Unrated tornado, Pearson to Maud, Oklahoma, May 11, 2023

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 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. 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.

Rating

Unrated

Date

May 11, 2023

Touchdown

9:47 PM CDT (02:47 UTC)

Lifted

9:48 PM CDT (02:48 UTC)

On the ground

1 minutes

Path length

0.2 miles (0.3 km)

Path width

50 yards (46 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Pottawatomie County

Touchdown point

35.046, -96.955

Lift-off point

35.049, -96.954

Record number

2305112047-01

5 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS OUN, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 74 mph.

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

A deepening upper/low pressure system slowly approached portions of the Central Plains on the 11th. Combined with increasing instability and wind shear, a favorable environment for severe weather (capable of producing all severe hazards) developed across much of western into central Oklahoma on the evening of the 11th. Numerous supercell thunderstorms developed and produced twelve tornadoes and large hail across portions of these areas.

Pottawatomie County storm spotters observed a brief tornado about 4 miles north-northwest of Asher, or about 2.5 miles southwest of Pearson. No damage was reported and the specific path is estimated.

Television storm chasers observed a tornado west of Maud. An NWS storm survey team observed EF0 tree damage, although this tornado was likely stronger than EF0.

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

Shawnee Municipal Airport (SNL), 34 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Norman radar (KTLX), 43 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:49 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.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2023 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

32 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.