Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 2022

EF1 tornado, LeFlore County, Oklahoma, November 4, 2022

This EF1 tornado ran 6.5 miles across LeFlore County on November 4, 2022, touching down at 6:33 PM CDT and reaching 900 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $75,000 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 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.

The record

Rating
EF1
Date
November 4, 2022
Touchdown
6:33 PM CDT (23:33 UTC)
Lifted
6:41 PM CDT (23:41 UTC)
On the ground
8 minutes
Path length
6.5 miles (10.5 km)
Path width
900 yards (823 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$75,000
County
LeFlore County
Touchdown point
34.871, -94.589
Lift-off point
34.945, -94.519
Record number
2211041733-01

The damage survey

12 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 100 mph.

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

The warnings

15 minutes of warning. NWS TSA issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:18 UTC, 15 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:02 UTC and running to 01:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
18:02 UTC01:00 UTCTornado WatchTSA
21:32 UTC02:30 UTCFlood AdvisoryTSA
21:50 UTC22:11 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSA
21:55 UTC22:15 UTCTornado WarningTSA
22:21 UTC23:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSA
22:24 UTC02:15 UTCFlash Flood WarningTSA
22:40 UTC23:30 UTCTornado WarningTSA
22:47 UTC02:45 UTCFlash Flood WarningTSA
23:18 UTC00:00 UTCTornado WarningTSA
23:19 UTC00:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSA
23:54 UTC03:04 UTCFlash Flood WarningTSA

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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 19:36 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.

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 12:00Z

11.6 hours before the tornado, 232 km from the path. November 4, 2022.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2022-11-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 31 joules per kilogram, CIN -323, lifted condensation level 878 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, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2022-11-04The 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 394 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 45 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 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
31 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-323 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
878 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
394 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
394 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 46 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:32 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
22:54 UTCTORNADO6 N BattiestMccurtain, OKCORRECTS PREVIOUS TORNADO REPORT FROM 6 N BATTIEST. THIS TORNADO DEVELOPED IN HEAVILY WOODED TERRAIN IN FAR NORTHERN MCCURTAIN COUNTY NEAR SHORT MOUNTAIN, WILDHORSE MOUNTAIN, AND SPRING MOUNTAIN. NUMEROUS TREES WERE SNAP
22:58 UTCTORNADO2 E HonobiaLe Flore, OKDEBRIS SIGNATURE FROM KSRX.
23:13 UTCTSTM WND GST 652 Ene GansSequoyah, OKSPOTTER 2 ENE OF GANS ON I-40 REPORTED ROTATING WALL CLOUD, 65 MPH WINDS, BROKEN TREES WITH DEBRIS ON ROADWAY. ALSO DITCHES FLOODED WITH WATER OVERFLOWING OUT ONTO ROADWAY.
23:19 UTCTSTM WND DMGSpiroLe Flore, OKTREE AND POWER POLE DOWN. REPORT VIA SOCIAL MEDIA. TIME IS RADAR ESTIMATED.
00:32 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Se HeavenerLe Flore, OKSTRONG THUNDERSTORM WIND UPROOTED A TREE.
00:33 UTCTORNADO1 Se HeavenerLe Flore, OKA TORNADO DEVELOPED JUST SOUTHEAST OF HEAVENER AND MOVED NORTHEAST FOR ABOUT 6.5 MILES. SEVERAL HOMES WERE DAMAGED, OUTBUILDINGS WERE DESTROYED, AND NUMEROUS TREES WERE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED.

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 November 4, 2022

29 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 41:30 PM CDTEF1Bryan, OK3.440$75,000
November 44:16 PM CDTEF4Caviness–Sawyer tornado, Texas and Oklahoma44.71,70011$5.9 million
November 45:08 PM CDTEF1Rains, TX4.4150$20,000
November 45:15 PM CDTEF2Hopkins, TX2.9160$1.0 million
November 45:35 PM CDTEF2Henderson, TX15.1150$3.0 million
November 45:46 PM CDTEF2McCurtain, OK2.880011$300,000
November 45:51 PM CDTEF1McCurtain, OK11.31,600$70,000
November 46:15 PM CDTEF4Clarksville–Idabel tornado, Texas and Oklahoma60.21,05613$37 million
November 46:38 PM CDTEF1Camp, TX2.2350
November 46:44 PM CDTEF3Morris, TX16.965018$5.0 million
November 46:53 PM CDTEF1Washington, AR6.51,000$2,000
November 46:58 PM CDTEF1Sebastian, AR5.81,000$400,000
November 47:17 PM CDTEF3Bowie, TX15.7800$7.0 million
November 47:20 PM CDTEF0Madison, AR1.3150$30,000
November 47:22 PM CDTUnratedSebastian, AR2.5150
November 47:37 PM CDTEF2Cass, TX19.7700$2.0 million
November 47:38 PM CDTEF1Franklin, AR3.3350$75,000
November 47:41 PM CDTEF0Franklin, AR1.7150$25,000
November 47:43 PM CDTEF1Carroll, AR8.51,100$200,000
November 47:43 PM CDTEF1Polk, AR1.8200
November 47:46 PM CDTEF1Franklin, AR3.11,100
November 48:37 PM CDTEF2Howard, AR8.1200$200,000
November 48:49 PM CDTEF1Yell, AR3.7600
November 49:08 PM CDTEF2Pike, AR1.775
November 49:15 PM CDTEF1Yell, AR2.3100
November 410:00 PM CDTEF1Clark, AR7.7200
November 410:27 PM CDTEF1Hot Spring, AR0.4150
November 410:57 PM CDTEF0Caddo Parish, LA1.370$3,000
November 411:04 PM CDTEF2Saline, AR1.6200

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.