Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 2026

EF1 tornado, Inola to Chouteau, Oklahoma, March 6, 2026

From Inola to Chouteau, this EF1 tornado ran 6.6 miles across Rogers and Mayes counties on March 6, 2026, touching down at 8:29 PM CST and reaching 350 yards wide. It killed nobody.

Preliminary. This is NWS TSA's damage survey, filed in the Damage Assessment Toolkit. The rating, the path and the casualties are the survey's and can change while it is revised. The Storm Prediction Center compiles the official record of 2026 from these surveys and publishes it in the spring of 2027; this page moves to that tornado's permanent address when it does.

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 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.

The survey

Rating, as surveyed
EF1, preliminary
Date
March 6, 2026
Touchdown
8:29 PM CST (02:29 UTC)
Lifted
8:41 PM CST (02:41 UTC)
On the ground
12 minutes
Path length
6.6 miles (10.6 km)
Path width
350 yards (320 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Counties
Rogers and Mayes counties
Touchdown point
36.147, -95.509
Lift-off point
36.192, -95.406
Highest wind the damage implies
105 mph
Surveyed by
NWS TSA
Survey last edited
June 26, 2026
Record number
None yet. SPC numbers 2026 in the spring of 2027.

What the survey found

This tornado developed over the southern portion of Inola, and moved northeast across the east side of town. One home had a portion of the roof blown off, and a number of other homes received minor damage. Many large limbs were snapped from trees. The tornado then moved northeast across the E 595 Road, where the roof of a home was damaged and trees were blown down. It uprooted trees as it moved across the E 590 Road, crossed Highway 412, and blew a portion of the roof from a home on the E 580 Road. The tornado moved into Mayes County near the E 580 Road, where large tree limbs were snapped and several power poles were blown down. It moved across open country until it dissipated near the W 570 Road and S 427 Road. The tornado produced a tornadic debris signature from the KINX WSR-88D.

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

What the Weather Service recorded

Severe thunderstorms developed into eastern Oklahoma during the late afternoon of the 6th, ahead of a surface dry line, and moved across the area through the evening hours. The atmosphere had become strongly unstable across eastern Oklahoma during the afternoon east of the dry line. This instability, combined with very strong low-level and deep-layer wind shear across the region, resulted in the evolution of several long-lived supercell thunderstorms. These supercells produced eleven tornadoes, a couple of which were strong and damaging, large hail up to quarter size, damaging wind gusts, and localized flash flooding.

A storm chaser observed/recorded a tornado from 824 pm CST through 826 pm CST. The tornado's estimated location was based on radar data and his observations. It remained over open country, and produced no known damage.

This is the first segment of a two-segment tornado. The tornado developed over the southern portion of Inola, and moved northeast across the east side of town. One home had a portion of the roof blown off, and a number of other homes received minor damage. Many large limbs were snapped from trees. The tornado then moved northeast across the E 595 Road, where the roof of a home was damaged and trees were blown down. It uprooted trees as it moved across the E 590 Road, crossed Highway 412, and blew a portion of the roof from a home on the E 580 Road. The tornado moved into Mayes County near the E 580 Road. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in this segment of the tornado was 100 to 105 mph. The tornado produced a tornadic debris signature from the KINX WSR-88D.

This is the second segment of a two-segment tornado. The tornado moved into Mayes County near the E 580 Road, where large tree limbs were snapped and several power poles were blown down. It moved across open country until it dissipated near the W 570 Road and S 427 Road. 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.

The warnings

34 minutes of warning. NWS TSA issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:55 UTC, 34 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:44 UTC and running to 04:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
20:44 UTC04:00 UTCTornado WatchTSA
00:34 UTC01:17 UTCTornado WarningTSA
01:07 UTC01:45 UTCTornado WarningTSA
01:55 UTC02:45 UTCTornado WarningTSA
02:54 UTC03:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSA
03:07 UTC06:15 UTCFlood AdvisoryTSA
03:11 UTC04:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSA

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 Enhanced 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 01:06 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

2.5 hours before the tornado, 169 km from the path. March 7, 2026.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2026-03-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 469 joules per kilogram, CIN -38, lifted condensation level 1415 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, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2026-03-07The 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 129 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 42 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
469 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-38 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1225 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1415 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
129 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
245 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
5.8
0-3 km lapse rate
7.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 10 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:30 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
23:39 UTCTORNADO4 W OwassoTulsa, OKA tornado uprooted trees, damaged several homes, destroyed outbuildings, and blew down power poles.
00:24 UTCHAIL 16 Sw SperryOsage, OKReport from mPING: Quarter (1.00 in.).
00:28 UTCTORNADO6 Nw TulsaTulsa, OKTDS from radar.
00:54 UTCTORNADO3 E CollinsvilleRogers, OKTDS from radar.
01:07 UTCTORNADO2 Ne OnetaWagoner, OKA tornado damaged the roofs of numerous homes and broke windows, uprooted or snapped trees, and damaged outbuildings. KINX WSR-88D radar data indicate that this tornado rotated anticyclonically.
02:01 UTCTORNADO2 Wnw OnetaWagoner, OKTDS from radar and reports of power flashes at 91st S and the Creek Turnpike.
02:14 UTCHAIL 13 E GlenpoolTulsa, OKReport from mPING: Quarter (1.00 in.).
02:25 UTCFLASH FLOOD5 Nne BixbyTulsa, OKReports of flash flooding at 111th and Garnett.
02:27 UTCTORNADOInolaRogers, OKTDS from radar and reports of tornado from spotters.
02:58 UTCTSTM WND GST 804 Ssw PryorMayes, OKSeveral storm trackers reported gusts of 80-90 mph on south side of Pryor.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2026 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of March 6, 2026

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

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 63:09 PM ESTEF1Cass, MI13.43501
March 63:47 PM ESTEF2Saint Joseph, MI12.445010
March 64:33 PM ESTEF3Branch, MI4.5500312
March 64:58 PM ESTEF0Calhoun, MI2.5125
March 65:18 PM CSTEF1Creek, OK6.2270
March 66:24 PM CSTEF1Osage, OK6.0600
March 66:38 PM CSTEF0Okfuskee, OK5.0160
March 66:38 PM CSTEF1Tulsa, OK2.0180
March 66:55 PM CSTEF2Rogers, OK4.7150
March 67:17 PM CSTEF3Okmulgee, OK6.895022
March 68:03 PM CSTEF0Wagoner, OK1.4130
March 68:05 PM CSTEF1Wagoner, OK1.6300
March 68:24 PM CSTUnratedRogers, OK1.4150
March 69:55 PM CSTUnratedDelaware, OK0.5100
March 611:34 PM CSTEF0Johnson, KS to MO7.950

What this means

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.

Sources

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.