hazardous weather outlook, May 23, 6:51 PM CDT, 22 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
651 PM CDT SAT MAY 23 2015

OKZ004>048-050>052-TXZ083>090-250000-
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-
651 PM CDT SAT MAY 23 2015

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

.DAY ONE...THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT...

.FLOODING...
WIDESPREAD FLOODING IS OCCURRING ACROSS MUCH OF WESTERN...
CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHERN TEXAS. THE FLOOD THREAT
WILL CONTINUE TO BE EXACERBATED WHERE EVER HEAVY RAIN OCCURS...
AND AREA RIVERS AND STREAMS WILL SEE RISES AND ADDITIONAL
FLOODING. THIS IS A LIFE THREATENING FLOOD SITUATION. DEADLY FLASH
FLOODING IS LIKELY... WHEN ENCOUNTERING FLOODED ROADS... TURN
AROUND DONT DROWN.

.THUNDERSTORMS...
THERE REMAINS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING.
THE SLIGHT RISK IS GENERALLY SOUTHEAST OF A LINE FROM SAYRE TO
WATONGA TO ENID TO PERRY... AND WEST OF A LINE FROM HOLDENVILLE TO
LAKE TEXOMA. THE SLIGHT RISK INCLUDES ALL OF WESTERN NORTH TEXAS.
A MARGINAL RISK COVERS MOST OF THE REST OF OKLAHOMA. THERE IS A
MEDIUM THREAT FOR TORNADOES... AS LOW STORM BASES... DECENT MOIST
AIR AND SHEAR WILL SUPPORT TORNADO DEVELOPMENT WITH THE STRONGEST
STORMS THROUGH THIS EVENING. HAIL UP TO HALF DOLLAR SIZE AND WIND
GUSTS UP TO 70 MPH ARE ALSO POSSIBLE.

.SPOTTER AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT STATEMENT...
STORM SPOTTER GROUPS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL ACROSS
CENTRAL AND WESTERN OKLAHOMA...AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS...SHOULD
STAY PREPARED FOR FLOODING AND/OR SEVERE WEATHER OPERATIONS THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...

.FLOODING...
HEAVY RAIN IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE INTO SUNDAY...AND POSSIBLY
MONDAY. CONTINUED FLOODING IS LIKELY.

.THUNDERSTORMS...
THERE IS A MARGINAL RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ON SUNDAY AND
MONDAY. THUNDERSTORMS REMAIN IN THE FORECAST THROUGH AT LEAST
FRIDAY. SEVERE STORMS ARE UNLIKELY AFTER MONDAY.

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

KURTZ

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 23, 6:55 PM CDT, 18 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
655 PM CDT SAT MAY 23 2015

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

0649 PM     FLASH FLOOD      4 N THE VILLAGE         35.62N 97.55W
05/23/2015                   OKLAHOMA           OK   TRAINED SPOTTER

            PENN AND 150TH STREET JUST SOUTH OF THE INTERSECTION HAS
            AT LEAST 9 INCHES OF RAPIDLY FLOWING WATER ACROSS THE
            ROAD.

&&

MDAY

Local storm report, May 23, 7:01 PM CDT, 12 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
701 PM CDT SAT MAY 23 2015

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

0657 PM     FLASH FLOOD      6 E MARLAND             36.56N 97.04W
05/23/2015                   NOBLE              OK   TRAINED SPOTTER

            OK HIGHWAY 15 WEST OF INTERSTATE 35 CLOSED DUE TO HIGH
            WATERS.

&&

MDAY

Local storm report, May 23, 7:07 PM CDT, 6 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
707 PM CDT SAT MAY 23 2015

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

0702 PM     FLASH FLOOD      2 S NICHOLS HILLS       35.52N 97.54W
05/23/2015                   OKLAHOMA           OK   PUBLIC

            PUBLIC REPORTS WATER COVERING PARKING LOT AND FLOWING
            INTO PENN SQUARE MALL ENTRANCES.

&&

JTK

Local storm report, May 23, 7:08 PM CDT, 5 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
708 PM CDT SAT MAY 23 2015

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

0705 PM     TORNADO          3 E MAYSVILLE           34.82N 97.36W
05/23/2015                   GARVIN             OK   NWS EMPLOYEE

&&

MDAY

Local storm report, May 23, 7:09 PM CDT, 4 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
709 PM CDT SAT MAY 23 2015

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

0701 PM     FLASH FLOOD      DEL CITY                35.45N 97.44W
05/23/2015                   OKLAHOMA           OK   FIRE DEPT/RESCUE

            SE 29TH/SE 28TH AND SUNNYLANE IMPASSIBLE.

&&

MDAY

Local storm report, May 23, 7:10 PM CDT, 3 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
710 PM CDT SAT MAY 23 2015

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

0707 PM     FLASH FLOOD      3 NW OKLAHOMA CITY      35.49N 97.56W
05/23/2015                   OKLAHOMA           OK   PUBLIC

            PUBLIC REPORTS 1 TO 2 FEET OF WATER COVERING NW 23RD
            STREET NEAR SHEPARD MALL

&&

JTK

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), 00:00Z

0.2 hours before the tornado, 92 km from the path. May 24, 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: 1041 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -2 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 3274 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 590 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 42 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 309 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 342 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 2.0
Supercell composite: 24.3
0-3 km lapse rate: 6.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Norman, OK (KOUN), 12:00Z

11.8 hours after it, 92 km from the path. May 24, 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: 18 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -213 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1140 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 25 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 5 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 36 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 2 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0
0-3 km lapse rate: 4.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Norman radar (KTLX), 84 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:10 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)	Report	Where	County	Remark
01:38 UTC	FLASH FLOOD	Shawnee	Pottawatomie, OK	WATER UP TO 2 FEET DEEP AND SEVERAL STALLED CARS ALONG SEVERAL ROADS IN SHAWNEE.
02:22 UTC	FLASH FLOOD	Shawnee	Pottawatomie, OK	2 FEET OF WATER. WATER RESCUES.
02:33 UTC	FLASH FLOOD	Shawnee	Pottawatomie, OK	NUMEROUS WATER RESCUES WITH A FEW CARS UNDER WATER.
02:46 UTC	FLASH FLOOD	Brooksville	Pottawatomie, OK	FLOOD WATER IS RISING IN HOMES.
02:54 UTC	FLASH FLOOD	1 S Tecumseh	Pottawatomie, OK	WIDESPREAD FLOODING. MULTIPLE CARS ARE BEING SWEPT AWAY. RESCUES ARE ONGOING.
03:02 UTC	FLASH FLOOD	1 N Shawnee	Pottawatomie, OK	WATER IS 3 FT DEEP ON MACARTHUR STREET.

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

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 May 23, 2015

21 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
May 23	12:55 PM MDT	EF0	Albany, WY	0.3	35
May 23	5:12 PM CDT	EF1	Grady, OK	6.0	500
May 23	5:59 PM CDT	EF0	Murray, OK	3.0	40
May 23	6:05 PM CDT	EF0	Pontotoc, OK	0.2	20
May 23	6:10 PM CDT	EF0	Murray, OK	0.5	50
May 23	6:11 PM CDT	EF1	McClain, OK	2.0	50
May 23	6:16 PM CDT	EF0	Garvin, OK	0.2	50
May 23	6:25 PM CDT	EF1	Pontotoc, OK	3.8	100
May 23	6:30 PM CDT	EF0	McClain, OK	0.5	50
May 23	7:05 PM CDT	EF1	Garvin, OK	0.5	50
May 23	8:16 PM CDT	EF1	Bexar, TX	0.4	150
May 23	8:44 PM CDT	EF0	Latimer, OK	1.6	75
May 23	8:53 PM CDT	EF0	Hays, TX	5.7	100
May 23	8:58 PM CDT	EF1	Travis, TX	1.3	200
May 23	9:11 PM CDT	EF0	Travis, TX	2.5	200
May 23	9:22 PM CDT	EF1	Williamson, TX	3.1	200
May 23	9:37 PM CDT	EF0	Travis, TX	1.2	125
May 23	9:39 PM CDT	EF1	Travis, TX	0.6	250
May 23	9:43 PM CDT	EF1	Bastrop, TX	0.8	200
May 23	9:47 PM CDT	EF0	Williamson, TX	0.3	50
May 23	9:47 PM CDT	EF1	Williamson, TX	0.6	150

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.