Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 2019

EF0 tornado, Haskell, Oklahoma, May 22, 2019

This EF0 tornado ran 0.2 miles across Muskogee County on May 22, 2019, touching down at 6:36 PM CDT and reaching 75 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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 mphthis tornado

    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.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
May 22, 2019
Touchdown
6:36 PM CDT (23:36 UTC)
Path length
0.2 miles (0.3 km)
Path width
75 yards (69 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Muskogee County
Touchdown point
35.834, -95.655
Lift-off point
35.834, -95.655
Record number
1905221736-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Severe thunderstorms developed over northeastern Oklahoma during the afternoon hours of the 22nd, ahead of a cold front that moved into the area. Very strong instability and wind shear in the air mass ahead of the cold front allowed for the development of supercell thunderstorms, which affected the area through late evening. These supercells produced twenty-one documented tornadoes, including a significant tornado, large hail up to baseball size, damaging wind gusts, and locally heavy rainfall that resulted in flash flooding across northeastern Oklahoma.

A brief tornado was reported by a trained storm spotter. An NWS damage survey found that the tornado snapped large tree limbs. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in the tornado was 70 to 80 mph.

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

The warnings

31 minutes of warning. NWS TSA issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:05 UTC, 31 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:39 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:35 UTC and running to 02:43 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
09:22 UTC07:32 UTCFlood WarningTSA
13:39 UTC13:30 UTCFlood WarningTSA
20:35 UTC02:43 UTCTornado WatchTSA
23:05 UTC23:39 UTCTornado WarningTSA

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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 19:43 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), 12:00Z

11.6 hours before the tornado, 172 km from the path. May 22, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Norman, OK at 12:00Z on 2019-05-22Temperature 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 -82210, lifted condensation level 1361 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 2019-05-22The 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 434 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 67 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
-82210 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1361 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
67 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
434 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
338 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5
0-3 km lapse rate
3.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Norman, OK (KOUN), 00:00Z

0.4 hours after it, 172 km from the path. May 23, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Norman, OK at 00:00Z on 2019-05-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 3161 joules per kilogram, CIN -16, lifted condensation level 985 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 2019-05-23The 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 186 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 57 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
3161 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-16 J/kg
Surface CAPE
4453 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
985 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
186 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
255 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
4.9
Supercell composite
20.5
0-3 km lapse rate
6.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 39 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:35 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
22:10 UTCTORNADOOkfuskeeOkfuskee, OKTORNADO ON LIVE TV VIDEO
22:48 UTCHAIL 2.75OkmulgeeOkmulgee, OK
22:53 UTCHAIL 1.75OkmulgeeOkmulgee, OK
23:03 UTCTORNADO3 E OkmulgeeOkmulgee, OK
23:09 UTCTORNADO3 E SperryTulsa, OKBRIEF TOUCHDOWN
23:10 UTCHAIL 1MoundsCreek, OK
23:26 UTCHAIL 1.25Bald HillOkmulgee, OK
23:37 UTCTORNADO2 Ne HaskellMuskogee, OKBRIEF TOUCHDOWN
00:19 UTCHAIL 1CatoosaRogers, OKQUARTER HAIL FROM A PICTURE
00:23 UTCHAIL 1.25CatoosaRogers, OK
00:26 UTCTORNADO2 Se CatoosaRogers, OKSPOTTER VICINITY OF CREEK TURNPIKE AND HIGHWAY 412, REPORTS TORNADO CROSSING HIGHWAY 412.
00:28 UTCHAIL 13 E VerdigrisRogers, OKHAIL REPORTED VICINITY OF HIGHWAYS 66 AND 266.
00:38 UTCTSTM WND GST 601 Sw TiawahRogers, OK
00:38 UTCHAIL 0.751 Nnw ClaremoreRogers, OK
00:38 UTCHAIL 1TiawahRogers, OK
00:38 UTCHAIL 1.51 Sw TiawahRogers, OK
01:45 UTCTORNADO2 Nw Locust GroveMayes, OKREPORTED IN THE INDUSTRIAL PARK/POWER PLANT AREA

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 May 22, 2019

34 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 221:04 AM CDTEF1Cass, IA1.150$15,000
May 221:29 AM CDTEF2Adair, IA4.815011$500,000
May 2212:30 PM PDTEF0Nye, NV0.225
May 224:29 PM CDTEF1Seminole, OK1.050$3,000
May 224:34 PM CDTUnratedOkfuskee, OK0.5100
May 224:41 PM CDTUnratedOkfuskee, OK1.050
May 224:47 PM CDTEF1Okfuskee, OK0.875$25,000
May 225:10 PM CDTEF1Okfuskee, OK0.6125$10,000
May 225:23 PM CDTEF1Okfuskee, OK6.0650$40,000
May 225:32 PM CDTEF1Okfuskee, OK7.7400$10,000
May 226:03 PM CDTEF0Okmulgee, OK0.275
May 226:07 PM CDTEF0Tulsa, OK0.275
May 226:44 PM CDTEF1Craig, OK5.1350
May 226:59 PM CDTEF1Craig, OK1.5150$3,000
May 227:25 PM CDTUnratedRogers, OK to KS1.875
May 227:25 PM CDTEF1Ottawa, OK to KS7.31,100$75,000
May 228:05 PM CDTEF3Cherokee, KS to MO9.2440$5.3 million
May 228:09 PM CDTEF1Mayes, OK3.1650$25,000
May 228:17 PM CDTEF1Hancock, IL0.530
May 228:19 PM CDTEF0Howard, MO0.640
May 228:23 PM CDTEF0Jasper, MO7.9200
May 228:28 PM CDTUnratedOsage, OK0.2100
May 228:31 PM CDTUnratedOsage, OK0.275
May 228:44 PM CDTUnratedMayes, OK0.2100
May 228:51 PM CDTEF3Jasper, MO11.388031$1.0 million
May 228:52 PM CDTEF1Mayes, OK5.3400
May 229:34 PM CDTEF2Delaware, OK to MO16.61,100$500,000
May 229:56 PM CDTEF0Schuyler, IL1.850
May 2210:02 PM CDTEF0Audrain, MO0.8150
May 2210:56 PM CDTEF3Miller, MO32.71,50033$174 million
May 2212:15 AM CDTEF1Menard, IL15.3150
May 2212:33 AM CDTEF1Logan, IL2.7100
May 2212:39 AM CDTEF0Craig, OK0.5150$5,000
May 2212:48 AM CDTEF1Craig, OK8.61,100$100,000

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.