Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma

2016 tornadoes in Oklahoma

57 tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma in 2016, about the average of the record for the state. They killed 2 people and injured 13. 1 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

2015 2017 The whole country in 2016

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.

  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 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.

Every tornado in Oklahoma in 2016

March 23 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 239:51 PM CDTEF2Adair to AR11.18004$375,000

March 30 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 307:13 PM CDTEF2Tulsa20.08007$2.8 million
March 307:48 PM CDTEF1Nowata2.7120$75,000
March 308:00 PM CDTEF2Rogers6.4550$1.0 million
March 308:18 PM CDTEF0Craig2.5100

April 15 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 157:50 PM CDTEF0Texas1.150
April 157:56 PM CDTEF1Texas1.160
April 158:02 PM CDTEF0Texas0.950
April 158:16 PM CDTEF0Texas1.050
April 158:19 PM CDTEF0Texas0.825

April 26 20 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 268:08 PM CDTEF0Canadian4.150$12,000
April 268:43 PM CDTEF1Oklahoma10.0150$10,000
April 268:49 PM CDTEF0Oklahoma3.7100$4,000
April 269:44 PM CDTEF1Osage3.8450
April 269:50 PM CDTEF1Pontotoc2.0200$20,000
April 269:52 PM CDTEF1Osage6.9900$15,000
April 2610:00 PM CDTEF1Creek5.6550$20,000
April 2610:00 PM CDTEF1Pawnee7.0800$150,000
April 2610:18 PM CDTEF1Tulsa3.8600$150,000
April 2610:26 PM CDTEF1Tulsa2.7350$100,000
April 2610:36 PM CDTEF1Tulsa1.0150$10,000
April 2611:11 PM CDTEF1McIntosh7.5400$100,000
April 2611:16 PM CDTEF0Craig10.1500$20,000
April 2611:34 PM CDTEF1Muskogee5.1800$50,000
April 2611:35 PM CDTEF0Mayes4.7750$20,000
April 2611:46 PM CDTEF1Cherokee7.2700$150,000
April 2611:58 PM CDTEF1Delaware10.1850$100,000
April 2612:03 AM CDTEF1Pushmataha1.5500$125,000
April 2612:07 AM CDTEF1Ottawa1.6350$150,000
April 2612:23 AM CDTEF1Sequoyah4.3500$25,000

April 29 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 293:29 PM CDTEF1Comanche4.0700$10,000
April 293:54 PM CDTEF0Caddo0.520$2,000
April 294:03 PM CDTEF1Grady12.01,000$35,000

May 8 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 87:03 PM CDTUnratedStephens1.340

May 9 12 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 94:06 PM CDTEF4Katie–Wynnewood tornado8.94001$1.0 million
May 94:34 PM CDTEF3Murray16.61,500$4.0 million
May 95:16 PM CDTUnratedCleveland0.110
May 95:18 PM CDTUnratedJohnston1.520
May 95:18 PM CDTEF3Johnston9.17001$250,000
May 95:46 PM CDTEF1Coal12.9900$40,000
May 95:47 PM CDTUnratedAtoka0.330
May 95:58 PM CDTEF2Payne6.3600$260,000
May 96:22 PM CDTEF3Bryan13.83,1002$3.0 million
May 97:02 PM CDTEF1Choctaw6.1650$250,000
May 97:18 PM CDTUnratedChoctaw6.0150
May 97:25 PM CDTUnratedChoctaw0.575

May 16 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 164:39 PM CDTEF0Cimarron0.525
May 164:57 PM CDTEF0Cimarron0.325

May 23 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 238:25 PM CDTEF0Woodward2.7400$10,000
May 239:24 PM CDTUnratedHarper2.050

May 24 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 245:28 PM CDTEF1Creek8.0900$750,000

May 25 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 251:29 AM CDTEF1Okmulgee1.8350$5,000
May 259:53 PM CDTEF2Garfield5.0300$20,000

May 31 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 315:28 PM CDTUnratedGrady0.530
May 315:28 PM CDTUnratedGrady0.730
May 315:28 PM CDTUnratedGrady0.730

July 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 34:11 PM CDTEF1Payne0.8100

Crossed into Oklahoma

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into Oklahoma. They are counted under the state they began in.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 169:35 PM CDTEF1Hemphill, TX to OK0.650

Nearby

Every tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in OklahomaThe live radar over Oklahoma

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.