On this day 3 years ago, an infamous tornado touched down to the west of the central Oklahoma town of Moore. The Moore tornado was an EF-5 monster that traversed through the city, and did an incredible amount of damage as it passed through the town. I remember watching coverage on The Weather Channel of the storm, and after the tornado rolled through, pictures began coming in. That was when I began to realize how bad the tornado actually was.
Meteorologically, the day had fairly good features. Central OK was in the right entrance region of the mid and upper level jet streaks, and this was good for upward vertical motion. Additionally, there was a good wind shear present across the region, allowing for storms to develop strong rotation.
With ample and deep moisture present across the region during the day, cloud bases were low which is favorable for tornadogenesis. There was a strong dryline just to the west of Moore, OK, and this was one of the more significant forcing mechanisms that day. Additionally, ample moisture allowed for the atmosphere to have plenty of instability to work with. These, along with other factors, allowed for supercells to produce tornadoes on this day. And the Moore tornado wasn’t ordinary.
This was one of the more devastating tornadoes to hit in quite sometime, as two elementary schools took direct hits from it. Keep the folks effected by this in your thoughts and prayers today, as I am sure this is a somber day to remember for those folks. These are the days that meteorologists hate, and they force them to reevaluate their practices, forecasting techniques and communication skills. I’ll leave you with some photos and videos from the event.
Today marks the 3rd anniversary of the 5/20/2013 EF-5 #MooreTornado #okwx #MooreStrong pic.twitter.com/2Y0b1TlepZ
— Robert MacDonald (@Rmacd24) May 20, 2016
Our view of the 2013 Moore tornado. Notice grass stripped. @slaterweather took these, he was right next to us. pic.twitter.com/Y0dJK7wPC6
— Jon Haverfield (@JonDopplerWX) May 20, 2016
3rd anniversary of the Moore #tornado. Seeing it first hand changed my perspective in chasing. pic.twitter.com/0OjmxVQZpR
— Sean Ramsey (@seanramseySPP) May 20, 2016
The Moore, OK EF5 *should* have changed how anyone feels about tornadoes. Nothing pretty or glamorous about this. pic.twitter.com/1AfegkIV16
— TornadoTitans.com (@TornadoTitans) May 20, 2016