Ticker for April 16, 2012

                
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April 16, 2012     April 16, 2012     April 16, 2012     April 16, 2012


Woodward tornado preliminarily rated an EF-3

Well, the entire Ticker staff picked a good week to take off. In our absence,
all heck broke loose. The somewhat-extreme outbreak of severe weather this
weekend spawned a preliminary total of 120+ tornadoes across the Midwest,
although that number is sure to drop after NWS survey crews go out and
determine what was actually a tornado and what was straight-line winds from
damage surveys.

While there were around 12 tornadoes reported in Oklahoma from Mother Nature's
outburst, that is again a preliminary number that will have to be sorted out
by damage survey teams. The hardest hit community was Woodward with the now
infamous storm that struck a little after midnight on Saturday. The fatality
count from the tornado is now up to six people according to reports in the local
Woodward newspaper, with three of those deaths being children. There were also
reportedly 28 people injured. The tornado has been rated (again, preliminarily!!)
an EF-3 on the Ehanced Fujita scale. Here is a graphic from the NWS-Norman office
detailing the timeline of this particular tornado.



The first warning on the Woodward storm was sounded at midnight from the NWS-
Norman office. An indication of a tornado on the ground was noted, and it was
on a tear towards to the Woodward area at about 45 mph.

***********************************
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
1200 AM CDT SUN APR 15 2012

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORMAN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN HARPER COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA...
WOODWARD COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA...
EXTREME NORTHEASTERN ELLIS COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA...

* UNTIL 1230 AM CDT

* AT 1159 PM CDT...TRAINED STORM SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO 7
MILES SOUTHEAST OF GAGE. THIS TORNADO WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45
MPH.

* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
WOODWARD...FARGO AND TANGIER.
***********************************

The tornado moved through the west side of Woodward about 20 minutes later,
destroying/damaging about 100 homes and several businesses. Unfortunately, the
Hideaway Trailer Park lay in its path, and tornadoes love to destroy those big
wind-catchers.

The average number of tornadoes for April in Oklahoma is 11. The actual counts
for each April ranges from zero (twice...1987 and 1988) to 50 (2011). So that
just about does it for this month I hope.

On a personal note, I have many friends and relatives living in Woodward, and I
spent a great deal of time there growing up in nearby Buffalo. It's very
disturbing to see the damage from that town, as well as that I now drive by
everyday to go to work in Norman from the tornado that struck on Friday. I'm
not a stranger to it, of course, living in southwest Oklahoma City and near
Moore. We've had our share of devastating scenes in the last decade or so as
well.

Somehow, though, seeing that area where I used to hang out in my youth is just
a little more poignant. You see, growing up in the small town of Buffalo,
Woodward was always the cool place to go. They had a McDonald's and a Pizza
Hut, for crying out loud! And a movie theatre that wasn't a year behind in new
releases. Going to t-ball games in Woodward meant you got to visit the Dairy
Queen after the game. So it was always a favorite destination. Speaking of that
movie theatre, here is what is left of it. It was directly in the path of the
tornado and did not fare well.




I saw many a movie there growing up. I stood in line for an hour to see "Star
Wars" there back in 1977, and then saw it's sequel "The Empire Strikes Back"
when it was released. I remember the day I saw "Star Trek II" (ahem...the
Wrath of Khan! Hello!!) quite vividly. We had gone to Woodward to play a
baseball game but it was rained out. Why not go see a movie instead? Sure!
Heaven for a movie nerd like me.

Gary McManus
Associate State Climatologist
Oklahoma Climatological Survey
(405) 325-2253
gmcmanus@mesonet.org