TULSA, Okla. — Night fell over Osage County, after storms passed through neighborhoods.
It was tough for neighbors to get the entire picture of the damage; however, Tuesday morning, a crew from the National Weather Service Tulsa office attempted to capture the entire picture.
The crew of 2 NWS officials takes a thorough approach through the path of the storm. They announced an EF1 rating for a tornado that passed through Wynona Monday night.
They later confirmed a total of five EF1 tornadoes in the area.
"We only travel about 2.5 mph if you take us from the very beginning to the end," Steve Piltz, NWS Tulsa Meteorologist in charge said, "Obviously we’re driving 30, 40 mph maybe highway mile speed in between places but to actually stop, make assessments, look around maybe speak to a few individuals, it’s a pretty slow process."
The crew he directs might have spoken with Ron Price, a Barnsdall Neighbor whose barn sustained damage. The barn is "over a hundred years," of age, he said.
Surveyors account for age, structural integrity, and the location of structures in relation to the path of the storm.
NWS crews also stop in places with less impressive damage.
"We wanna make a complete picture that we can compare against the radar, and that has scientific value," Piltz said.
The scientific value checks several boxes. For one, it rates the strength of the tornado. For another, it allows the NWS to pass along tips to engineers for new construction.
The objective, Piltz says, "is as much scientific as anything."
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