Summary

A severe weather outbreak occurred on the afternoon and evening of Saturday April 14, 2012 across Kansas and northwest Oklahoma. Multiple tornadoes, including a few that were strong, very large hail and damaging winds accompanied the supercells that formed through the afternoon and evening. Over a dozen tornadoes occurred in northwest Oklahoma in addition to the numerous tornadoes in Kansas.

Much of Oklahoma remained under clear skies for the afternoon, which coupled with plentiful moisture allowed very strong instability to develop. A dryline stretched from western Kansas into northwest and western Oklahoma through the afternoon hours. Thunderstorms ignited off the dryline in the early afternoon, with the first severe weather reports around 2:30 PM CDT. The first tornado was not reported until nearly 4:00 PM CDT as low level wind shear increased gradually. The tornado reports continued through nearly 1am with the tornado that impacted Woodward, OK the last tornado of the evening.

With the first supercells firing around 2:00 PM CDT, many dropped large hail, some as large as 3 inches in diameter. Many brief tornado touchdowns were reported as well, with the initial reports north of Woodward, OK. Additional supercells developed through the afternoon with a prominent tornadic supercell developing near Waynoka, Oklahoma. This supercell produced multiple tornadoes near Cherokee and continued moving to the northeast. One tornado with this supercell produced damage to a cemetery west of Byron. Fortunately, many of the tornadoes from this thunderstorm remained over mainly rural areas in Waynoka, Woods and Alfalfa counties.

Another tornadic supercell developed southwest of Woodward before midnight and tracked toward Woodward. The Woodward tornado began around 11:50 PM CDT roughly 3 miles northeast of Arnett and moved northeast into Woodward county. The southwest city limits of Woodward were impacted near 12:18 AM CDT on Sunday, April 15, 2012 and the tornado finally exited the north-northwest side of Woodward around 12:23 AM CDT. The tornado dissipated shortly afterward, 4 miles north of Woodward. Sadly, 6 fatalities were reported with the tornado that impacted Woodward. The tornado was rated as an EF-3.

Links, Facts and Statistics for the April 14-15, 2012 Great Plains Severe Weather Outbreak

• List of tornadoes that have occurred in and near Woodward, OK (1875-Present)


• Woodward County, Oklahoma Tornadoes (1875-Present)


• In the week leading up to the tornado (starting on April 9, 2012), Woodward County had been in 20 severe thunderstorm warnings, and 14 tornado warnings (including the warnings issued for the April 15, 2012 tornado). Two tornado warnings on April 14, 2012 (at 3:20 pm CDT and 4:59 pm CDT) included the city of Woodward.


• If you had a weather radio programmed for just Woodward County, your radio would have alarmed 38 times (not including two Wednesday tests) between 2:30 pm CDT on Monday, April 9, 2012 and 1:15 am CDT on Sunday April 15, 2012.


• On April 14th, your weather radio would have alarmed 22 times before the tornado warning was issued at 1200 AM CDT on April 15, 2012.


• Woodward County was in a tornado watch continuously for 15 hours and 15 minutes on April 14-15, 2012.


• Woodward County was under either a severe thunderstorm or tornado warning continuously for 4 hours and 14 minutes during the afternoon and evening on April 14, 2012.

Timeline for April 14-15, 2012 for Watches and Warnings Issued by the NWS Norman Forecast Office for the Woodward, OK Area

Information for the April 14-15, 2012 Woodward, Oklahoma Tornado

The following summary was taken from a public information statement issued by the NWS Norman forecast office at 4:41 pm CDT on Monday, April 16, 2012.

Beginning Time: ~1150 pm CDT, April 14, 2012
Ending Time: ~1227 am CDT, April 15, 2012
Beginning Location: 2 NE Arnett (Ellis County)
Ending Location: 4 N Woodward (Woodward County)
Fatalities: 6
Injuries: 29
EF-Scale Rating: EF-3 (Max Wind Speed 136-165 mph)

The tornado developed approximately 2 miles northeast of Arnett at 11:50 pm CDT on April 14, 2012 and moved northeast. Six structures were damaged as the tornado moved toward the Woodward county line. Only minor damage, downed trees and power poles/lines, was seen as the tornado moved over mainly rural portions of Woodward County.

At approximately 12:12 am CDT on April 15, 2012, the tornado struck two mobile homes 5 miles southwest of Woodward. The damage here was determined to be EF-2 in intensity, and also resulted in 3 fatalities.

The heaviest damage, rated EF-3, was reported as the tornado entered the southwest sides of Woodward around 12:18 am CDT. Several homes and businesses were heavily damaged as the tornado continued northeast.

Several more mobile homes were destroyed by the tornado on the north side of Woodward, and resulted in 3 additional fatalities. The tornado finally exited the city of Woodward at approximately 12:23 am CDT, eventually dissipating approximately 4 miles north of Woodward at 12:27 am CDT.

Timeline for April 14-15, 2012 for Watches and Warnings Issued by the NWS Norman Forecast Office for the Woodward, OK Area

Other Facts and Statistics

• In the week leading up to the tornado (starting on April 9, 2012), Woodward County had been in 20 severe thunderstorm warnings, and 14 tornado warnings (including the warnings issued for the April 15, 2012 tornado). Two tornado warnings on April 14, 2012 (at 3:20 pm CDT and 4:59 pm CDT) included the city of Woodward.


• If you had a weather radio programmed for just Woodward County, your radio would have alarmed 38 times (not including two Wednesday tests) between 2:30 pm CDT on Monday, April 9, 2012 and 1:15 am CDT on Sunday April 15, 2012.


• On April 14th, your weather radio would have alarmed 22 times before the tornado warning was issued at 1200 AM CDT on April 15, 2012.


• Woodward County was in a tornado watch continuously for 15 hours and 15 minutes on April 14-15, 2012.


• Woodward County was under either a severe thunderstorm or tornado warning continuously for 4 hours and 14 minutes during the afternoon and evening on April 14, 2012.

Tornado Data

Storm Data

Preliminary Storm Reports for 4/14/2012 Compiled by the Storm Prediction Center

Preliminary Storm Reports on April 14-15, 2012 from NWS Norman

NWUS54 KOUN 152155
LSROUN

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
455 PM CDT SUN APR 15 2012

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0230 PM     HAIL             6 S LAVERNE             36.62N 99.90W 
04/14/2012  E1.00 INCH       HARPER             OK   CO-OP OBSERVER  

0315 PM     HAIL             11 NNE SELMAN           36.95N 99.40W 
04/14/2012  E2.75 INCH       WOODS              OK   PUBLIC          

0347 PM     HAIL             1 E FORT SUPPLY         36.57N 99.56W 
04/14/2012  E1.75 INCH       WOODWARD           OK   TRAINED SPOTTER 

0359 PM     TORNADO          7 N WOODWARD            36.53N 99.39W 
04/14/2012                   WOODWARD           OK   TRAINED SPOTTER 

            BRIEF TOUCHDOWN

0359 PM     HAIL             12 SSE SELMAN           36.64N 99.40W 
04/14/2012  E1.75 INCH       HARPER             OK   PUBLIC          

0408 PM     HAIL             15 N WOODWARD           36.65N 99.39W 
04/14/2012  E3.00 INCH       HARPER             OK   STORM CHASER    

0430 PM     TORNADO          4 NW FREEDOM            36.81N 99.16W 
04/14/2012                   WOODS              OK   BROADCAST MEDIA 

            BRIEF TOUCHDOWN REPORTED BY KWTV

0452 PM     HAIL             10 S ARNETT             35.99N 99.77W 
04/14/2012  E1.75 INCH       ELLIS              OK   BROADCAST MEDIA 

0505 PM     HAIL             6 E ARNETT              36.14N 99.66W 
04/14/2012  E3.00 INCH       ELLIS              OK   BROADCAST MEDIA 

0515 PM     HAIL             10 W SHARON             36.28N 99.52W 
04/14/2012  E1.75 INCH       WOODWARD           OK   TRAINED SPOTTER 

0516 PM     TORNADO          11 S TANGIER            36.26N 99.53W 
04/14/2012                   WOODWARD           OK   CO-OP OBSERVER  

            BRIEF TOUCHDOWN

0518 PM     HAIL             MOORELAND               36.44N 99.21W 
04/14/2012  E1.75 INCH       WOODWARD           OK   TRAINED SPOTTER 

0604 PM     HAIL             5 W VICI                36.15N 99.39W 
04/14/2012  E1.75 INCH       ELLIS              OK   BROADCAST MEDIA 

0613 PM     HAIL             VICI                    36.15N 99.30W 
04/14/2012  E1.75 INCH       DEWEY              OK   BROADCAST MEDIA 

0650 PM     TORNADO          5 S QUINLAN             36.38N 99.05W 
04/14/2012                   WOODWARD           OK   TRAINED SPOTTER 

            RELAYED BY WOODWARD COUNTY EM

0708 PM     TORNADO          11 S WAYNOKA            36.43N 98.88W 
04/14/2012                   MAJOR              OK   BROADCAST MEDIA 

0712 PM     TORNADO          7 SSE WAYNOKA           36.49N 98.83W 
04/14/2012                   WOODS              OK   STORM CHASER    

            RELAYED BY WFO AMA

0739 PM     TORNADO          5 S HOPETON             36.61N 98.67W 
04/14/2012                   WOODS              OK   STORM CHASER    

0811 PM     TORNADO          7 S DRIFTWOOD           36.78N 98.36W 
04/14/2012                   ALFALFA            OK   TRAINED SPOTTER 

1045 PM     HAIL             BUFFALO                 36.83N 99.63W 
04/14/2012  E1.75 INCH       HARPER             OK   AMATEUR RADIO   

1107 PM     HAIL             SHATTUCK                36.28N 99.88W 
04/14/2012  E1.00 INCH       ELLIS              OK   EMERGENCY MNGR  

1218 AM     TORNADO          WOODWARD                36.43N 99.39W 
04/15/2012                   WOODWARD           OK   BROADCAST MEDIA 

            *** 2 FATAL *** NUMEROUS REPORTS OF MAJOR STRUCTURAL 
            DAMAGE ON WESTERN AND NORTHERN PART OF WOODWARD. SEVERAL 
            INJURIES WITH AT LEAST TWO DEATHS.


&&

$$

DW

Radar Imagery

Event Overview

Radar Reflectivity Loop for the Vance AFB, OK (KVNX) Radar from 3:02 pm CDT-1:00 am CDT on April 14-15, 2012

Northern Oklahoma

Radar Reflectivity Loop for the Vance AFB, OK (KVNX) Radar from 7:13 pm-8:47 am CDT on April 14, 2012

Storm Relative Reflectivity Loop for the Vance AFB, OK (KVNX) Radar from 7:13 pm-8:47 am CDT on April 14, 2012

Woodward, OK Area

Radar Reflectivity Loop for the Vance AFB, OK (KVNX) Radar from 11:45 pm CDT - 12:37 am CDT on April 14-15, 2012

Storm Relative Velocity Loop for the Vance AFB, OK (KVNX) Radar from 11:45 pm CDT - 12:37 am CDT on April 14-15, 2012

Satellite Imagery

Storm Multimedia

Storm Photos

Brief Tornado near Freedom, OK Photo Provided by Tim Marshall	Brief Tornado near Freedom, OK Photo Provided by Tim Marshall
Tornado near Wayonka, OK Photo Provided by Tim Marshall	Tornado near Wayonka, OK Photo Provided by Tim Marshall
Tornado near Cherokee, OK Photo Provided by Tim Marshall

Dual Tornadoes near Cherokee, OK Photo Provided by Shawn Prindle

Tornado east of Byron, OK Photo Provided by Charles Kuster	Tornado at Dusk near Manchester, OK Photo Provided by Charles Kuster
Tornado near Manchester, OK Photo Provided by Charles Kuster	Tornado near Manchester, OK Photo Provided by Charles Kuster
Tornado near Manchester, OK Photo Provided by Charles Kuster

NWS Products

WUUS54 KOUN 141921
SVROUN
OKC045-059-142015-
/O.NEW.KOUN.SV.W.0132.120414T1921Z-120414T2015Z/

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
221 PM CDT SAT APR 14 2012

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORMAN HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  EXTREME NORTHERN ELLIS COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA...
  HARPER COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA...

* UNTIL 315 PM CDT

* AT 220 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS DETECTED 
  A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HALF DOLLAR SIZE HAIL 
  AND DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. THIS STORM WAS LOCATED 10 
  MILES SOUTH OF LAVERNE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. 

* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
  BUFFALO...LAVERNE...ROSSTON...MAY AND CATESBY. 

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH NO WARNING.  GET 
TO A STORM SHELTER OR STURDY BUILDING IF A TORNADO APPROACHES.

&&

LAT...LON 3699 9944 3645 9974 3649 10000 3651 10001
      3657 10001 3694 10001 3700 10000
TIME...MOT...LOC 1920Z 209DEG 37KT 3656 9993 

$$

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