Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 2022

EF0 tornado, Harrah, Oklahoma, April 23, 2022

This EF0 tornado ran 0.6 miles across Oklahoma County on April 23, 2022, touching down at 8:25 PM CDT and reaching 20 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $1,000 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 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
April 23, 2022
Touchdown
8:25 PM CDT (01:25 UTC)
Lifted
8:27 PM CDT (01:27 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
0.6 miles (1.0 km)
Path width
20 yards (18 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$1,000
County
Oklahoma County
Touchdown point
35.534, -97.214
Lift-off point
35.525, -97.213
Record number
2204231925-01

The damage survey

1 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS OUN, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The highest wind the damage implies is 98 mph.

  • 8 power poles down, 4 of them snapped

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

What the Weather Service recorded

A dryline positioned itself to the west of the I-35 corridor, with several supercells developing by late afternoon of the 23rd. These storms brough hail and wind to parts of central and southwest Oklahoma, as well as a couple tornadoes.

A weak tornado developed just west of Peebly Road north of Reno Avenue and moved northeast. Tree damage was observed along Peebly Road and just west of the Kickapoo Turnpike. This tornado was within a much broader area of wind damage.

A weak tornado touched down about 4 miles northwest of Harrah and moved south-southeast near Peebly Road between NE 63rd and NE 50th Streets. Some light tree damages was observed. This was embedded within a much larger area of damaging thunderstorm winds.

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

The warnings

10 minutes of warning. NWS OUN issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:15 UTC, 10 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:41 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 22:25 UTC and running to 04:36 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
22:25 UTC04:36 UTCTornado WatchOUN
00:03 UTC00:45 UTCTornado WarningOUN
00:37 UTC01:15 UTCTornado WarningOUN
00:39 UTC03:45 UTCFlood AdvisoryOUN
01:10 UTC01:50 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN
01:15 UTC01:41 UTCTornado WarningOUN
04:36 UTC07:53 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchOUN
12:00 UTC17:17 UTCFlood WatchOUN

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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:32 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

1.4 hours before the tornado, 38 km from the path. April 24, 2022.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Norman, OK at 00:00Z on 2022-04-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 749 joules per kilogram, CIN -34, lifted condensation level 1125 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 2022-04-24The 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 234 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 58 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
749 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-34 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2137 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1125 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
58 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
234 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
260 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.3
Supercell composite
12.3
0-3 km lapse rate
6.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Norman, OK (KOUN), 12:00Z

10.6 hours after it, 38 km from the path. April 24, 2022.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Norman, OK at 12:00Z on 2022-04-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 9 joules per kilogram, CIN -142, lifted condensation level 614 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 12:00Z on 2022-04-24The 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 153 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 57 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
9 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-142 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
614 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
153 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
294 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.3
0-3 km lapse rate
4.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Tinker Afb (TIK), 20 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
23:56 UTC74.561170° 18 kt1004.1
00:25 UTC73.460.8170° 11 kt1004.4TS
00:44 UTC73.460.8150° 11 kt211003.4VCTS
00:51 UTC73.460.890° 7 kt201003TS
00:54 UTC73.460.850° 12 kt201003.7TS -DZ
00:56 UTC73.461.310° 9 kt181004.4-TSRA
01:08 UTC6866.2270° 14 kt301006.1+TSRA
01:11 UTC6866.2240° 12 kt301006.4+TSRA
01:18 UTC66.266.2260° 5 kt1005.8+TSRA
01:20 UTC66.266.2310° 5 kt1006.1+TSRA
01:32 UTC64.464.4220° 11 kt1007.1VCTS -RA
01:40 UTC64.464.4210° 6 kt1007.1+TSRA
01:56 UTC64.464170° 3 kt1007.1-TSRA
01:57 UTC64.464.40° 0 kt1007.1VCTS -RA
02:18 UTC64.464.4150° 5 kt1007.5-TSRA
02:40 UTC64.464.4130° 7 kt1006.8-RA
02:56 UTC6564.8130° 5 kt1007.5

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

The radar

The Norman radar (KTLX), 23 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:25 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
00:10 UTCTSTM WND GST 596 Ssw Lake Carl BlackwePayne, OK
00:35 UTCHAIL 15 Sw Oklahoma CityOklahoma, OKREPORT FROM MPING: QUARTER (1.00 IN.).
00:41 UTCHAIL 12 W Oklahoma CityOklahoma, OKREPORT FROM MPING: QUARTER (1.00 IN.).
01:00 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Ne Tinker Air Force BOklahoma, OKPOWER POLE DOWN ON SE 29TH BETWEEN DOUGLAS AND POST. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
01:27 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Nw HarrahOklahoma, OK8 POWER POLES DOWN.
01:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Sw Oklahoma CityOklahoma, OK3 DOWNED POWER POLES FROM NWSCHAT.
01:31 UTCTSTM WND GST 665 Ne NormanCleveland, OK

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2022 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 23, 2022

11 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 231:20 AM CDTEF1Sheridan, KS5.6125
April 231:28 AM CDTEF1Sheridan, KS7.8125
April 232:35 PM CDTEF0Edmunds, SD0.010
April 233:24 PM CDTUnratedLaMoure, ND0.325
April 236:21 PM CDTEF1Boone, IA9.180$28,000
April 236:23 PM CDTUnratedPolk, IA3.960
April 236:24 PM CDTEF0Polk, IA2.475$1,000
April 236:55 PM CDTEF0Polk, MN0.350
April 237:01 PM CDTEF0Grady, OK3.830$10,000
April 237:15 PM CDTUnratedCanadian, OK0.350
April 238:20 PM CDTEF0Oklahoma, OK0.830$2,000

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.