Fast Facts About the November 7-8, 2011 Severe Weather Event

• A  total of 10 tornadoes have been documented for this event, and the total number of tornadoes for 2011 stands at 119. Thus, the annual total of 2011 is now the second highest total behind only 1999 when 145 tornadoes were documented.


• This also marks the first time that at least 100 tornadoes were documented for consecutive years since official records began in 1950. A total of 102 tornadoes were recorded in 2010 and 119 tornadoes have been reported so far in 2011. The two-year total of tornadoes for this period (221) is second only to 1998-1999 when a total of 228 tornadoes were recorded.


• In November 1958, a record total of 12 tornadoes for the month were documented in Oklahoma, with 11 twisters occurring during the tornado outbreak of November 17, 1958. This daily total for November 17, 1958 ranks as the greatest number of tornadoes to occur on any single day in November in Oklahoma. The total of 11 tornadoes that occurred on November 7-8, 2011 makes November 2011 the second highest for the total of November tornadoes since official records began in 1950. Monthly totals of 8 tornadoes for November were reported in 1973 and 1983.


• The number of violent tornadoes in Oklahoma for 2011 now stands at 4 making it the second highest annual total of violent tornadoes for the state. This total has only been surpassed in 1957 and 1960 when 5 violent tornadoes occurred in the state in each of  those years.


• The following table contains information about tornadoes which have occurred in Oklahoma from 1950-present. Please note that of the 93 tornadoes documented during this period, 61 have been categorized as weak tornadoes (F0/F1), and 24 have been categorized as strong tornadoes (F2/F3). Until the November 7, 2011 Tipton tornado, no violent tornadoes (F4/F5) had been documented during this period. The NWS office in Shreveport, LA has also documented a tornado occurring in McCurtain County on during the early afternoon of November 8, 2011. A complete list of November tornadoes for this period is also available.


• Prior to 1950, local records show that a tornado occurred on November 4, 1922 in Creek County  near the towns of Shamrock, Drumright and Mannford, OK. This tornado killed 6 people and injured another 14 persons. In addition, a tornado occurred in Oklahoma County on November 19, 1930 in Bethany, OK. This tornado killed 23 people and injured 77 more. While the NWS has not given these tornadoes official F-Scale ratings, they were both rated F4 by Tom Grazulis of the Tornado Project.


• The following table lists data from NWS Norman records for tornadoes that occurred prior to 1950. The asterisk (*) next to a Fujita Scale rating indicates that the rating was assigned by Tom Grazulis of the Tornado Project.