EF1 tornado, Zeb to Eldon, Oklahoma, April 14, 2026

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, as surveyed

EF1, preliminary

Date

April 14, 2026

Touchdown

11:24 PM CDT (04:24 UTC)

Lifted

11:33 PM CDT (04:33 UTC)

On the ground

9 minutes

Path length

7.7 miles (12.4 km)

Path width

1,100 yards (1006 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Cherokee County

Touchdown point

35.810, -95.026

Lift-off point

35.884, -94.923

Highest wind the damage implies

105 mph

Surveyed by

NWS TSA

Survey last edited

April 21, 2026

Record number

None yet. SPC numbers 2026 in the spring of 2027.

This tornado developed west of the S 490 Road and south of the W 830 Road. It moved northeast toward Park Hill, crossed Highway 82 and Murrel Road. The tornado uprooted numerous trees, damaged outbuildings, snapped numerous large tree limbs, and blew down power poles. A few trees were uprooted as it moved across Willis Road, then crossed the Illinois River and dissipated after producing more tree damage on the E 785 Road.

Written by NWS TSA in the NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit. A survey is revised as better evidence arrives.

Strong to severe thunderstorms developed over central Oklahoma during the early evening of the 14th, ahead of a dry line and an approaching upper level disturbance. The thunderstorms moved eastward into eastern Oklahoma during the late evening as they organized into a squall line. The line of thunderstorms produced several tornadoes and damaging wind.||Another round of strong to severe thunderstorms developed across portions of eastern Oklahoma during the afternoon and evening of the 15th. The strongest thunderstorms produced large hail up to two inches in diameter and damaging wind.

This tornado developed west of the S 490 Road and south of the W 830 Road. It moved northeast toward Park Hill, crossed Highway 82 and Murrel Road. The tornado uprooted numerous trees, damaged outbuildings, snapped numerous large tree limbs, and blew down power poles. A few trees were uprooted as it moved across Willis Road, then crossed the Illinois River and dissipated after producing more tree damage on the E 785 Road. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in the tornado was 95 to 105 mph.

This is the first segment of a three-segment tornado. The tornado developed south of Highway 51, southeast of Eldon, where numerous large tree limbs were snapped. It moved northeast into Adair County, south of the 754 Road. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in this segment of the tornado was 80 to 85 mph.

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

29 minutes of warning. NWS TSA issued a tornado warning for this county at 03:55 UTC, 29 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 04:45 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 02:21 UTC and running to 05:06 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:54 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.

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 64 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 04:26 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 2026 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

24 more have been surveyed in the United States that day, so far.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. A survey can be revised, so the rating, the path and the casualties can all still change.

NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit, the record the survey teams file from the damage, and NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports. Neither is the official database for 2026, which SPC publishes in the spring of 2027.