Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 2024

EF0 tornado, Roll to Hammon, Oklahoma, May 19, 2024

From Roll to Hammon, this EF0 tornado ran 0.5 miles across Roger Mills County on May 19, 2024, touching down at 6:27 PM CDT and reaching 30 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $5,000 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 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
May 19, 2024
Touchdown
6:27 PM CDT (23:27 UTC)
Path length
0.5 miles (0.8 km)
Path width
30 yards (27 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$5,000
County
Roger Mills County
Touchdown point
35.755, -99.535
Lift-off point
35.755, -99.535
Record number
2405191727-01

The damage survey

4 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 85 mph.

  • mPing report of trees uprooted or snapped and/or roof blown off.
  • Barn destroyed per EM. Uncertain best DoD.
  • Compressor shed destroyed per EM. Unsure of DoD to use.
  • Garage doors blown out of east and west ends of a barn per EM. Also tree top damage.

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

Significant severe weather occurred across portions of western into central Oklahoma from the late afternoon of the 19th through early morning on the 20th. Aloft, a strong and compact upper wave moved across portions of Kansas during the afternoon. While most severe weather outcomes were expected further north of the WFO Norman area, a few supercell thunderstorms developed along a trailing dryline near the 100th meridian. This included a powerful supercell thunderstorm that moved from Hemphill County, Texas (WFO Amarillo, Texas) into portions of Roger Mills/Custer/Washita/Blaine/Canadian/Oklahoma counties during the afternoon into late evening hours. This thunderstorm was responsible for thirteen (13) tornadoes, including significant tornadoes west of Custer City and near Yukon, Oklahoma. Significant damaging wind gusts/damage and large to very large hail also occurred with this thunderstorm. Additional hail-producing supercells developed into portions of northwestern Oklahoma during the evening, with one becoming briefly tornadic during the late evening across Woods County, Oklahoma.

Two storm chasers on different sides of the thunderstorm observed a brief tornado to the east-southeast of Roll. Roger Mills County Emergency Management reported a barn damaged near County Road N1890 to the south of State Highway 47.

Roger Mills County Emergency Management reported a compressor shed was damaged near the intersection of County Roads N1940 and E0870.

Multiple storm chasers reported observing a tornado northwest of Hammon. An mPing report was received of damage along County Road N1970, and Roger Mills County Emergency Management reported damage to a barn and trees near the intersection of E0920 and N1982 Roads.

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

The warnings

19 minutes of warning. NWS OUN issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:08 UTC, 19 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:00 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 19:34 UTC and running to 03:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
19:34 UTC03:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchOUN
21:49 UTC22:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN
22:02 UTC22:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN
22:43 UTC23:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN
23:05 UTC23:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN
23:08 UTC00:00 UTCTornado WarningOUN
23:19 UTC00:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN
23:36 UTC00:00 UTCTornado WarningOUN
23:51 UTC00:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN
00:20 UTC03:30 UTCFlood AdvisoryOUN

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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:00 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), 12:00Z

11.5 hours before the tornado, 202 km from the path. May 19, 2024.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Norman, OK at 12:00Z on 2024-05-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1250 joules per kilogram, CIN -225, lifted condensation level 1130 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, Norman, OK at 12:00Z on 2024-05-19The 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 20 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 22 knots.193958Sfc1 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
1250 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-225 J/kg
Surface CAPE
155 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1130 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
20 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
30 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.7
0-3 km lapse rate
3.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Norman, OK (KOUN), 00:00Z

0.5 hours after it, 202 km from the path. May 20, 2024.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Norman, OK at 00:00Z on 2024-05-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2750 joules per kilogram, CIN -115, lifted condensation level 1280 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, Norman, OK at 00:00Z on 2024-05-20The 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 150 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 36 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
2750 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-115 J/kg
Surface CAPE
3592 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1280 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
150 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
317 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.1
Supercell composite
12.5
0-3 km lapse rate
6.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Elk City (ELK), 38 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
21:35 UTC91.267.3180° 22 kt271007.5
21:55 UTC9167.3180° 20 kt261006.8
22:15 UTC90.768170° 21 kt271005.8
22:35 UTC88.368150° 19 kt261006.4
22:55 UTC87.868170° 22 kt311005.8
23:15 UTC8767.6160° 18 kt271005.1
23:35 UTC86.566.7160° 22 kt321004.7VCTS
23:55 UTC8666.2160° 28 kt331004.4VCTS
00:15 UTC86.465.7170° 21 kt311004.7VCTS
00:35 UTC82.267.6170° 17 kt261005.8VCTS
00:55 UTC83.566160° 20 kt251005.8VCTS
01:15 UTC8267150° 13 kt231005.8

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

The radar

The Altus AFB radar (KFDR), 163 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:25 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
22:45 UTCHAIL 1.53 W CrawfordRoger Mills, OKDelayed report. Report from mPING: Ping Pong Ball (1.50 in.).
23:12 UTCTSTM WND GST 754 Se RollRoger Mills, OK
23:57 UTCHAIL 2.75MoorewoodCuster, OKReport from mPING: Baseball (2.75 in.).
00:25 UTCTSTM WND GST 783 E ButlerCuster, OK
00:28 UTCTSTM WND GST 806.5 E ButlerCuster, OK
00:35 UTCTORNADO4 W ButlerCuster, OK

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

This ground now

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

The other tornadoes of May 19, 2024

31 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 191:12 PM MDTUnratedWashington, CO0.225
May 193:32 PM CDTEF1Russell, KS1.615
May 192:45 PM MDTEF2Logan, CO1.630
May 192:56 PM MDTUnratedLogan, CO0.015
May 194:20 PM CDTEF0Ellsworth, KS0.210
May 193:28 PM MDTUnratedLogan, CO0.225
May 196:19 PM CDTEF0Roger Mills, OK0.230$5,000
May 196:35 PM CDTUnratedMcDonough, IL0.620
May 196:43 PM CDTEF0Roger Mills, OK1.930$10,000
May 196:47 PM CDTUnratedBarton, KS1.140
May 196:58 PM CDTUnratedCuster, OK0.5100
May 197:28 PM CDTEF2Custer, OK6.71,760$250,000
May 197:39 PM CDTEF1Custer, OK6.7400$150,000
May 198:05 PM CDTEF1Custer, OK5.0440$200,000
May 198:13 PM CDTEF1Custer, OK2.830
May 198:16 PM CDTEF1Marion, KS1.140
May 198:24 PM CDTEF0Caddo, OK1.040$25,000
May 198:37 PM CDTEF1Blaine, OK0.650$5,000
May 198:37 PM CDTEF1Blaine, OK0.550$2,000
May 199:32 PM CDTEF2Canadian, OK3.5300$100,000
May 199:41 PM CDTEF0Canadian, OK1.2300$2,000
May 199:41 PM CDTEF0Canadian, OK2.930$5,000
May 199:44 PM CDTEF0Osage, KS0.740
May 1910:08 PM CDTEF0Shawnee, KS0.125
May 1910:10 PM CDTEF0Oklahoma, OK0.110
May 1910:19 PM CDTEF1Johnson, KS0.975
May 1910:26 PM CDTEF1Leavenworth, KS1.5150
May 1910:31 PM CDTEF1Johnson, KS1.6105
May 1910:39 PM CDTEF1Johnson, KS2.6150
May 1910:53 PM CDTEF1Woods, OK2.7300$10,000
May 1911:01 PM CDTEF1Woods, OK1.540$10,000

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.