EF1 tornado, Bozarth to Leonard, Oklahoma, April 26, 2016

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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF1

Date

April 26, 2016

Touchdown

10:18 PM CDT (03:18 UTC)

Lifted

10:25 PM CDT (03:25 UTC)

On the ground

7 minutes

Path length

3.8 miles (6.1 km)

Path width

600 yards (549 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$150,000

County

Tulsa County

Touchdown point

36.093, -96.006

Lift-off point

36.103, -95.939

Record number

1604262118-01

64 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.

• uprooted trees with convergent pattern
• lots of uprooted trees, snapped large limbs, snapped power poles, roof damage throughout this neighborhood
• roof damage to homes in this neighborhood and large tree limbs snapped
• several buildings damaged in this area

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

Thunderstorms developed over northeastern Oklahoma during the late morning and early afternoon hours of the 26th, as a weak upper level disturbance passed through the area. The storms produced small hail over portions of northeastern Oklahoma.||By late afternoon, the atmosphere over central and eastern Oklahoma had become very unstable. Thunderstorms developed along and ahead of a dry line that had moved into western Oklahoma. These storms quickly became severe as they moved eastward during the late afternoon and evening hours. The storms formed into a very organized squall line over central Oklahoma during the evening. Ahead of this squall line over eastern Oklahoma, very strong low level wind shear had developed as the low level jet strengthened across the area. As a result of this strong wind shear, coupled with moderately strong instability that persisted well into the overnight hours, this squall line was able to produced numerous tornadoes and widespread damaging wind as it moved across eastern Oklahoma.

This tornado developed just west of Highway 75 and moved east northeast. It damaged a church and homes west of the Arkansas River, and snapped trees and power poles on Riverside Drive just east of the river. Homes were damaged, trees were snapped or uprooted, and power poles were blown down between Riverside Drive to near Harvard Avenue, where the tornado lifted. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in the tornado was 95 to 105 mph.

This tornado damaged industrial buildings, damaged the roofs of homes, and blew down trees and power lines. Based on this damaged, maximum estimated wind in the tornado was 90 to 100 mph.

This is the first segment of a two segment tornado. In Tulsa County, this tornado damaged homes and snapped or uprooted trees. 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.

18 minutes of warning. NWS TSA issued a tornado warning for this county at 03:00 UTC, 18 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 03:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:32 UTC and running to 04:34 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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:47 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.

NWS Tulsa, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Apr 26, 9:34 PM CDT, 44 minutes earlier.

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE Tulsa OK
934 PM CDT TUE APR 26 2016

.DISCUSSION...
QLCS is entering the northwest part of our forecast area at this
time and will move east across all of eastern Oklahoma and
northwest Arkansas overnight. Damaging winds will be the main
threat, along with brief, isolated spinup tornadoes along the
leading edge. Some hail may also occur, but most of it will be
small. Have adjusted first period elements to fit current
trends, with the rest of the forecast left as is.

Update on the way.

&&

.TSA Watches/Warnings/Advisories...
OK...NONE.
AR...NONE.

&&

SHORT TERM...20
LONG TERM....05

PLATE

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
518 PM CDT TUE APR 26 2016

ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-271000-
ADAIR OK-BENTON AR-CARROLL AR-CHEROKEE OK-CHOCTAW OK-CRAIG OK-
CRAWFORD AR-CREEK OK-DELAWARE OK-FRANKLIN AR-HASKELL OK-LATIMER OK-
LE FLORE OK-MADISON AR-MAYES OK-MCINTOSH OK-MUSKOGEE OK-NOWATA OK-
OKFUSKEE OK-OKMULGEE OK-OSAGE OK-OTTAWA OK-PAWNEE OK-PITTSBURG OK-
PUSHMATAHA OK-ROGERS OK-SEBASTIAN AR-SEQUOYAH OK-TULSA OK-WAGONER OK-
WASHINGTON OK-WASHINGTON AR-
518 PM CDT TUE APR 26 2016

...SEVERE WEATHER EXPECTED TONIGHT...

THIS OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS AS WELL AS
MUCH OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

TORNADO.
	RISK...ELEVATED.
	AREA...EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.
	ONSET...AFTER 8 PM.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM.
	RISK...SIGNIFICANT.
	AREA...EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.
	ONSET...AFTER 8 PM.

FLASH FLOOD.
	RISK...ELEVATED.
	AREA...MAINLY SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA.
	ONSET...OVERNIGHT.

HEAVY RAIN.
	RISK...ELEVATED.
	AREA...MAINLY SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA.
	ONSET...OVERNIGHT.

DISCUSSION...
THUNDERSTORMS CURRENTLY DEVELOPING FROM NORTH CENTRAL INTO
SOUTHWEST OKLAHOMA WILL MOVE EAST INTO EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND
EVENTUALLY NORTHWEST ARKANSAS THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. STRONG
INSTABILITY AND INCREASING WIND SHEAR WILL SUPPORT A SIGNIFICANT
SEVERE WEATHER RISK ACROSS THE AREA. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS
BE POSSIBLE THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS...WITH THE TORNADO
POTENTIAL BEING GREATEST PRIOR TO MIDNIGHT. THE TORNADIC POTENTIAL
IS EXPECTED TO BE LESS DEFINED AS STORMS CONGEAL LATE THIS
EVENING AND OVERNIGHT...ALTHOUGH SOME TORNADIC POTENTIAL WILL
CONTINUE THROUGH THE NIGHT.

SPOTTER AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ACTION STATEMENT...
ACTIVATION OF THE REGIONAL SPOTTER NETWORK EXPECTED.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY.
WEDNESDAY...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL...HIGH WIND POTENTIAL.
THURSDAY...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL.
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL...HEAVY RAIN POTENTIAL.
SUNDAY AND MONDAY...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL.

EXTENDED DISCUSSION...
THUNDERSTORMS MAY CONTINUE INTO WEDNESDAY...MAINLY ACROSS FAR
EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORM
CHANCES RETURN LATE THURSDAY NIGHT...WITH AN INCREASE IN COVERAGE
AND INTENSITY EXPECTED FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE
POSSIBLE ALONG WITH AREAS OF FLOODING GIVEN THE EXPECTED RAINFALL
AMOUNTS. AN UNSETTLED PATTERN WILL CONTINUE INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK
WITH CONTINUED THUNDERSTORM CHANCES.

WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TULSA CONTAINS ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.

In the hours before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
824 PM CDT TUE APR 26 2016

OKZ054-059-270215-
PAWNEE OK-OSAGE OK-
824 PM CDT TUE APR 26 2016

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR NORTHWESTERN OSAGE AND WESTERN
PAWNEE COUNTIES UNTIL 915 PM CDT...

AT 823 PM CDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED OVER MORRISON...
MOVING NORTH AT 60 MPH.

DIME SIZE HAIL AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS
STORM.

LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH INCLUDE...
PAWNEE...                         FAIRFAX...
SHIDLER...                        RALSTON...
BURBANK...                        GRAINOLA...
SOUTHERN KAW LAKE...              WEBB CITY...
APPERSON...

THIS STORM MAY INTENSIFY...SO BE CERTAIN TO MONITOR LOCAL RADIO
STATIONS AND AVAILABLE TELEVISION STATIONS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT FOR NORTHEASTERN
OKLAHOMA.

LAT...LON 3700 9654 3616 9682 3624 9682 3625 9692
      3633 9693 3634 9703 3651 9703 3655 9690
      3658 9689 3660 9692 3658 9698 3659 9705
      3668 9706 3670 9703 3668 9694 3675 9689
      3674 9683 3677 9682 3678 9675 3700 9675
TIME...MOT...LOC 0123Z 200DEG 52KT 3629 9701

69

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.

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 38 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 03:16 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.

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 2016 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

35 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.