The National Weather Service now confirms it was a small tornado that hit the area near Wagoner on Wednesday morning.
RATING: EF-1
ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 90 TO 100 MPH
PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/: 3.5 MILES
PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/: 850 YARDS
FATALITIES: 0
INJURIES: 0
Severe thunderstorms developed during the late afternoon and evening hours of July 23rd over southern Kansas. The airmass was extremely hot and unstable south of these storms where afternoon heat indices reached 110 degrees. An upper-level disturbance moved southeastward during the evening and helped drive a complex of severe storms into eastern Oklahoma between 10pm and 3am.
The severe storms had a history of producing wind gusts to 80mph earlier in the evening in the Wichita area and they continued to do the same as the complex moved into the Tulsa area. The Tulsa International Airport recorded a 76 mph wind gust as the storms rolled in. The highest ever recorded at the site.
The damaging winds pushed across Tulsa and surrounding areas and caused widespread tree and power line damage leaving over 100,000 without power during the overnight and early morning hours. The bow echo or derecho continued southward reaching Choctaw county shortly after 2am.
Heavy rains also fell during the night with some flooding reported in the Tahlequah and Miami areas. The heaviest rains fell along the Oklahoma-Arkansas border where from 3 to 5 inches fell.
