2024 Hollister Tornado Finalized Report

by The United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Event Details:

Event	Tornado
-- Scale	EF1
-- Length	6.4 Miles
-- Width	1200 Yards
State	OKLAHOMA
County/Area	TILLMAN
WFO	OUN
Report Source	NWS Storm Survey
NCEI Data Source	CSV
Begin Date	2024-04-30 20:32 CST-6
Begin Location	3NE HOLLISTER
Begin Lat/Lon	34.362/-98.832
End Date	2024-04-30 21:12 CST-6
End Location	5NE HOLLISTER
End Lat/Lon	34.382/-98.801
Deaths Direct/Indirect	0/0 (fatality details below, when available...)
Injuries Direct/Indirect	0/0
Property Damage	50.00K
Crop Damage	0.00K
Episode Narrative	A rather nebulous upper air pattern existed across the Southern Plains on the 30th, with 30-40 knots of quasi-zonal flow at 500 mb. However, plentiful solar insolation/surface heating in the vicinity of a dryline fostered widely scattered thunderstorm development by the late afternoon. Strong instability and sufficient organizing wind shear lead to a few of these storms displaying supercellular characteristics and producing reports of large hail initially, owing to steep lapse rates and weak low-level shear (among other factors already mentioned). By the mid-evening, as low-level shear and storm-scale interactions began to increase, a few tornadoes occurred across portions of south-central into southwest Oklahoma. The most significant of these was an EF-1 tornado near the community of Hollister (Tillman County).
Event Narrative	This tornado was first observed by a storm chaser at 932 pm CDT and likely formed near County Road E1830 just east of County Road N2320. Over the next 40 minutes, the tornado meandered slowly eastward along E1830 Road then turned northeast reaching near N2360 Road and E1820 Road. The tornado then turned and moved west-northwest along EW1820 Road finally dissipating near N2340 Road. The tornado occurred in a very rural area of Tillman County, although two farm homes were damaged near the easternmost point of the tornado path. A few barns were also damaged, otherwise the damage was primarily to trees and a few power poles. Although the damage is rated as EF1, velocity data from the nearby KFDR radar gives strong indication that the tornado may have been much stronger than observed damage would indicate. The maximum observed rotational velocity from KFDR reached 114 knots.