EF2 tornado, Nashoba to Bengal, Oklahoma, May 25, 2015

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   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 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.

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

EF2

Date

May 25, 2015

Touchdown

4:52 PM CDT (21:52 UTC)

Lifted

5:12 PM CDT (22:12 UTC)

On the ground

20 minutes

Path length

13.3 miles (21.4 km)

Path width

1,000 yards (914 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$45,000

Counties

Pushmataha and Latimer counties

Touchdown point

34.552, -95.224

Lift-off point

34.699, -95.075

Record number

1505251552-01

23 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS TSA, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 107 mph.

• Approximate beginning point of EF-1 tornado
• tree damage was obvious on the ridges to the southwest of Albion from US 271.

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

A strong upper level disturbance moved into the Southern Plains on the 25th. A moist and unstable air mass was in place across eastern Oklahoma ahead of this system. Thunderstorms that developed over West Texas during the morning hours, intensified during the afternoon and early evening as they moved across southeastern Oklahoma and west central Arkansas. Damaging wind, several tornadoes, large hail up to golfball size, and locally heavy rainfall resulted from these thunderstorms.

This is the first segment of a two segment tornado. This tornado developed between Highways 271 and 144 over heavily wooded and rugged terrain that was inaccessible by road. An aerial survey indicated extensive tree damage in this area, which was also visible from Highway 271 looking southwest from Albion. As the tornado approached Albion from the southwest, trees were uprooted on Deep Lake Loop. Several homes were damaged, an outbuilding was destroyed, and trees were snapped or uprooted in Albion before the tornado moved into Latimer County. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in this segment of the tornado was 115 to 125 mph.

This is the second segment of a two segment tornado. In Latimer County, this tornado snapped or uprooted trees and blew down power poles. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in this segment of the tornado was 95 to 105 mph.

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

26 minutes of warning. NWS TSA issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:26 UTC, 26 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:52 UTC and running to 23:32 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 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:32 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.

Mc Alester Regional (MLC), 65 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

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 2015 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

32 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.