Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 2019

EF1 tornado, Jacktown, Oklahoma, June 15, 2019

This EF1 tornado ran 5.2 miles across Lincoln County on June 15, 2019, touching down at 11:51 PM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $60,000 of property damage.

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 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.

The record

Rating
EF1
Date
June 15, 2019
Touchdown
11:51 PM CDT (04:51 UTC)
Lifted
11:57 PM CDT (04:57 UTC)
On the ground
6 minutes
Path length
5.2 miles (8.4 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$60,000
County
Lincoln County
Touchdown point
35.579, -97.115
Lift-off point
35.596, -97.025
Record number
1906152251-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A dryline and a cold front combined to produce numerous severe thunderstorms on the 15th.

Lincoln County Emergency Management reported a path of damage from a tornado along 108th Street (E0990 Road) from just west of E3310 Road to just east of Fowler Road (N3340). From there, the tornado turned northeast and dissipated northeast of E0980 Road and N3350 Road. A few homes received roof and/or siding damage, barns and other outbuildings were damaged or destroyed and power poles were damaged.

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 02:02 UTC and running to 05:55 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
00:00 UTC08:43 UTCFlood WatchOUN
02:02 UTC05:55 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchOUN
04:10 UTC05:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN
04:49 UTC05:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN
04:56 UTC05:17 UTCTornado WarningOUN
05:05 UTC05:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN

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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 01:46 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 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

4.9 hours before the tornado, 51 km from the path. June 16, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Norman, OK at 00:00Z on 2019-06-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 3821 joules per kilogram, CIN -9, lifted condensation level 1257 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
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.
HodographHodograph, Norman, OK at 00:00Z on 2019-06-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 50 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 17 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
3821 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-9 J/kg
Surface CAPE
5844 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1257 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
50 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
106 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
6.5
0-3 km lapse rate
6.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Norman, OK (KOUN), 12:00Z

7.1 hours after it, 51 km from the path. June 16, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Norman, OK at 12:00Z on 2019-06-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -84004, lifted condensation level 1051 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
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.
HodographHodograph, Norman, OK at 12:00Z on 2019-06-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 70 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 46 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-84004 J/kg
Surface CAPE
74 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1051 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
70 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
42 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Norman radar (KTLX), 34 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 04:50 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)ReportWhereCountyRemark
04:06 UTCTSTM WND DMGNewcastleMcclain, OKNUMEROUS LARGE TREES DAMAGED, LIGHT STRUCTURAL DAMAGE IN TOWN.
04:14 UTCTSTM WND GST 653 Sw MooreCleveland, OKTWITTER REPORT, 60-70 MPH ESTIMATED.
04:17 UTCTSTM WND DMGMooreCleveland, OKGARAGE DOOR BLOWN IN.
05:00 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 S WellstonLincoln, OKPOWERPOLES AND LARGE TREES SNAPPED AT BASE. DAMAGE TO MOBILE HOME.
05:02 UTCTSTM WND GST 602 Ssw ShawneePottawatomie, OK
05:02 UTCHAIL 0.752 Ssw ShawneePottawatomie, OK
05:07 UTCHAIL 12 Ssw ShawneePottawatomie, OK

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2019 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 15, 2019

28 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 152:21 PM CDTEF0Hardin, IA0.220$1,000
June 152:43 PM CDTEF0Macoupin, IL1.830
June 152:53 PM CDTEF0Stutsman, ND0.430
June 154:22 PM CDTEF0Holt, MO0.715
June 154:29 PM CDTEF0Wells, ND0.530
June 155:20 PM CDTUnratedCastro, TX0.010
June 156:29 PM EDTEF1Owen, IN8.1200$100,000
June 156:48 PM EDTEF2Monroe, IN3.7400$110,000
June 156:56 PM EDTEF2Greene, IN3.5400$250,000
June 156:05 PM CDTEF0Deuel, SD0.110
June 157:26 PM EDTEF1Marion, IN1.9200$1.1 million
June 157:37 PM EDTEF0Marion, IN0.9100$30,000
June 157:46 PM EDTEF0Brown, IN0.650$1,000
June 158:48 PM EDTEF2Rush, IN14.5200$275,000
June 157:54 PM CDTUnratedDes Moines, IA0.840
June 159:02 PM EDTEF0Fayette, IN0.120$50,000
June 158:20 PM CDTEF2Des Moines, IA1.8260
June 158:24 PM CDTEF2Des Moines, IA1.3300
June 158:38 PM CDTEF1Mercer, IL0.740
June 158:40 PM CDTEF1Dewey, OK3.1100$4,000
June 159:42 PM EDTEF1Union, IN2.135$35,000
June 159:51 PM EDTEF0Wayne, IN1.61002$225,000
June 159:56 PM EDTEF0Preble, OH1.735$40,000
June 159:06 PM CDTEF2Custer, OK6.3500$80,000
June 159:16 PM CDTEF0Custer, OK1.3300$2,000
June 159:42 PM CDTEF1Custer, OK1.5400$50,000
June 1510:19 PM CDTEF1Tazewell, IL2.4200$60,000
June 1511:36 PM CDTEF1McLean, IL1.950$40,000

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.