Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 2022
EF1 tornado, Broken Arrow to Oneta, Oklahoma, July 28, 2022
From Broken Arrow to Oneta, this EF1 tornado ran 4.0 miles across Tulsa and Wagoner counties on July 28, 2022, touching down at 10:35 PM CDT and reaching 800 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $55,000 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.
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 mphthis tornado
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.
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
- July 28, 2022
- Touchdown
- 10:35 PM CDT (03:35 UTC)
- Lifted
- 10:44 PM CDT (03:44 UTC)
- On the ground
- 9 minutes
- Path length
- 4.0 miles (6.4 km)
- Path width
- 800 yards (732 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $55,000
- Counties
- Tulsa and Wagoner counties
- Touchdown point
- 36.056, -95.779
- Lift-off point
- 36.070, -95.710
- Record number
- 2207282135-01
The damage survey
24 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 93 mph.
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
Scattered strong to severe thunderstorms developed across portions of eastern Oklahoma during the evening of the 28th. The strongest storms produced damaging wind gusts and hail up to quarter size. One storm produced a tornado as it crossed an outflow boundary from other storms.
This is the first segment of a two segment tornado. This tornado developed just east of Lynn Lane and south of E Kenosha Street, where a few trees were uprooted and large tree limbs were snapped. The roofs of homes were damaged and an outbuilding was destroyed in the path, before the tornado moved into Wagoner County near the intersection of County Line Road and E Kenosha Street. Based on this damage, estimated wind in this segment of the tornado was 90 to 95 mph.
This is the second segment of a two segment tornado. This tornado moved into Wagoner County near the intersection of S 193rd East Ave and E Kenosha Street. It moved east-northeast along and then north of E Kenosha Street, before dissipating just west of S 241st East Ave. In Wagoner County, trees were uprooted, large tree limbs were snapped, and the roofs of homes were damaged. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in this segment of the tornado was 90 to 95 mph.
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.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 02:26 UTC | 03:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA |
| 03:26 UTC | 06:30 UTC | Flood Advisory | TSA |
| 03:38 UTC | 04:03 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA |
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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 00:48 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.
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
3.6 hours before the tornado, 177 km from the path. July 29, 2022.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1546 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -4 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 1959 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2469 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 22 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 6 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 25 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 73 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 9.6 K/km
Norman, OK (KOUN), 12:00Z
8.4 hours after it, 177 km from the path. July 29, 2022.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 322 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -178 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 780 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 992 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 20 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 18 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 172 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 261 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.9 K/km
The surface observations
Tulsa International Airport(Aw) (TUL), 20 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01:35 UTC | 40° 5 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 01:40 UTC | 50° 4 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 01:45 UTC | 40° 8 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 01:50 UTC | 30° 7 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 01:53 UTC | 89 | 70 | 40° 8 kt | 1013.2 | ||
| 01:55 UTC | 30° 8 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 02:00 UTC | 40° 7 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 02:05 UTC | 40° 5 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 02:06 UTC | 89 | 71 | 40° 5 kt | 1013.2 | TS | |
| 02:10 UTC | 40° 5 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 02:15 UTC | 30° 5 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 02:20 UTC | 30° 7 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 02:25 UTC | 40° 5 kt | 1013.5 | ||||
| 02:30 UTC | 40° 7 kt | 1013.5 | ||||
| 02:35 UTC | 10° 2 kt | 1013.9 | ||||
| 02:40 UTC | 10° 13 kt | 22 | 1013.9 | |||
| 02:45 UTC | 11 kt | 22 | 1013.5 | |||
| 02:50 UTC | 11 kt | 22 | 1013.9 | |||
| 02:53 UTC | 83 | 72 | 20° 11 kt | 24 | 1013.9 | TS |
| 02:55 UTC | 10° 13 kt | 22 | 1013.9 | |||
| 03:00 UTC | 10° 11 kt | 18 | 1014.2 | |||
| 03:05 UTC | 10° 9 kt | 17 | 1014.6 | |||
| 03:10 UTC | 11 kt | 1015.2 | ||||
| 03:15 UTC | 11 kt | 1015.2 | ||||
| 03:20 UTC | 78 | 72 | 30° 10 kt | 1014.6 | +TSRA | |
| 03:20 UTC | 30° 11 kt | 1014.6 | +RA | |||
| 03:25 UTC | 70° 11 kt | 1014.6 | +RA BR | |||
| 03:28 UTC | 77 | 73 | 60° 7 kt | 14 | 1015.2 | TSRA BR |
| 03:30 UTC | 30° 4 kt | 1015.6 | -RA BR | |||
| 03:35 UTC | 10 kt | 1015.9 | -RA BR | |||
| 03:40 UTC | 250° 2 kt | 1015.9 | -RA BR | |||
| 03:45 UTC | 210° 5 kt | 1015.9 | -RA BR | |||
| 03:50 UTC | 10 kt | 1015.9 | BR | |||
| 03:53 UTC | 78 | 74 | 160° 12 kt | 1016.3 | TS | |
| 03:55 UTC | 11 kt | 1016.3 | ||||
| 04:00 UTC | 170° 8 kt | 1016.3 | ||||
| 04:05 UTC | 180° 4 kt | 1016.6 | ||||
| 04:10 UTC | 360° 2 kt | 1016.9 | ||||
| 04:15 UTC | 360° 8 kt | 1016.9 | -RA | |||
| 04:20 UTC | 14 kt | 27 | 1016.3 | +RA | ||
| 04:21 UTC | 75 | 74 | 350° 15 kt | 29 | 1016.3 | +TSRA |
| 04:25 UTC | 1015.9 | +RA | ||||
| 04:30 UTC | 74 | 73 | 70° 12 kt | 29 | 1015.2 | +TSRA |
| 04:30 UTC | 70° 11 kt | 1015.2 | +RA | |||
| 04:35 UTC | 11 kt | 1014.9 | +RA | |||
| 04:38 UTC | 75 | 73 | 120° 10 kt | 1014.9 | -TSRA | |
| 04:40 UTC | 140° 10 kt | 1015.2 | -RA | |||
| 04:45 UTC | 75 | 74 | 120° 9 kt | 1014.9 | -TSRA | |
| 04:45 UTC | 120° 9 kt | 1014.9 | -RA | |||
| 04:50 UTC | 110° 5 kt | 1015.2 | -RA | |||
| 04:53 UTC | 75 | 74 | 110° 5 kt | 1015.2 | -TSRA | |
| 04:55 UTC | 110° 5 kt | 1015.2 | -RA | |||
| 05:00 UTC | 110° 2 kt | 1015.6 | -RA | |||
| 05:05 UTC | 0° 0 kt | 1015.6 | -RA | |||
| 05:10 UTC | 170° 5 kt | 1015.9 | -RA | |||
| 05:15 UTC | 140° 5 kt | 1015.9 | RA | |||
| 05:20 UTC | 120° 5 kt | 1015.6 | -RA | |||
| 05:25 UTC | 110° 5 kt | 1015.6 | RA | |||
| 05:30 UTC | 80° 5 kt | 1015.6 | RA |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Tulsa radar (KINX), 20 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 03:37 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02:10 UTC | HAIL 1 | 4 W Westport | Pawnee, OK | REPORTED BY THE HOMINY EMERGENCY MANAGER ON HIGHWAY 412 NEAR THE INTERSECTION WITH HIGHWAY 48. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR. |
| 03:05 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Muskogee | Muskogee, OK | CORRECTS PREVIOUS TSTM WND DMG REPORT FROM MUSKOGEE. NUMEROUS TREES AND BRANCHES DOWNED. POWER POLES LEANING. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. |
| 03:40 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Nnw Oneta | Wagoner, OK | POWER LINE AND FENCE DAMAGE JUST SOUTH OF KENOSHA AND 225TH EAST AVENUE. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. |
| 03:40 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Nnw Oneta | Wagoner, OK | TREES DOWN. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR. |
| 03:40 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 Ene Broken Arrow | Wagoner, OK | SEVERAL 6 TO 8 INCH DIAMETER TREES BROKEN ABOUT 2 FEET OFF THE GROUND. |
| 03:41 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Ene Broken Arrow | Wagoner, OK | TREES BLOWN DOWN; KINX WSR-88D TORNADIC DEBRIS SIGNATURE JUST UPSTREAM FROM THIS LOCATION. |
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 July 28, 2022
2 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
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.