EF2 tornado, Tulsa to Tiawah, Oklahoma, March 30, 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 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

March 30, 2016

Touchdown

7:13 PM CDT (00:13 UTC)

Lifted

7:55 PM CDT (00:55 UTC)

On the ground

42 minutes

Path length

20.0 miles (32.2 km)

Path width

800 yards (732 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

7

Property damage

$2.8 million

Counties

Tulsa, Rogers and Osage counties

Touchdown point

36.215, -96.015

Lift-off point

36.276, -95.668

Record number

1603301813-01

112 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS TSA, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 132 mph.

• 2-horse trailer blown about 50 yards into pond
• trees uprooted/snapped near home
• many homes damaged in this neighborhood; garage door was actually pushed inward and failed, FD pulled door out of garage into the driveway
• lots of homes in this neighborhood damaged to EF1 level with mainly roof damage and windows broken with debris

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

Thunderstorms developed over eastern Oklahoma during the morning hours of the 30th as a warm front moved into the region from the south. The stronger storms produced large hail. Additional thunderstorm development occurred along and ahead of a dry line over central Oklahoma during the afternoon. These storms moved eastward into northeastern Oklahoma during the late afternoon and evening. Four tornadoes, two of which were strong, hail up to golfball size, and damaging wind occurred with these storms.

This is the first segment of a three segment tornado. In Osage County, this tornado severely damaged the roof of a home, destroyed several outbuildings, destroyed farm equipment, and snapped or uprooted numerous trees. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in this segment of the tornado was 100 to 110 mph. The tornado continued into Tulsa County, Oklahoma.

This is the second segment of a three segment tornado. In Tulsa County, the tornado moved east-northeast, roughly along E 46th Street N to the west of Highway 75. It damaged more than 300 homes, and thirteen churches and businesses. Seven people were injured in north Tulsa. Numerous trees were snapped or uprooted and numerous power poles were snapped. The tornado moved east-northeast across Mohawk Park where it snapped and uprooted numerous trees. Several large, metal-framed, industrial buildings were significantly damaged north-northeast of the Tulsa International Airport on N Mingo Road. The tornado then crossed Highway 169 just south of the Bird Creek Bridge where it destroyed several barns and snapped numerous trees along E 56th Street N. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in this segment of the tornado was 110 to 120 mph. The tornado continued into Rogers County, Oklahoma.

This is the third segment of a three segment tornado. In Rogers County, the tornado moved east-northeast passing across the northern portion of the Patriot Golf Club and Stone Canyon housing subdivisions. Numerous homes were damaged in this area, some severely. Several homes under construction were destroyed. The tornado crossed Highway 266 destroying a business, damaging a number of homes, destroying barns and outbuildings, and snapping or uprooting numerous trees until it dissipated north of Verdigris. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in this segment of the tornado was 110 to 120 mph.

This tornado damaged numerous homes east of Highway 66 and west of I-44. Some of the worst damage in the path occurred in a housing area near Highway 88 where several homes received severe damage to their roofs and wall structures. Several vehicles were rolled. The tornado moved east along the E 500 Road where trees were snapped or uprooted, homes were damaged, and barns were destroyed. The tornado then moved east-northeast toward Will Rogers Downs on Highway 20, where it turned sharply to the northeast and dissipated after damaging several large barns. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in the tornado was 120 to 130 mph.

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

27 minutes of warning. NWS TSA issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:46 UTC, 27 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:14 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 18:50 UTC and running to 02:00 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:42 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.

Tulsa International Airport(Aw) (TUL), 7 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 26 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:14 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

6 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.