The last Oklahoma tornado that was part May 1, 1954 tornado outbreak began at 7:00 pm CST near the Naval Ammunition Depot southwest of McAlester in Pittsburg County. This tornado was first observed in a wooded area near the ammunition depot as it moved northeastward and produced damage along a 2-mile-long path where $30,000 in damages occurred. The tornado was then observed west of McAlester where tree damage occurred. The tornado continued into the northern part of Pittsburg County where more damage occurred between 8:00 pm and 8:20 pm CST near Canadian and into southern McIntosh County. In this area along an eight-mile-long path, the tornado damaged 9 homes, injured 6 people, and caused $4,000 in damages. Only minor damage occurred in south McIntosh County.

This tornado initiated near the Eufaula Dam site and traveled northward along a hit-and-miss path. The tornado remained on the ground for about 4 miles in the "Central High" area where 3 houses were destroyed and another 6 received major damage. Two people were killed and another 5 persons were injured when the tornado hit the automobile in which they were fleeing to a neighbor's storm cellar. Another person was also injured when the tornado hit another car along its path.

This tornado first struck north of Vivian, moved northeastward through the town of Fame and west of Onapa before dissipating east of Checotah. Several farmsteads were damaged along the tornado's path. In Fame a church, a school, and several homes were destroyed or damaged, and a woman was injured. A loaded auto transport truck was tipped over. Hail to the size of golf balls accompanied the tornado.

A band of moderate to heavy rain moved across the area during the morning of March 8th in association with a warm front out in advance of a low-pressure center. The rain brought localized nuisance flooding. Once the morning rains passed, warmer air moved into eastern Oklahoma during the afternoon, and an upper level low with lots of cold air aloft moved into the area. Thunderstorms then erupted late in the afternoon along an eastward moving dryline/cold front. Some of these thunderstorms displayed characteristics of low-precipitation supercells which then produced damaging tornadoes, most notably in McIntosh County and at Broken Arrow in Tulsa County. The Broken Arrow tornado occurred miles behind any radar-indicated thunderstorm activity and was possibly the result of a cold-air funnel under the cold upper low which reached the ground.

A tornado first touched down near Burney, which is in western McIntosh County near mile marker 248 on U.S. Interstate Highway I-40. The tornado travelled parallel to and south of the interstate in the Tiger Mountain area but then crossed U.S. Interstate Highway I-40 closest to mile marker 249 as it was lifting. Most of the damage from this tornado was F1-strength, but some F2-strength damage occurred. The tornado first destroyed two mobile homes. Roofing from the first destroyed home was found 150 feet to the east, and a car was crushed in a car port. The second mobile home destroyed was a brand-new double-wide that had recently been tied down. The mobile home rolled 30 to 40 feet and was totally destroyed. Four members of a family inside the home were injured, one of them critically. Two cars in a car port were damaged.

Further east, shingles were torn off the south and west sides of a house, and a tin shed was destroyed with debris scattered to the north and east. Another shed with appliances inside was destroyed. The tornado then passed near a small dwelling, where numerous large trees were down and a 20-foot pontoon was moved 15 feet over a tree. The tornado then hit another double-wide mobile home, which had its apron blown out on one side, had trim peeled off, and it had a window broken. Two nearby power poles were snapped off. Finally, the tornado passed a well-built two-story home. This home had shingles blown off the roof, windows broken, a sun porch was destroyed, a metal hay shed lost its roof, many large trees were blown down, two small storage sheds were destroyed, a 20-foot horse trailer was rolled over, and a Ford F150 crew cab was moved 10 feet.