Oklahoma’s first tornado of 2009 happened at approximately 3:05 p.m. today and traveled along the North side of the Oklahoma City metro, it was reported to have lasted 10 minutes and did “significant damage” near Edmond.

As a line of isolated cells formed from the Union City area towards Stillwater, they seem to have gained strentgh over the metro area, likely a boost in strentgh from the “island effect heating” of the metro area. Once cell remained very strong as it moved away from the metro to the NE at near 40 mph.

Here are a few GR Level II grabs from the event:

And here is a shot that is zoomed in on that cell near Stillwater with the incredible hook echo:

Damage appears to be possibly EF-3, there are some well-constructed homes in Edmond and a few of them have lost their roofs and had wall collaspes. Oklahoma City still remains under the gun and it’s likely going to be a long night throughout the evening hours across the Red River Valley and into NE Oklahoma, but it does appear that we’re going through a transitional phase with these storms as they become more linear on radar with a bow echo.

Expect more wind damage reports tomorrow across the Ohio Valley and midsouth regions as this strong system works it way to the east. This may well be a 36-hour severe weather outbreak – so anyone from the central plains to the east coast needs to start thinking about safety concerns in advance of this system and check the batteries in your NOAA weather radar – don’t be caught off guard!

Tags: tornadoes