EF2 tornado, Stilwell to Blackburn, Oklahoma, May 7, 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 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. EF2111 to 135 mphthis tornado

   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

EF2

Date

May 7, 2024

Touchdown

2:23 AM CDT (07:23 UTC)

Lifted

2:39 AM CDT (07:39 UTC)

On the ground

16 minutes

Path length

11.7 miles (18.8 km)

Path width

800 yards (732 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$75,000

Counties

Adair and Washington counties

Touchdown point

35.736, -94.595

Lift-off point

35.774, -94.393

Record number

2405070123-01

21 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS TSA, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 120 mph.

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

Severe thunderstorms developed over western Oklahoma during the afternoon of the 6th, as a dry line sharpened over the area. These storms developed eastward across central Oklahoma during the afternoon, and then moved into eastern Oklahoma during the evening. Very strong instability developed ahead of the storms, and wind shear became very strong during the mid to late evening, as wind fields strengthened over the region with the approach of a strong upper level disturbance. As a result of this very strong instability and wind shear, supercell thunderstorms evolved as the storms moved east of the dry line. Strengthening low level wind shear promoted the development of tornadoes, one of which became violent as it moved through Osage County. Large hail up to golf ball size and damaging wind gusts also occurred.||A squall line organized as the storms moved into eastern Oklahoma, with several supercells maintaining their structure within the squall line. Damaging wind gusts, large hail to quarter size, and several tornadoes occurred with the squall line as it moved through the area into the early morning of the 7th. One tornado became strong as it moved across portions of Adair County. Locally heavy rainfall resulted in some flash flooding.

Severe thunderstorms developed over western Oklahoma during the afternoon of the 6th, as a dry line sharpened over the area. These storms developed eastward across central and eastern Oklahoma during the late afternoon through evening hours, and evolved into a squall line before moving through northwestern Arkansas during the early morning hours of the 7th. The combination of strong instability ahead of the line of thunderstorms, and very strong deep-layer and low-level wind shear resulted in several tornadoes developing as the thunderstorm line moved through the area. One of the tornadoes became strong as it moved across portions of Washington County. Damaging wind gusts and large hail to quarter size also occurred with the squall line.

This is the first segment of a two-segment tornado. This tornado developed just west of the S 4735 Road, where trees were snapped and uprooted. It moved east-northeast, and produced extensive tree damage for about a mile and a half before crossing into Arkansas, just north of the Washington/Crawford County border. A tornadic debris signature was detected by the KSRX WSR-88D with this tornado. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in this segment of the tornado was 110 to 120 mph.

This is the second segment of a two-segment tornado. The tornado moved into Washington County just north of the Washington/Crawford County line, and moved east-northeast. Numerous trees were snapped and uprooted, and outbuildings were destroyed as it crossed Highway 59, Dobbs Mountain Road, and Odell Road. The tornado dissipated east of Odell Road. A tornadic debris signature was detected by the KSRX WSR-88D with this tornado. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in this segment of the tornado was 110 to 120 mph.

A tornado destroyed an outbuilding and uprooted trees. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in the tornado was 90 to 100 mph.

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

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 03:15 UTC and running to 08:06 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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:10 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.

Fayetteville/Drake (FYV), 40 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 53 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 07:24 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

52 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.