EF1 tornado, Bellvue to Hilton, Oklahoma, May 25, 2019

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

May 25, 2019

Touchdown

12:04 AM CDT (05:04 UTC)

Lifted

12:07 AM CDT (05:07 UTC)

On the ground

3 minutes

Path length

2.6 miles (4.2 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$40,000

County

Creek County

Touchdown point

35.901, -96.450

Lift-off point

35.902, -96.404

Record number

1905252304-01

50 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.

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

Severe thunderstorms developed over West Texas during the late afternoon of the 25th, ahead of a dry line. These storms evolved into a line of thunderstorms that moved across Oklahoma during the evening, reaching eastern Oklahoma by late evening. Very strong low level wind shear in the air mass over eastern Oklahoma ahead of the line of thunderstorms allowed for the development of multiple tornadoes along the leading edge of the storms. Damaging wind gusts and large hail up to quarter size also occurred across northeastern Oklahoma with these thunderstorms.

This tornado damaged the roofs of several homes, damaged outbuildings, uprooted trees, and blew down power poles. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in the tornado was 85 to 95 mph.

This tornado developed southwest of Kellyville near the intersection of I-44 and Highway 66, and moved east passing south of Kellyville before turning toward the northeast and dissipating east of town. It snapped and uprooted numerous trees, and destroyed outbuildings. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in the tornado was 90 to 100 mph.

This is the first segment of a two-segment tornado. This large tornado developed west of Sapulpa, west of the intersection of I-44 and Highway 33. It moved east along Highway 66, then across the northern portion of Sapulpa. It crossed Hickory Hill Road near the Creek Turnpike, and moved into Tulsa County near W 91st Street S. In Creek County, the tornado damaged homes and businesses, snapped and uprooted numerous trees, and blew down power poles. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in this segment of the tornado was 100 to 110 mph.

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

16 minutes of warning. NWS TSA issued a tornado warning for this county at 04:48 UTC, 16 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 05:30 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 01:49 UTC and running to 08:00 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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:41 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.

Cushing (CUH), 32 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 83 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 05:05 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 2019 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

21 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.