Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 2025
EF1 tornado, Titanic to Baron, Oklahoma, June 18, 2025
From Titanic to Baron, this EF1 tornado ran 8.8 miles across Adair County on June 18, 2025, touching down at 1:14 AM CDT and reaching 750 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $100,000 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.
EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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
- June 18, 2025
- Touchdown
- 1:14 AM CDT (06:14 UTC)
- Lifted
- 1:24 AM CDT (06:24 UTC)
- On the ground
- 10 minutes
- Path length
- 8.8 miles (14.2 km)
- Path width
- 750 yards (686 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $100,000
- County
- Adair County
- Touchdown point
- 35.918, -94.731
- Lift-off point
- 35.939, -94.577
- Record number
- 2506180014-01
What the Weather Service recorded
Thunderstorms developed over north central and northwestern Oklahoma during the early evening of the 17th, near an outflow boundary from earlier thunderstorms, and north of a developing warm front that stretched across the area. The atmosphere ahead of the thunderstorms over eastern Oklahoma had become very unstable. The strong instability combined with strong wind fields and strong wind shear associated with an intense upper level disturbance moving through the region, resulted in a few supercells that evolved into a severe squall line that moved through the area during the mid to late evening of the 17th, and early morning of the 18th. Widespread damaging wind, multiple tornadoes, and large hail up to golf ball size occurred across northeastern Oklahoma as the storms moved through the area.
This is the second segment of a two segment tornado. The tornado moved into Adair County near the 754 Road, moved southeast and then turned to the east, before crossing the 4630 Road and dissipating. The tornado uprooted numerous trees. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in this segment of the tornado was 90 to 100 mph.
This tornado developed just west of the 4648 Road and north of the 770 Road. It moved east across Scraper Hollow, and then east-northeast across England Hollow Road and Highway 59, dissipating east of the 4727 Road. The tornado uprooted numerous trees, and destroyed an outbuilding. 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.
The warnings
16 minutes of warning. NWS TSA issued a tornado warning for this county at 05:58 UTC, 16 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 06:30 UTC.
The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 02:46 UTC and running to 08:08 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 02:46 UTC | 08:08 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | TSA |
| 03:00 UTC | 18:00 UTC | Flood Watch | TSA |
| 05:36 UTC | 06:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA |
| 05:58 UTC | 06:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | TSA |
| 06:05 UTC | 06:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TSA |
| 06:20 UTC | 06:33 UTC | Tornado Warning | TSA |
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 05:28 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), 00:00Z
6.2 hours before the tornado, 132 km from the path. June 18, 2025.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 273 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -55 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 2693 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1552 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 28 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 6 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 17 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 70 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.6
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 7.3 K/km
Springfield, MO (KSGF), 12:00Z
5.8 hours after it, 132 km from the path. June 18, 2025.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -6500 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 8 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 691 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 46 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 25 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 46 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 81 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.0 K/km
The radar
The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 76 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 06:14 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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05:48 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Ese Salina | Mayes, OK | Tornado debris signature detected. |
| 05:54 UTC | TORNADO | 4 Wnw Tahlequah | Cherokee, OK | A tornado uprooted numerous trees, and damaged an outbuilding. Based on this damage, it was rated EF1. |
| 05:55 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Tahlequah | Cherokee, OK | Tree on house at 96th and Newton Place. |
| 06:00 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Nne Tahlequah | Cherokee, OK | Tornado debris signature detected. |
| 06:05 UTC | TORNADO | 1 Nw Eldon | Cherokee, OK | A tornado snapped and uprooted numerous trees, some of which fell onto homes. Based on this damage, it was rated EF1. |
| 06:21 UTC | TORNADO | 1 Nw Baron | Adair, OK | A tornado uprooted numerous trees, and destroyed an outbuilding. Based on this damage, it was rated EF1. |
| 06:25 UTC | TSTM WND GST 62 | 5 Wnw Westville | Adair, OK |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2025 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of June 18, 2025
29 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 18 | 1:04 AM CDT | EF1 | Cherokee, OK | 7.7 | 1,000 | $50,000 | ||
| June 18 | 1:20 AM CDT | EF1 | Benton, AR | 3.2 | 800 | |||
| June 18 | 1:29 AM CDT | EF1 | Benton, AR | 1.7 | 300 | $500,000 | ||
| June 18 | 1:54 AM CDT | EF1 | Washington, AR | 2.3 | 300 | $25,000 | ||
| June 18 | 10:55 AM CDT | EF1 | Calhoun, MO to IL | 3.6 | 100 | |||
| June 18 | 11:30 AM CDT | Unrated | Scott, IL | 1.5 | 10 | |||
| June 18 | 11:53 AM CDT | EF0 | Morgan, IL | 4.7 | 80 | |||
| June 18 | 11:54 AM CDT | EF1 | Scott, IL | 1.0 | 50 | |||
| June 18 | 12:02 PM CDT | EF1 | Morgan, IL | 3.9 | 75 | |||
| June 18 | 12:07 PM CDT | EF2 | Morgan, IL | 6.9 | 300 | |||
| June 18 | 12:15 PM CDT | EF1 | Morgan, IL | 7.6 | 50 | 1 | ||
| June 18 | 12:25 PM CDT | EF1 | Sangamon, IL | 7.4 | 200 | |||
| June 18 | 12:29 PM CDT | Unrated | Cass, IL | 1.4 | 10 | |||
| June 18 | 12:37 PM CDT | Unrated | Menard, IL | 3.0 | 10 | |||
| June 18 | 12:41 PM CDT | EF1 | Menard, IL | 1.4 | 200 | |||
| June 18 | 2:15 PM EDT | EF0 | Anne Arundel, MD | 0.1 | 75 | $250,000 | ||
| June 18 | 1:18 PM CDT | EF0 | Mason, IL | 0.1 | 100 | |||
| June 18 | 1:50 PM CDT | EF1 | DeWitt, IL | 3.5 | 100 | |||
| June 18 | 1:56 PM CDT | Unrated | Tazewell, IL | 0.2 | 50 | |||
| June 18 | 3:02 PM EDT | EF0 | Tippecanoe, IN | 0.6 | 30 | $20,000 | ||
| June 18 | 3:10 PM EDT | EF0 | Tippecanoe, IN | 0.3 | 20 | $25,000 | ||
| June 18 | 2:13 PM CDT | Unrated | McLean, IL | 0.1 | 30 | |||
| June 18 | 5:02 PM EDT | EF0 | Macomb, MI | 2.4 | 400 | |||
| June 18 | 6:10 PM CDT | Unrated | Jackson, OK | 1.0 | 20 | |||
| June 18 | 7:44 PM EDT | EF0 | Ottawa, OH | 0.5 | 10 | $85,000 | ||
| June 18 | 7:50 PM EDT | EF0 | Ottawa, OH | 2.9 | 10 | $49,000 | ||
| June 18 | 8:26 PM EDT | EF1 | Huron, OH | 9.3 | 200 | $40,000 | ||
| June 18 | 8:37 PM CDT | EF0 | Hickman, TN | 6.9 | 175 | $250,000 | ||
| June 18 | 8:37 PM CDT | EF0 | Macon, TN | 4.3 | 300 | $250,000 |
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.