Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 2022

EF0 tornado, Kingston to Woodville, Oklahoma, March 21, 2022

From Kingston to Woodville, this EF0 tornado ran 2.6 miles across Marshall County on March 21, 2022, touching down at 6:32 PM CDT and reaching 20 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
March 21, 2022
Touchdown
6:32 PM CDT (23:32 UTC)
Lifted
6:35 PM CDT (23:35 UTC)
On the ground
3 minutes
Path length
2.6 miles (4.2 km)
Path width
20 yards (18 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Marshall County
Touchdown point
33.963, -96.664
Lift-off point
33.994, -96.638
Record number
2203211732-01

The damage survey

36 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS FWD, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 115 mph.

  • Trailer rolled around and flipped
  • In tact house moved off foundation.
  • Many trees uprooted and snapped
  • Multiple manufactured homes flipped and destroyed

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 powerful closed low across New Mexico and West Texas brought numerous thunderstorms and heavy rainfall to the region on the 21st. A few tornadoes were reported along with severe straight line winds and isolated large hail.

The first area of damage was noted about 2 miles south of Kingston where a house received significant roof damage. The tornado moved northeast crossing US-70 in the far eastern portion of Kingston where a number of homes and businesses were significantly damaged, including metal buildings where roof and wall panels were pulled from the building. Tree damage continued to the northeast and debris from the structures on US-70 fell in areas to the northeast as the tornado approached the northwestern arm of Lake Texoma. Damage to trees, outbuildings and a couple of homes continued as the tornado approached Little City. Widespread tree and structure damage occurred in Little City, primarily of EF0 and low EF1 intensity before the tornado dissipated just northeast of town.

As the Kingston tornado was occurring farther northwest, a storm spotter observed a tornado touch down just southwest of Woodville and move northeast. Trees were damaged in areas just east of the Lake Texoma State Park airport.

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

The warnings

0 minutes of warning. NWS OUN issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:32 UTC, 0 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:50 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 22:29 UTC and running to 01:11 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
22:29 UTC01:11 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchOUN
22:43 UTC23:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN
23:28 UTC23:53 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN
23:32 UTC23:50 UTCTornado WarningOUN

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 19:59 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.

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), 12:00Z

11.5 hours before the tornado, 141 km from the path. March 21, 2022.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2022-03-21Temperature 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 -77651, lifted condensation level 758 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2022-03-21The 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 389 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 43 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
-77651 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
758 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
389 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
466 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3
0-3 km lapse rate
4.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Norman radar (KTLX), 161 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:33 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
23:16 UTCTORNADO3 Ene WillisMarshall, OKCORRECTS PREVIOUS TSTM WND DMG REPORT FROM 3 ENE WILLIS. EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO STRUCTURES AND TREES REPORTED IN BUNCOMBE CREEK AREA. TIME FROM RADAR.
23:20 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Ene WillisMarshall, OKEXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO STRUCTURES AND TREES REPORTED IN BUNCOMBE CREEK AREA. POSSIBLE TORNADO. TIME FROM RADAR.
23:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 E KingstonMarshall, OKDAMAGE REPORTED TO DOLLAR GENERAL AND OTHER STRUCTURES ALONG HIGHWAY 70 EAST OF KINGSTON. POSSIBLE TORNADO. TIME FROM RADAR.
23:30 UTCTORNADO2 E KingstonMarshall, OKCORRECTS PREVIOUS TSTM WND DMG REPORT FROM 2 E KINGSTON. DAMAGE REPORTED TO DOLLAR GENERAL AND OTHER STRUCTURES ALONG HIGHWAY 70 EAST OF KINGSTON. TIME FROM RADAR.
23:37 UTCTORNADOWoodvilleMarshall, OK
23:47 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Wnw NidaJohnston, OKTREES AND POWERLINES DOWNED ALONG HIGHWAY 22. POSSIBLE TORNADO. TIME FROM RADAR.
23:47 UTCTORNADO4 Wnw NidaJohnston, OKCORRECTS PREVIOUS TSTM WND DMG REPORT FROM 4 WNW NIDA. TREES AND POWERLINES DOWNED ALONG HIGHWAY 22. TIME FROM RADAR.
23:50 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Sse MilburnJohnston, OKPOWERLINES AND TREES DOWN, SEVERAL MANUFACTURED HOMES DAMAGED NEAR EMET. POSSIBLE TORNADO. TIME FROM RADAR.
23:50 UTCTORNADO2 Sse MilburnJohnston, OKCORRECTS PREVIOUS TSTM WND DMG REPORT FROM 2 SSE MILBURN. POWERLINES AND TREES DOWN, SEVERAL MANUFACTURED HOMES DAMAGED NEAR EMET. TIME FROM RADAR.
23:57 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 N FillmoreJohnston, OKHOUSE WITH TWO THIRDS OF ROOF MISSING ALONG FILMORE ROAD. POSSIBLE TORNADO. TIME FROM RADAR.
00:05 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Wsw WapanuckaJohnston, OKMAJOR HOUSE DAMAGE REPORTED TO HOME AT ROCK CREEK HILL AND LUFFY CHAPEL ROADS. POSSIBLE TORNADO. TIME FROM RADAR.
00:06 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 N MilburnJohnston, OK
00:17 UTCTSTM WND GST 586 Sse DurantBryan, OK
00:30 UTCHAIL 1BentleyAtoka, 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 March 21, 2022

35 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 213:12 PM CDTEF1Palo Pinto, TX9.7400$75,000
March 213:35 PM CDTEF3Jacksboro tornado, TX34.58809
March 214:31 PM CDTEF1Montague, TX2.1150
March 214:34 PM CDTEF1Montague, TX5.24403
March 214:47 PM CDTEF0Wise, TX6.1150
March 214:54 PM CDTEF1Montague, TX18.7500
March 215:17 PM CDTEF0Love, OK6.850$20,000
March 215:17 PM CDTEF1Cooke, TX18.3150
March 215:31 PM CDTEF0Tarrant, TX0.550
March 215:37 PM CDTEF0Tarrant, TX1.350
March 215:48 PM CDTEF2Guadalupe, TX7.9600
March 215:51 PM CDTEF1Williamson, TX9.3300
March 215:54 PM CDTEF2Travis, TX34.6600$2,000
March 216:11 PM CDTEF2Marshall, TX to OK5.1200111$500,000
March 216:12 PM CDTEF0Tarrant, TX0.6100$20,000
March 216:29 PM CDTEF1Marshall, OK10.1200$500,000
March 216:30 PM CDTEF2Bastrop, TX12.0500
March 216:31 PM CDTEF0Denton, TX1.950$20,000
March 216:43 PM CDTEF1Johnston, OK7.1200$100,000
March 216:54 PM CDTEF0Bastrop, TX5.550
March 217:14 PM CDTEF1Milam, TX3.8200$30,000
March 217:25 PM CDTEF0Falls, TX0.430$1,000
March 217:28 PM CDTEF1Lee, TX2.550
March 218:08 PM CDTEF0Limestone, TX11.8100$200,000
March 218:35 PM CDTEF0Burleson, TX1.050$100,000
March 218:40 PM CDTEF0Burleson, TX0.3175
March 219:05 PM CDTEF1Brazos, TX0.4175$100,000
March 219:35 PM CDTEF1Madison, TX2.4200$1.0 million
March 2110:10 PM CDTEF2Houston, TX19.1200110$5.0 million
March 2110:20 PM CDTEF2Upshur, TX40.07008$2.6 million
March 2111:16 PM CDTEF2Cherokee, TX37.11,4001$1.8 million
March 2111:21 PM CDTEF1Cass, TX1.8150
March 2111:29 PM CDTEF1Cass, TX2.0200$100,000
March 2112:08 AM CDTEF2Rusk, TX11.95001$550,000
March 2112:49 AM CDTEF1Harrison, TX6.6200

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.