Norman, OK

Weather Forecast Office

The Severe Weather and Tornado Outbreak of May 9, 2016

Summary
Fast Facts
EF4 Tornado
Tornado Data
Storm Data
Radar
Satellite
Multimedia
Damage Photos

Summary

Severe thunderstorms developed along and ahead of a dry line across central Oklahoma during the afternoon of May 9, 2016. The storms moved across central and eastern Oklahoma during the late afternoon evening hours. Prior to the storms moving into the area, the atmosphere ahead of the dry line in central and eastern Oklahoma had become very unstable.

This instability, combined with very strong wind shear associated with a strong trough of low pressure that moved into the Southern Plains from the Southern Rockies, resulted in the development of supercell thunderstorms. Several of these supercells produced a dozen tornadoes. Some of these tornadoes were damaging and long-lived tornadoes, and two were also killer tornadoes. One of the tornadoes, the "Katie tornado", killed one person and was rated EF-4. Another tornado that occurred in Johnston and Coal counties also killed one person and was rated EF-3.

One of the supercells produced multiple tornadoes as it tracked along and near an outflow boundary produced earlier by morning thunderstorms associated with a previous weather system. This outflow boundary had settled across southeastern Oklahoma by the afternoon. The most significant tornado associated with this thunderstorm was the EF-3 tornado which occurred near the towns of Bennington and Boswell.

In addition to the tornadoes in central and southeastern Oklahoma, the severe thunderstorms produced hail up to baseball size and damaging wind gusts across other portions of central and eastern Oklahoma.

Fast Facts

A total of 12 tornadoes occurred during the afternoon and evening hours of May 9, 2016 in central, south central and southeastern Oklahoma.

The "Katie Tornado" killed one person and the "Bromide Tornado" also killed one person.

NWS crews surveyed tornado damage paths in central and southeastern Oklahoma on Tuesday, May 11, 2016. Based on their findings, the "Katie Tornado" was given an EF-4 rating while tornadoes that occurred near the Davis/Roff, Connerville/Bromide, and Bennington/Boswell areas were given EF-3 ratings.

Web Pages and Reports Related to the May 9, 2016 Oklahoma Tornado Events

Storm Prediction Center Storm Reports for May 9, 2016

SPC Severe Weather Event Review for May 9, 2016

WPC Daily Weather Map for May 9, 2016

CIMSS Satellite Blog post for Severe Thunderstorms in Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma on May 9, 0216

Tornado Data

Tornadoes that have occurred in or near Norman, OK (1875-Present)

EF4 "Katie Tornado"

Summary

A tornado developed 1.25 miles south of the community of Katie, Oklahoma, or about 3.4 miles north of Hennepin in Garvin County. The tornado was observed to be very dynamic as it moved east-northeast and east. Initially damage was confined to trees until the tornado crossed county road 1690 where a home was destroyed where only interior walls remained standing. To the east of this house, two mobile homes were damaged on the southern periphery of the tornado path. The tornado moved east-northeast damaging another mobile home, then east removing the roof from a home on Indian Meridian Road.

The tornado varied in movement between northeast and southeast as it approached and crossed county road 1680. A home was destroyed near county road 1680 and Indian Meridian Road where an EF4 rating was applied (DI 2, DOD 9). Further east, a fatality occurred when the tornado destroyed a modular home. After destroying another home, the tornado moved northeast and dissipated near Interstate 35.

Radar Imagery

Radar Reflectivity Loop for parts of south central Oklahoma from the Twin Lakes, Oklahoma Radar (KTLX) from 2:38-5:24 pm CST (3:38-6:24 pm CDT) on May 9, 2016

Radar Reflectivity Image of a Supercell Thunderstorm over Garvin County from the Twin Lakes, Oklahoma Radar (KTLX) at 3:50 pm CST (4:50 pm CDT) on May 9, 2016

Damage Photos

Photos of damage produced by EF-4 tornado that occurred on May 9, 2016 near the town of Katie in Gavin County, Oklahoma can be found in the "Damage" tab.

Tornado Data

Tornadoes by Intensity
EFU	EF0	EF1	EF2	EF3	EF4	EF5	Total
5	0	2	1	3	1	0	12

Tornado Number	Date	Time (CST)	Length of Path (miles)	Width of Path (yards)	F-Scale	Killed	Injured	County	Location
1	05/09/2016	1506-1527	9	400	EF4	1	0	Garvin	1.25 S - 8 E Katie
2	05/09/2016	1534-1617	17	1500	EF3	0	0	Murray/ Pontotoc	4 NNW Davis - 2.5 SSW Roff
3	05/09/2016	1616-1616	0.1	10	EF?	0	0	Cleveland	Lake Thunderbird
4	05/09/2016	1618-1625	1.5	40	EF?	0	0	Johnston	7.5 W - 6 W Pontotoc
5	05/09/2016	1618-1636	9	700	EF3	1	0	Johnston/ Coal	4 S Connerville - Bromide
6	05/09/2016	1646-1719	12	900	EF1	0	0	Atoka/ Coal/ Atoka	12 WNW - 5 N Atoka
7	05/09/2016	1647-1647	0.5	25	EF?	0	0	Atoka	4 ENE Wapanucka
8	05/09/2016	1658-1720	6	600	EF2	0	0	Noble/ Payne/ Noble	6 SE Perry - 6 WSW Morrison
9	05/09/2016	1724-1742	13.8	3100	EF3	0	2	Bryan/ Choctaw	3.6 ESE Bennington - 6.4 ESE Boswelll
10	05/09/2016	1802-1810	6.1	650	EF1	0	0	Choctaw	3.1 W - 3 E Hugo
11	05/09/2016	1818-1830	6	150	EF?	0	0	Choctaw	6.3 NW Sawyer - 2.4 S Spencerville
12	05/09/2016	1825-1826	0.5	75	EF?	0	0	Choctaw	4.3 NNW - 4.4 N Sawyer

Storm Data

Preliminary Storm Reports on May 9, 2016 Compiled by the Storm Prediction Center

Preliminary Storm Reports for 5/09/2016 Compiled by the Storm Prediction Center

Preliminary Storm Reports on May 9, 2016 from NWS Norman

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK

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

0357 PM     HAIL             3 N ELMORE CITY         34.67N 97.40W 
05/09/2016  E1.75 INCH       GARVIN             OK   FIRE DEPT/RESCUE

0401 PM     HAIL             THACKERVILLE            33.79N 97.14W 
05/09/2016  E1.25 INCH       LOVE               OK   PUBLIC          

            RELAYED VIA TWITTER. 

0404 PM     TORNADO          4 NNW HENNEPIN          34.56N 97.36W 
05/09/2016                   GARVIN             OK   BROADCAST MEDIA 

0410 PM     HAIL             2 E LAHOMA              36.39N 98.05W 
05/09/2016  E1.25 INCH       GARFIELD           OK   EMERGENCY MNGR  

0410 PM     HAIL             INGERSOLL               36.80N 98.39W 
05/09/2016  E1.25 INCH       ALFALFA            OK   STORM CHASER    

0420 PM     HAIL             3 SE NORMAN             35.19N 97.40W 
05/09/2016  E1.00 INCH       CLEVELAND          OK   NWS EMPLOYEE    

0420 PM     HAIL             1 SSW MOORE             35.33N 97.49W 
05/09/2016  E1.00 INCH       CLEVELAND          OK   LAW ENFORCEMENT 

0425 PM     HAIL             1 S EDMOND              35.64N 97.48W 
05/09/2016  E1.00 INCH       OKLAHOMA           OK   TRAINED SPOTTER 

0430 PM     HAIL             EDMOND                  35.65N 97.48W 
05/09/2016  E1.00 INCH       OKLAHOMA           OK   TRAINED SPOTTER 

0435 PM     HAIL             2 S WYNNEWOOD           34.61N 97.16W 
05/09/2016  E1.75 INCH       MURRAY             OK   STORM CHASER    

0438 PM     TORNADO          5 N DAVIS               34.57N 97.12W 
05/09/2016                   MURRAY             OK   STORM CHASER    

0505 PM     TSTM WND GST     4 NNE SULPHUR           34.56N 96.95W 
05/09/2016  M88 MPH          MURRAY             OK   MESONET         

0515 PM     TORNADO          1 N LAKE THUNDERBIRD    35.24N 97.23W 
05/09/2016                   CLEVELAND          OK   BROADCAST MEDIA 

0515 PM     HAIL             STELLA                  35.32N 97.22W 
05/09/2016  E1.75 INCH       CLEVELAND          OK   TRAINED SPOTTER 

0516 PM     HAIL             3 NW ORLANDO            36.18N 97.41W 
05/09/2016  E1.00 INCH       NOBLE              OK   EMERGENCY MNGR  

0521 PM     TORNADO          9 WSW BROMIDE           34.37N 96.64W 
05/09/2016                   JOHNSTON           OK   EMERGENCY MNGR  

0527 PM     HAIL             DURANT                  34.00N 96.39W 
05/09/2016  E1.75 INCH       BRYAN              OK   EMERGENCY MNGR  

0540 PM     HAIL             4 N WAPANUCKA           34.43N 96.42W 
05/09/2016  E4.00 INCH       COAL               OK   PUBLIC          

0550 PM     HAIL             3 W BLUE                34.00N 96.28W 
05/09/2016  E1.50 INCH       BRYAN              OK   TRAINED SPOTTER 

0552 PM     HAIL             BLUE                    34.00N 96.23W 
05/09/2016  E2.50 INCH       BRYAN              OK   PUBLIC          

0604 PM     HAIL             2 S LEHIGH              34.44N 96.22W 
05/09/2016  E2.00 INCH       COAL               OK   TRAINED SPOTTER 

0604 PM     FUNNEL CLOUD     3 S LEHIGH              34.43N 96.22W 
05/09/2016                   COAL               OK   TRAINED SPOTTER 

0605 PM     TORNADO          6 WNW ATOKA             34.42N 96.23W 
05/09/2016                   ATOKA              OK   TRAINED SPOTTER 

0605 PM     HAIL             2 WSW BOKCHITO          34.01N 96.17W 
05/09/2016  M3.00 INCH       BRYAN              OK   TRAINED SPOTTER 

0605 PM     TORNADO          3 NE LAKE MCMURTRY      36.19N 97.14W 
05/09/2016                   PAYNE              OK   BROADCAST MEDIA 

0609 PM     HAIL             4 SW LEHIGH             34.43N 96.27W 
05/09/2016  E2.75 INCH       COAL               OK   CO-OP OBSERVER  

0630 PM     TORNADO          3 SW STRINGTOWN         34.43N 96.09W 
05/09/2016                   ATOKA              OK   TRAINED SPOTTER 

0642 PM     HAIL             5 SSW RENFROW           36.86N 97.69W 
05/09/2016  E1.75 INCH       GRANT              OK   STORM CHASER    

0725 PM     HAIL             4 S BRAMAN              36.87N 97.33W 
05/09/2016  E1.00 INCH       KAY                OK   EMERGENCY MNGR  

0734 PM     HAIL             BLACKWELL               36.80N 97.28W 
05/09/2016  E2.00 INCH       KAY                OK   BROADCAST MEDIA 

            FALLING ON NORTH SIDE OF BLACKWELL.

0743 PM     HAIL             2 N BLACKWELL           36.83N 97.28W 
05/09/2016  E1.75 INCH       KAY                OK   EMERGENCY MNGR  

0804 PM     HAIL             NEWKIRK                 36.88N 97.06W 
05/09/2016  E1.50 INCH       KAY                OK   PUBLIC          

            RELAYED VIA MPING. 

&&

$$

Radar Imagery

Radar Reflectivity Loop for Oklahoma from the Twin Lakes, Oklahoma Radar (KTLX) from 1:08-7:52 pm CST (2:08-8:52 pm CDT) on May 9, 2016

Radar Reflectivity Loop for parts of south central Oklahoma from the Twin Lakes, Oklahoma Radar (KTLX) from 2:38-5:24 pm CST (3:38-6:24 pm CDT) on May 9, 2016

Radar Reflectivity Image of a Supercell Thunderstorm over Garvin County from the Twin Lakes, Oklahoma Radar (KTLX) at 3:50 pm CST (4:50 pm CDT) on May 9, 2016

Radar Reflectivity Image of a Supercell Thunderstorm over parts of Johnston, Coal and Atoka counties from the Twin Lakes, Oklahoma Radar (KTLX) at 4:30 pm CST (5:30 pm CDT) on May 9, 2016

Satellite Imagery

Shown below is a link to a 1-minute, satellite loop provided by Scott Bachmeier of the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) Satellite Blog. The link to the CIMSS Satellite blog for the May 9, 2016 tornado outbreak is available here. Click on the image below to view an MP4 animation.

CIMSS animation of the GOES-13 0.63 Âµm visible channel from 12:45-7:15 pm CST (1:45-8:15 pm CST) on May 9, 2016

GOES-14 Visible 1-minute (0.63 µm) images, with SPC storm reports [click to play MP4 animation here]

This visible satellite loop above shows how rapidly supercell thunderstorms formed during the afternoon of May 9, 2016. Image provided by the Aviation Weather Center.

Infrared Satellite Loop of the central Great Plains region
from 11:45 am-11.45 pm CST (12:45 pm-12.45 am CDT) on May 9, 2016.

Storm Multimedia

Storm Photo

The following photo was taken by former NWS Norman meteorologist Gabe Garfield. This EF-3 tornado traveled west to east across Murray County, Oklahoma, and north of the towns of Davis, Sulphur, and Hickory.

Storm Video

The following video of the EF-3 "Sulphur Tornado" was also taken by former NWS Norman meteorologist Gabe Garfield.

Damage Photos

The following photos were taken on May 10, 2016 by NWS personnel and Senior Engineer/Meteorologist Tim Marshall as they conducted a damage survey along the path of the EF-4 tornado that occurred on May 9, 2016 near the town of Katie in Gavin County, Oklahoma.