Tulsa tornadoes of 2017

The 2017 Tulsa tornado took place on August 6, 2017, near Tulsa, Oklahoma. Major damage was inflicted on a shopping and office area in midtown Tulsa. Fortunately, there were no fatalities, although 30 people were injured. It was part of a small outbreak of four tornadoes that formed along a bow echo.

Tulsa tornadoes of August 2017

Remington Tower in Tulsa heavily damaged by August 6, 2017 tornado
Duration	August 6, 2017
Tornadoes confirmed	4[1]
Max. rating^1	EF2 tornado
Duration of tornado outbreak^2	54 minutes
Highest winds	125–155 mph (201–249 km/h) (Estimated by damage survey)
Damage	$50.240 million (2015 USD)[2]
Casualties	30 injuries
Areas affected	Northeastern Oklahoma
^1Most severe tornado damage; see Enhanced Fujita scale ^2Time from first tornado to last tornado

Confirmed tornadoes

Confirmed tornadoes by Enhanced Fujita rating

EFU	EF0	EF1	EF2	EF3	EF4	EF5	Total
0	0	3	1	0	0	0	4

August 6 event

List of confirmed tornadoes – Sunday, August 6, 2017[note 1]

EF#	Location	County / Parish	State	Start Coord.	Time (UTC)	Path length	Max width	Summary	Refs
EF2	Southeastern Tulsa to N of Broken Arrow	Tulsa	OK	36.1097°N 95.9367°W	06:19–06:25	6.9 mi (11.1 km)	550 yd (500 m)	See section on this tornado – 30 people were injured and losses totaled $50 million.	[3]
EF1	N of Broken Arrow	Tulsa, Wagoner	OK	36.0919°N 95.7936°W	06:27–06:31	2.9 mi (4.7 km)	400 yd (370 m)	Numerous homes sustained roof damage, and numerous large trees were snapped or uprooted. The roof of an outbuilding was blown off.	[4][5]
EF1	E of Oologah	Rogers	OK	36.4443°N 95.6908°W	06:32–06:40	4.5 mi (7.2 km)	200 yd (180 m)	Barns, trees, and a home were damaged. Power poles were snapped.	[6]
EF1	S of Chelsea	Rogers, Mayes	OK	36.4496°N 95.4409°W	07:11–07:13	0.9 mi (1.4 km)	400 yd (370 m)	An agricultural building sustained minor roof damage.	[7][8]

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Tulsa, Oklahoma

EF2 tornado
Formed	August 6, 2017, 1:19 a.m. CDT (UTC−05:00)
Duration	6 minutes
Dissipated	August 6, 2017, 1:25 a.m. CDT (UTC−05:00)
Max. rating^1	EF2 tornado
Highest winds	125–155 mph (201–249 km/h) (Estimated by damage survey)
Damage	$50 million (2017 USD)
Casualties	30 injuries
Areas affected	Tulsa County, Oklahoma
^1Most severe tornado damage; see Enhanced Fujita scale

The tornado formed at 1:19 A.M. CDT (Or Local Time) (06:19 UTC) south of East 36th Street South and east of South Harvard Avenue and eventually shifted west before heading to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma at around 1:25 A.M. The worst damage along its 6.9-mile-long (11.1 km) path was in midtown Tulsa (between South Sheridan Road and South Yale Avenue, near East 41st Street South), where several buildings had their roofs removed and outer walls collapsed. The 18-story Remington Tower office building (near Skelly Drive and 41st Street) underwent dramatic facade and window damage. Many offices in the building were further damaged by having equipment and furnishings inside sucked through the windows and falling to the ground below. The tornado also caused roof and structural damage to Promenade Mall and impacted infrastructure at the BOK Financial Corporation operations center (near 41st and Sheridan), rendering its online, mobile and automated telephone systems inoperable. More than 7 people were rescued from T.G.I. Friday's at 41st and Yale Avenue, after the roof collapsed into the building.[9][10][11][12]

This was the first tornado to hit the Tulsa area in the month of August since 1958 (and only the 3rd to strike the area since 1950), the tornado injured 26 people – with two seriously injured – in the east part of the city. Even with the tornado detectable on radar, the Tulsa County Emergency Management Agency did not begin civil defense sirens in the area because the National Weather Service did not issue a tornado warning until 1:25 a.m., after which time an EF1 tornado had entered Broken Arrow, damaging multiple home roofs and several large tree branches.[13][14] A second EF1 hit east of Oologah at 1:32 a.m. CDT (06:32 UTC), damaging several trees, barns and a home, downing multiple telephone poles.[9][15]

See also

• List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks

Notes

1. All dates are based on the local time zone where the tornado touched down; however, all times are in Coordinated Universal Time for consistency.

References

1. "August 6, 2017 Tornadoes". Tornado History Projects. Storm Prediction Center. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
2. "Tornado Summaries". National Weather Service. National Centers for Environmental Information. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
3. Oklahoma Event Report: EF2 Tornado (Report). National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
4. Oklahoma Event Report: EF1 Tornado (Report). National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
5. Oklahoma Event Report: EF1 Tornado (Report). National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
6. Oklahoma Event Report: EF1 Tornado (Report). National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
7. Oklahoma Event Report: EF1 Tornado (Report). National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
8. Oklahoma Event Report: EF0 Tornado (Report). National Centers for Environmental Information. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
9. NWS Damage Survey for 8/6/17 Tornado Event (Report). Iowa Environmental Mesonet. National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Tulsa, Oklahoma. August 6, 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
10. "Three Tornadoes Struck Green Country Early Sunday". KOTV-DT. Griffin Communications. August 7, 2017.
11. "NWS confirms EF-2 tornado damage in midtown Tulsa". KTUL. Sinclair Broadcast Group. August 6, 2017. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
12. Ken Miller (August 6, 2017). "Rare August tornado sends 30 to hospital in Tulsa; no deaths". KOKI-TV. Cox Media Group. Associated Press. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
13. Paighten Harkins (August 7, 2017). "EF2 tornado that hurt 30, ripped through midtown, was rare in 2 ways". Tulsa World. BH Media.
14. "Why was there no warning before devastating Tulsa tornado?". CBS News. CBS Interactive. August 7, 2017.
15. Clayton Youngman (August 6, 2017). "NWS: 2 tornadoes touched down in Tulsa metro Sunday; 3rd tornado hit Rogers County". KTUL. Sinclair Broadcast Group. Retrieved August 7, 2017.