EF1 tornado, Barnsdall to Oglesby, Oklahoma, April 1, 2024

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.

Rating

EF1

Date

April 1, 2024

Touchdown

7:49 PM CDT (00:49 UTC)

Lifted

7:56 PM CDT (00:56 UTC)

On the ground

7 minutes

Path length

4.9 miles (7.9 km)

Path width

550 yards (503 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$20,000

Counties

Washington and Osage counties

Touchdown point

36.633, -96.008

Lift-off point

36.644, -95.921

Record number

2404011849-01

33 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 105 mph.

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

Severe thunderstorms developed along a dry line over central and western Oklahoma during the afternoon of the 1st, as a strong upper level disturbance translated into the Southern Plains. The storms moved through eastern Oklahoma during the late afternoon and evening hours. Moderately strong instability combined with strong deep layer shear to support the development of some supercell thunderstorms, which produced several tornadoes, and damaging wind gusts. The storms evolved into a squall line that also produced damaging wind gusts during the late evening.

This tornado developed just east of Highway 11, over the southeastern side of Barnsdall. It damaged homes, destroyed outbuildings, and blew down trees and power poles as it moved east-northeast, dissipating north of County Road 2400 and west of County Road 2335. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in the tornado was 90 to 100 mph.

This is the first segment of a two-segment tornado. The tornado developed just west of the Osage/Washington County line, between the 2700 Road and the 2600 Road. It moved east-northeast, snapping large tree limbs near the county line. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in this segment of the tornado was 75 to 80 mph. The tornado continued into Washington County.

This is the second segment of a two-segment tornado. After crossing into Washington County, it moved just north of east, and dissipated east of Highway 75 and south of the 2500 Road. The tornado damaged outbuildings, uprooted trees, and blew down power poles. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in this segment of the tornado was 95 to 105 mph.

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

27 minutes of warning. NWS TSA issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:22 UTC, 27 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:15 UTC and running to 04:35 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 20:17 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 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.

Bartlesville/Philli (BVO), 14 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 63 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:50 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.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

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

The live radar over the trackEvery 2024 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

12 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.