2013 El Reno tornado

2013 El Reno tornado
EF3 tornado
View of the tornado from the southeast at 6:28 p.m. CDT (2328 UTC) as it was nearing peak strength
TypeTornado
FormedMay 31, 2013, 6:03 p.m. CDT (UTC−05:00)
Duration40 minutes
DissipatedMay 31, 2013, 6:43 pm. CDT (UTC−05:00)
Highest winds
Max. rating1EF3 tornado
Maximum rainfall3.00 in
Casualties8 fatalities, 151 injuries
Damage$35–40 million (estimate)
Areas affectedCanadian County, Oklahoma; especially areas to the south of El Reno

1Most severe tornado damage; see Enhanced Fujita scale

The 2003 El Reno tornado happened on May 31, 2013. It happened close to the city of El Reno, Oklahoma in central Oklahoma.[3] It was the widest tornado ever recorded.[4] This tornado also was found to have some of the strongest winds ever found. One mobile Doppler weather radar found very high winds of 296 miles per hour.[4] These winds are slightly less than the 460 kilometer per hour winds detected in a tornado on May 3, 1999 while it was close to Bridge Creek, Oklahoma in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area.[5]

Notes

  1. ↑ The National Weather Service does not currently implement wind speed estimates into its official tornado ratings, so while the winds align with the "EF0” category of the Enhanced Fujita scale, damage surveys took precedence. As a result, while the wind estimates are considered reliable by the NWS,[2] the tornado ultimately received a rating of "EF3" based on a damage survey (in the weeks before this, it was considered an "EF5").

References

  1. ↑ "The May 31, 2013 El Reno, OK Tornado". National Weather Service, Norman, OK. Archived from the original on 5 June 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  2. ↑ Bluestein, Howard B.; Snyder, Jeffrey C.; Houser, Jana B. (2015). "A Multiscale Overview of the el Reno, Oklahoma, Tornadic Supercell of 31 May 2013". Weather and Forecasting. 30 (3): 525–552. Bibcode:2015WtFor..30..525B. doi:10.1175/WAF-D-14-00152.1.
  3. ↑ "Central Oklahoma Tornadoes and Flash Flooding – May 31, 2013". National Weather Service Office in Norman, Oklahoma. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. June 1, 2013. Retrieved February 9, 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Jason Samenow (4 June 2013). "Deadly El Reno, Okla. tornado was widest ever measured on Earth, had nearly 300 mph winds". The Washington Post. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  5. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions About The May 3, 1999 Bridge Creek/OKC Area Tornado". National Weather Service Office in Norman, Oklahoma. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. January 20, 2011. Archived from the original on March 24, 2014. Retrieved February 13, 2014.