Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 2026

EF1 tornado, Tul Downtown Arpk to Owasso, Oklahoma, March 6, 2026

From Tul Downtown Arpk to Owasso, this EF1 tornado ran 2.0 miles across Tulsa County on March 6, 2026, touching down at 6:38 PM CST and reaching 180 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
6:38 PM CST (00:38 UTC)
Lifted
6:41 PM CST (00:41 UTC)
On the ground
3 minutes
Path length
2.0 miles (3.2 km)
Path width
180 yards (165 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Tulsa County
Touchdown point
36.270, -95.921
Lift-off point
36.291, -95.899
Highest wind the damage implies
100 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 just west of N Yale Avenue and north of E 76th Street N. It uprooted a tree as it crossed N Yale Avenue and moved northeast across a neighborhood on E 82nd Street N. Several homes were damaged, light poles were blown down, and large tree limbs were snapped. The tornado blew down power poles and snapped large tree limbs as it crossed E 86th Street N. Outbuildings were damaged and large tree limbs were snapped by the tornado as it crossed N Hudson Avenue, and then crossed N Sheridan Avenue, where it dissipated.

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.

This is the second segment of a two-segment tornado. The tornado crossed into Tulsa County near W Apache Street. The tornado damaged many homes and snapped numerous large tree limbs between the county line and the Gilcrease Expressway. It continued to move northeast damaging many homes north of the Gilcrease Expressway, and intensified as it approached E 36th Street N. An office building was severely damaged and the Tulsa Technology Center was severely damaged as the tornado approached N Peoria Avenue. Numerous trees were snapped and uprooted in that area. The tornado moved north-northeast across E 46th Street N and dissipated north of E 61st Street N. Many homes were damaged, a few trees were uprooted, numerous large tree limbs were snapped, and mobile homes were damaged in that portion of the path. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in this segment of the tornado was 100 to 110 mph. This tornado produced a tornadic debris signature from the KINX WSR-88D.

This tornado developed just west of N Yale Avenue and north of E 76th Street N. It uprooted a tree as it crossed N Yale Avenue and moved northeast across a neighborhood on E 82nd Street N. Several homes were damaged, light poles were blown down, and large tree limbs were snapped. The tornado blew down power poles and snapped large tree limbs as it crossed E 86th Street N. Outbuildings were damaged and large tree limbs were snapped by the tornado as it crossed N Hudson Avenue, and then crossed N Sheridan Avenue, where it dissipated. 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

35 minutes of warning. NWS TSA issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:03 UTC, 35 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:00 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
23:27 UTC00:30 UTCTornado WarningTSA
00:03 UTC01:00 UTCTornado WarningTSA
00:34 UTC00:57 UTCTornado WarningTSA
00:37 UTC00:53 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSA
01:22 UTC02:04 UTCTornado WarningTSA
02:21 UTC05:30 UTCFlood AdvisoryTSA
02:31 UTC05:30 UTCFlash Flood WarningTSA
03:02 UTC05:30 UTCFlash Flood 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 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 19:45 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), 00:00Z

0.6 hours before the tornado, 179 km from the path. March 7, 2026.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Norman, OK 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 1928 joules per kilogram, CIN -17, lifted condensation level 969 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 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 203 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 54 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
1928 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-17 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2570 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
969 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
203 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
237 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.6
Supercell composite
11.6
0-3 km lapse rate
7.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Norman, OK (KOUN), 12:00Z

11.4 hours after it, 179 km from the path. March 7, 2026.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Norman, OK at 12:00Z 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 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -7461, lifted condensation level 1161 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 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 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 -51 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 59 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7461 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1161 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
59 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-51 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
244 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
1.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Tulsa International Airport(Aw) (TUL), 9 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
22:55 UTC 18 kt231007.1
23:00 UTC170° 12 kt1007.5
23:05 UTC170° 15 kt211007.1
23:10 UTC 231007.1
23:11 UTC7663170° 17 kt241007.1TS
23:15 UTC 17 kt1007.5
23:20 UTC 1007.5-RA
23:25 UTC7164170° 13 kt391007.8-TSRA
23:25 UTC160° 13 kt1007.8-RA
23:30 UTC170° 13 kt1007.8-RA
23:34 UTC7365170° 12 kt211007.8-TSRA
23:35 UTC170° 12 kt1007.8-RA
23:40 UTC160° 10 kt1007.8-RA
23:45 UTC160° 10 kt1007.8-RA
23:50 UTC150° 9 kt1007.8-RA
23:53 UTC7265170° 8 kt1008.5-TSRA
23:55 UTC170° 9 kt1008.5-RA
00:00 UTC170° 10 kt1008.5-RA
00:05 UTC160° 8 kt1008.1-RA
00:10 UTC150° 7 kt1008.1-RA
00:15 UTC110° 6 kt1007.8-RA
00:20 UTC120° 3 kt1008.5-RA
00:25 UTC100° 3 kt1008.5-RA
00:30 UTC 1007.5-RA
00:35 UTC 13 kt191007.1RA
00:38 UTC7066140° 13 kt191007.8+FC -TSRA
00:40 UTC 171008.1-RA
00:45 UTC 1009.1-RA
00:50 UTC 1009.1-RA
00:51 UTC69.862.6250° 13 kt231009.1+FC -TSRA
00:53 UTC69.862.6250° 15 kt231009.1+FC TSRA
00:55 UTC 1009.1RA
00:59 UTC7064 5 kt211008.8-TSRA
01:00 UTC210° 5 kt1008.8-RA
01:01 UTC7165 3 kt211008.5-TSRA
01:05 UTC0° 0 kt1008.1-RA
01:10 UTC130° 10 kt1007.8-RA
01:15 UTC140° 10 kt1008.5-RA
01:20 UTC 1008.8RA BR
01:25 UTC210° 8 kt1009.1-RA
01:30 UTC220° 7 kt1008.8-RA
01:35 UTC190° 7 kt1008.8-RA
01:40 UTC180° 7 kt1008.8-RA
01:45 UTC180° 7 kt1008.8-RA
01:53 UTC6865180° 5 kt1008.8-TSRA
01:55 UTC170° 5 kt1009.1-RA
02:00 UTC170° 6 kt1009.1
02:10 UTC160° 13 kt191009.1
02:12 UTC6965180° 13 kt191008.8TS
02:15 UTC170° 11 kt171008.8
02:25 UTC160° 9 kt1008.5
02:30 UTC170° 11 kt1009.1
02:35 UTC 1008.8
02:40 UTC 17 kt1008.5RA BR
02:45 UTC 1008.8RA BR
02:50 UTC190° 9 kt1008.5-RA
02:53 UTC6765170° 9 kt1008.1-TSRA

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

The radar

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 33 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:35 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.
01:19 UTCTORNADO1 N BeggsOkmulgee, OKCorrects previous tornado report from 1 N Beggs. TDS on radar... reports of damage in Beggs.
01:19 UTCTORNADO1 N BeggsOkmulgee, OKTDS on radar.
01:23 UTCTORNADO3 Nne BeggsOkmulgee, OK*** 2 FATAL, 2 INJ *** An apparent tornado (TDS in the area at the time) resulted in two fatalities and two injuries when it hit a home north-northeast of Beggs.
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

14 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 66:55 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 68:29 PM CSTEF1Rogers, OK6.6350
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.