A Spatiotemporal Perspective on the 31 May 2013 Tornado Evacuation in the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area

Hatzis, Joshua J.; Klockow-McClain, Kim E.

doi:10.1175/WCAS-D-21-0106.1

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A Spatiotemporal Perspective on the 31 May 2013 Tornado Evacuation in the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area

2022
By Hatzis, Joshua J. ; Klockow-McClain, Kim E.
Source: Weather, Climate, and Society, 14(3), 721-735

[PDF-3.02 MB]

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Journal Title:

Weather, Climate, and Society
Personal Author:

Hatzis, Joshua J. ; Klockow-McClain, Kim E.

Hatzis, Joshua J. ; Klockow-McClain, Kim E. Less -
NOAA Program & Office:

CIWRO (Cooperative Institute for Severe and High-Impact Weather Research and Operations) ; OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; NSSL (National Severe Storms Laboratory)

CIWRO (Cooperative Institute for Severe and High-Impact Weather Research and Operations) ; OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; NSSL (National Severe Storms Laboratory) Less -
Description:

On 31 May 2013, an extremely large and violent tornado hit near the town of El Reno, Oklahoma, a small town in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. The size and intensity of this tornado, coupled with the fact that it was heading toward Oklahoma City, prompted local broadcasters to warn residents to evacuate their homes and head south if they could not shelter belowground. This warning led to a large-scale evacuation of the metropolitan area and massive traffic jams on the interstates and major highways that could have caused casualties in the hundreds if the tornado had not dissipated before reaching Oklahoma City. The focus of this study was to understand the magnitude of the 31 May 2013 evacuation through the evaluation of traffic volume data and to determine how frequently such evacuations occur in Oklahoma City and other metropolitan areas. We found that of the six metropolitan areas tested, only Oklahoma City had mass anomalous traffic reversal (ATR) days (days with a mass evacuation signal) with 31 May 2013 having the largest mass ATR day by far. Despite the rarity of mass ATR days, the potential consequences of a large, violent tornado hitting gridlocked traffic is significant, and we recommend that communicators encourage more local sheltering options.
Keywords:

[+]

Tornadoes
Source:

Weather, Climate, and Society, 14(3), 721-735
DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1175/WCAS-D-21-0106.1
Document Type:

Journal Article
Funding:

Grant no. NA16OAR4320115
Place as Subject:

Oklahoma City (Okla.)
Rights Information:

Other
Compliance:

Submitted
Main Document Checksum:

[+]

urn:sha256:433cf320c1cdda38c67fd02b356fad82bee8192f69c960f82c2e9a85b6913def
Download URL:

https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/47668/noaa_47668_DS1.pdf
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A Spatiotemporal Perspective on the 31 May 2013 Tornado Evacuation in the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area

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