Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 2019
Unrated tornado, Willow, Oklahoma, May 25, 2019
This Unrated tornado ran 0.3 miles across Greer County on May 25, 2019, touching down at 7:04 PM CDT and reaching 30 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.
EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
Unratedthis tornado
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
- Unrated
- Date
- May 25, 2019
- Touchdown
- 7:04 PM CDT (00:04 UTC)
- Lifted
- 7:06 PM CDT (00:06 UTC)
- On the ground
- 2 minutes
- Path length
- 0.3 miles (0.5 km)
- Path width
- 30 yards (27 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Greer County
- Touchdown point
- 35.045, -99.516
- Lift-off point
- 35.045, -99.516
- Record number
- 1905251804-01
What the Weather Service recorded
Scattered supercells merged into a linear system that produced a variety of severe weather on the 25th.
An Oklahoma City television storm chaser observed a tornado that was estimated to be located just southwest of the community of Willow. No damage was reported.
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 tornado watch, issued at 20:25 UTC and running to 03:00 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20:25 UTC | 03:00 UTC | Tornado Watch | OUN |
| 23:26 UTC | 23:59 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN |
| 23:48 UTC | 02:45 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | OUN |
| 23:58 UTC | 00:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN |
| 00:05 UTC | 00:37 UTC | Tornado Warning | OUN |
| 00:53 UTC | 01:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN |
| 01:03 UTC | 01:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | OUN |
| 01:19 UTC | 02:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN |
| 01:35 UTC | 04:30 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | OUN |
| 01:54 UTC | 07:45 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | OUN |
| 01:58 UTC | 03:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OUN |
| 02:36 UTC | 11:30 UTC | Flood Warning | OUN |
| 02:46 UTC | 08:45 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | OUN |
| 04:38 UTC | 10:30 UTC | Flood Warning | OUN |
| 07:31 UTC | 07:30 UTC | Flood Warning | OUN |
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 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:48 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.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Norman, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at May 25, 6:44 PM CDT, 20 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 25, 6:44 PM CDT, 20 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Norman OK 644 PM CDT Sat May 25 2019 .DISCUSSION... 00Z TAFs. && .AVIATION... Main issue will be a line of thunderstorms expected to move across the area this evening. Strong winds will be possible with these storms. There will likely also be MVFR ceilings early Sunday morning with the highest chances at KCSM and KWWR. And some non- convective low-level wind shear is expected at most sites early Sunday morning. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 253 PM CDT Sat May 25 2019/ DISCUSSION... The focus today is centered around near-term convective/flooding threats. Little change was made beyond today to the forecast. Latest surface analysis shows decreasing hints of diffuse composite surface boundary somewhere near the Kansas border. Regardless, persistent low-level southerly flow continues to transport moisture northward and is expected to rectify the convectively overturned environment sampled by 12z OUN sounding. The already moist low level environment is probably augmented by moist ground/vegetation some. Nearly all sites across the area have low 70 dew points. On the western extend of anomalous low-level moisture plume and where diabatic heating has been relatively strong, along with influence from eastern upper level trough, storms have developed. Expanding cold pool is likely with thees storms along the northern caprock and growth upscale as they move eastward is expected. This activity has been more expansive with earlier CI than most CAMs indicated, and it seems that a more aggressive timing and spatial coverage of multi-cell clusters and eventually an MCS than the average CAM output shows is warranted. If storms can remain discrete/quasi-discrete before moving into western Oklahoma, there would be a low-end tornado threat. As low-level jet strengthens this evening, low-level shear will increase. By then, cold pool growth should favor linear evolution by then. There may be a tendency for convection to be cold pool dominate, thus limiting the tornado potential. However, similar to last night, we'll have to watch any northwest-southeast oriented segments with cold pool/shear balance for leading edge circulations well into the evening, particularly if topped with radar evidence of an organized/sustained updraft. This displacement last night precluded more substantial QLCS tornado potential. Significant moisture transport vectors and anomalous PWATs will lead to intense rainfall rates. Even with indications of steady forward propagation the ground is quite saturated so even though the duration may not be particularly long, the potential for flooding/flash flooding is higher than typical in this scenario. The trend should be for decreasing intensity with eastward extend and a lessening of both the severe and flood potential later in the night. Sunday night, a similar scenario is expected with diurnally driven activity on the High Plains once again growing up scale and moving east-northeast posing a risk of severe storms and flooding. Given position of synoptic features, it should be confined a little more to the western sections of the area Monday. On Tuesday, western trough ejects northeast and its track suggests at least modest large scale ascent over most of our area supporting convection over a larger portion of the area. Flooding continues to be a concern given antecedent conditions, and the CAPE/shear parameter space will support severe storm potential. Wednesday's potential is a little less certain given tendency for large scale lift to shift northeastward. It may be driven by 1) how much we destabilize in the wake of potential lingering convection the previous night, and 2) position of mesoscale features such as residual boundaries. Right now, the greatest probabilities appear to be across southern portions of the area. The pattern late in the week and especially into next weekend appears to trend back toward to at least some weak western mid- upper troughing and low-level theta-e ridge, with some indication of a east-west quasi-stationary synoptic front just north of us. This would indicate a potentially active convective period continuing with heavy rain/flooding possibly still a concern. BRB && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Oklahoma City OK 67 82 68 83 / 70 10 30 10 Hobart OK 66 81 66 83 / 70 10 40 10 Wichita Falls TX 68 85 68 87 / 60 0 20 10 Gage OK 62 79 62 82 / 70 40 50 20 Ponca City OK 67 83 68 85 / 70 20 40 10 Durant OK 69 85 69 86 / 20 10 10 10 && .OUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OK...Flood Watch through Sunday morning for OKZ004>026-033>038. TX...Flood Watch through Sunday morning for TXZ083-084. &&
Hazardous weather outlook, May 25, 11:26 AM CDT, 7 hours 38 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook...UPDATED National Weather Service Norman OK 1126 AM CDT Sat May 25 2019 OKZ004>048-050>052-TXZ083>090-261630- Harper-Woods-Alfalfa-Grant-Kay-Ellis-Woodward-Major-Garfield- Noble-Roger Mills-Dewey-Custer-Blaine-Kingfisher-Logan-Payne- Beckham-Washita-Caddo-Canadian-Oklahoma-Lincoln-Grady-McClain- Cleveland-Pottawatomie-Seminole-Hughes-Harmon-Greer-Kiowa-Jackson- Tillman-Comanche-Stephens-Garvin-Murray-Pontotoc-Coal-Cotton- Jefferson-Carter-Johnston-Atoka-Love-Marshall-Bryan-Hardeman- Foard-Wilbarger-Wichita-Knox-Baylor-Archer-Clay- 1126 AM CDT Sat May 25 2019 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of northern... western...central...and southern Oklahoma...and western north Texas. .DAY ONE...Through tonight... .Thunderstorms... There is an Enhanced Risk of severe thunderstorms this afternoon and evening. Location... The Enhanced Risk is generally west of a Blackwell, to Enid, to Hobart, to Crowell Texas line. A Slight Risk extends farther east to Stillwater, Purcell, and Wichita Falls. Timing... Severe storms could move into western Oklahoma and western north Texas by 4 pm, then spread north and east through the evening. Impacts... Hail up to golf ball size. Winds 60 to 80 mph. Low tornado risk, mainly in the Enhanced Risk area. .SPOTTER AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT STATEMENT... Storm spotter groups and emergency management personnel should prepare for severe weather operations this afternoon and evening. .Heavy Rainfall and Flooding... Additional rainfall may cause flooding due to saturated soils across the region. The highest risk for flooding is across northern and western Oklahoma. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday... .Thunderstorms... There is a risk for severe thunderstorms Sunday through Wednesday. The greatest risk will be on Tuesday, mainly across northern and central Oklahoma. .Heavy Rainfall and Flooding... Flooding will continue into next week and additional heavy rain from thunderstorms will exacerbate the flooding, especially across northern portions of Oklahoma. Get graphics and more details at weather.gov/norman...and follow our weather forecast office on Twitter and Facebook.
In the hours before
Local storm report, May 25, 6:23 PM CDT, 41 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
623 PM CDT SAT MAY 25 2019
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0615 PM TSTM WND GST 4 ESE ERICK 35.19N 99.80W
05/25/2019 M65 MPH BECKHAM OK ASOS
&&
JTLocal storm report, May 25, 6:45 PM CDT, 19 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
645 PM CDT SAT MAY 25 2019
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0632 PM FLASH FLOOD WOODWARD 36.43N 99.39W
05/25/2019 WOODWARD OK PUBLIC
1.5 FEET OF WATER ON MANY ROADWAYS AND PARKING LOTS. MOST
ROADS ARE INACCESSIBLE.
&&
JTLocal storm report, May 25, 6:49 PM CDT, 15 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
649 PM CDT SAT MAY 25 2019
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0639 PM LIGHTNING 3 SE QUINLAN 36.42N 99.01W
05/25/2019 WOODWARD OK EMERGENCY MNGR
TANK BATTERY HIT BY LIGHTNING, ON FIRE.
&&
JTLocal storm report, May 25, 6:51 PM CDT, 13 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
651 PM CDT SAT MAY 25 2019
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0647 PM TSTM WND DMG 6 S WOODWARD 36.35N 99.39W
05/25/2019 WOODWARD OK EMERGENCY MNGR
POWER LINES DOWN.
&&
JTLocal storm report, May 25, 6:56 PM CDT, 8 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
656 PM CDT SAT MAY 25 2019
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0650 PM HAIL 1 SE SAYRE 35.28N 99.62W
05/25/2019 E0.50 INCH BECKHAM OK PUBLIC
MPING REPORT.
&&
JTLocal storm report, May 25, 7:04 PM CDT, 0 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
704 PM CDT SAT MAY 25 2019
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0617 PM HAIL 10 NW ELK CITY 35.51N 99.54W
05/25/2019 E0.75 INCH ROGER MILLS OK PUBLIC
MPING REPORT.
&&
JTThe 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
0.1 hours before the tornado, 193 km from the path. May 26, 2019.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1531 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -29 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 3625 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1082 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 47 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 20 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 98 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 111 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.5
- Supercell composite
- 12.6
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.6 K/km
Norman, OK (KOUN), 12:00Z
11.9 hours after it, 193 km from the path. May 26, 2019.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 97 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -335 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 919 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 47 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 35 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 262 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 278 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.5
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 3.0 K/km
The radar
The Altus AFB radar (KFDR), 91 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:02 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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23:15 UTC | TSTM WND GST 65 | 4 Ese Erick | Beckham, OK | |
| 23:17 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | 10 Nw Elk City | Roger Mills, OK | MPING REPORT. |
| 23:50 UTC | HAIL 0.5 | 1 Se Sayre | Beckham, OK | MPING REPORT. |
| 00:48 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 3 Ene Sayre | Beckham, OK | TWITTER REPORT WITH PICTURE. TIMBER BEAN CREEK AND COFFEE BEAN CREEK BOTH OUT OF THEIR BANKS AT DOXEY OK, EAST OF SAYRE. OVER 3 INCHES OF RAIN IN A LITTLE OVER AN HOUR. |
| 01:00 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | Se Burns Flat | Washita, OK | |
| 01:18 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 8 Wsw Burns Flat | Washita, OK | 10-15 INCHES OF WATER RUNNING OVER HWY 152. |
| 01:22 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 6 Wsw Burns Flat | Washita, OK | 9 INCHES FOR 100 FEET COVERS ROADWAY IN VARIOUS STRETCHES. |
| 02:03 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Burns Flat | Washita, OK | WASHITA CO SHERIFFS OFFICE REPORTS MOST ROADS IN BURNS FLAT ARE FLOODED, SOME WITH THREE FEET OF WATER. |
| 02:24 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | Hobart | Kiowa, OK | 60MPH WIND MEASURED AT INTERSECTION OF HWY 183 AND HWY 9. |
| 02:31 UTC | HAIL 1 | 3 Sse Altus-Lugert Lake | Kiowa, OK | MPING REPORT. |
| 02:32 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | Hobart | Kiowa, OK | |
| 02:32 UTC | HAIL 1 | Hobart | Kiowa, OK | QUARTER SIZE HAIL IN HOBART. ZERO VISIBILITY DUE TO RAIN AND HAIL. |
| 02:44 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 3 E Sentinel | Washita, OK | 4 TO 8 INCHES OF WATER RUNNING ACROSS THE ROAD BETWEEN SENTINEL AND ROCKY. |
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 25, 2019
21 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 25 | 4:59 PM CDT | Unrated | Hockley, TX | 1.1 | 30 | |||
| May 25 | 5:39 PM CDT | EF2 | Hale, TX | 1.7 | 100 | $250,000 | ||
| May 25 | 6:42 PM EDT | EF1 | Carroll, OH | 0.5 | 50 | $60,000 | ||
| May 25 | 6:08 PM CDT | Unrated | Hale, TX | 4.6 | 100 | |||
| May 25 | 7:14 PM CDT | Unrated | Beckham, OK | 0.2 | 50 | |||
| May 25 | 8:27 PM EDT | EF1 | Indiana, PA | 5.1 | 35 | |||
| May 25 | 8:32 PM EDT | EF0 | Indiana, PA | 0.1 | 20 | |||
| May 25 | 7:40 PM CDT | Unrated | Hall, TX | 0.0 | 30 | |||
| May 25 | 10:28 PM CDT | EF3 | Canadian, OK | 2.2 | 75 | 2 | 29 | $400,000 |
| May 25 | 10:46 PM CDT | EF0 | Oklahoma, OK | 0.9 | 50 | $20,000 | ||
| May 25 | 10:49 PM CDT | EF0 | Oklahoma, OK | 0.7 | 50 | $20,000 | ||
| May 25 | 10:53 PM CDT | EF0 | Oklahoma, OK | 0.5 | 30 | $10,000 | ||
| May 25 | 10:56 PM CDT | EF0 | Cleveland, OK | 0.7 | 30 | $10,000 | ||
| May 25 | 10:57 PM CDT | EF0 | Oklahoma, OK | 0.2 | 30 | $2,000 | ||
| May 25 | 11:14 PM CDT | EF1 | Tazewell, IL | 1.1 | 200 | |||
| May 25 | 11:19 PM CDT | EF1 | Tazewell, IL | 0.7 | 150 | |||
| May 25 | 12:04 AM CDT | EF1 | Creek, OK | 2.6 | 200 | $40,000 | ||
| May 25 | 12:14 AM CDT | EF1 | Creek, OK | 10.7 | 1,000 | $250,000 | ||
| May 25 | 12:21 AM CDT | EF1 | Creek, OK | 12.5 | 1,400 | $760,000 | ||
| May 25 | 12:27 AM CDT | EF1 | Tulsa, OK | 12.3 | 2,200 | $1.1 million | ||
| May 25 | 12:51 AM CDT | EF0 | Tulsa, OK | 1.8 | 400 | $175,000 |
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.