Oklahoma Tornado Outbreak
Encyclopedia
The 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak was a severe weather
event that lasted from May 3 until May 6, 1999 and brought violent storms to Oklahoma
, Kansas
, Arkansas
, Texas
, and Tennessee
. This article concentrates on the events on May 3, when 66 tornado
es broke out in Oklahoma and Kansas. The most significant tornado first touched down southwest of Chickasha, Oklahoma
, and became an F5
before dissipating over Midwest City, Oklahoma
. The tornado tore through Bridge Creek, Oklahoma
, Oklahoma City
, Moore
, Del City, Tinker Air Force Base
and Midwest City, Oklahoma
, causing $1.1 billion in damage. Forty-eight people perished during the outbreak
. This tornadic event ranks in severity with the Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1965. With a total of 66-74 tornadoes, it was the most prolific tornado outbreak in Oklahoma history, although not the deadliest.
in Norman, Oklahoma
initially issued a "slight risk" for severe weather for most of the state of Oklahoma early that morning. By late morning the latest observations and forecasts began to indicate an increasing likelihood of widespread severe weather, and the SPC upgraded sections of the southern plains to "moderate risk." By 3 p.m. it had become evident that a widespread severe weather event was imminent. Parts of Oklahoma and Kansas were then further upgraded to "high risk". When a "high risk" is issued, this usually indicates the potential for a significant severe weather event, including damaging tornadoes. The SPC issued a tornado watch
by mid-afternoon as conditions gathered together for what would be a historic tornado outbreak. By the afternoon the CAPE
values reached nearly 6,000 J/kg over the region. Large supercell
thunderstorms developed and in the late afternoon through the mid-evening hours of that Monday, tornadoes began to break out across the state.
The most significant tornado of the outbreak touched down just southwest of the community of Amber, Oklahoma
and headed northeast, parallel to Interstate 44, just after another tornado had passed over the airport in Chickasha
. The storm continued moving northeast, destroying the community of Bridge Creek
and crossing I-44 just north of Newcastle
.
The tornado then crossed the Canadian River
, passing into far southern Oklahoma City. As it passed over Bridge Creek
, around 6:54 p.m., a Doppler On Wheels
(DOW: Wurman et al. 1997, Wurman 2001) mobile Doppler weather radar
detected winds of 301 mph (484 km/h), ±20 mph inside the tornado at a height of 32 m AGL (Wurman et al. 2007). These winds, however, occurred above the ground, and winds at the surface may not have been quite this intense. The tornado continued on into Moore and then passed over the intersection of Shields Boulevard and Interstate 35 and back into Oklahoma City
, crossing Interstate 240
near Bryant Avenue. The storm then turned more northerly, striking parts of Del City
and Tinker Air Force Base
near Sooner Road as an F4 before diminishing over Midwest City and finally lifting near the intersection of Reno Avenue and Woodcrest Drive.
Thirty-six people died in this tornado. Over 8,000 homes were badly damaged or destroyed and the tornado caused $1.1 billion in damage, making it the single most costly tornado in U.S. history, adjusted for inflation. This was also the deadliest tornado since the April 10, 1979 Wichita Falls, Texas Tornado which killed forty- two. However, early warning saved many lives.
. The death toll would likely have been higher if people had not had advance warning. Following the storm, three of the local television stations in Oklahoma City: KFOR-TV
(channel 4), KOCO-TV
(channel 5) and KWTV
(channel 9) continued coverage of the damaging and deadly tornadoes through May 4. The three stations' chief meteorologists Mike Morgan
, Rick Mitchell and Gary England
received commendations from then-governor Frank Keating
for their coverage of the outbreak.
Most metro area radio stations had simulcast coverage from the area's television stations: KFOR-TV's coverage was simulcast on Renda Broadcasting
owned KMGL
, KRXO
, KOMA-AM
and KOMA-FM
; KOCO-TV's coverage was simulcast on Clear Channel
owned KQSR
, KTST
and KJYO
(KTOK
provided their own coverage but utilized KOCO
's coverage heavily) with Citadel
owned KATT, KYIS
, WWLS-AM, WWLS-FM and KKWD
simulcasting KOCO's coverage as well; and KWTV's coverage was simulcast on KXXY-FM
. It is highly likely that the Emergency Alert System
also broadcast warnings.
The Moore tornado also resulted in the National Weather Service issuing the first-ever Tornado Emergency
, a severe weather statement used only in extreme cases where a violent tornado is about to impact a densely-populated area.
es in the area of the path of the Moore-Bridge Creek F5 tornado. The deaths occurred at the 16th Street overpass over Interstate 44 in Newcastle (just east of Bridge Creek), at the Shields Boulevard overpass over Interstate 35 in Moore, and the overpass at mile marker 176.5 on Interstate 35 in rural northwestern Payne County
, west of Stillwater.
speed (at the high extreme of the Fujita Scale
's F5) led to much speculation that the scale would be modified to include an F6 category, due to the winds possibly exceeding 318 mph (512 km/h). This speculation ignored the fact that the Fujita scale measures damage rather than windspeed, since the scale was developed prior to the introduction of Doppler weather radar. Windspeed estimates associated with the different categories represent the speeds scientists believe are required to produce that damage rather than the windspeed in that particular storm. The damage caused by an F5-designated tornado leaves very little room for a higher category.
The tornado was the last official F5 to hit the United States with the old Fujita scale rating. The next category 5 tornado occurred on May 4, 2007 in Greensburg, Kansas
during the May 2007 Tornado Outbreak
and killed 11 people. Since February 1, 2007 the National Weather Service
has used the Enhanced Fujita Scale
to rate tornadoes, and the Greensburg tornado was recorded as the first EF5 tornado. This tornado, however, is not the last category 5 tornado to be rated on the Fujita scale, as Canada still uses the Fujita scale, and a tornado that occurred in Manitoba in June 2007 was rated an F5.
In addition to the devastating F5 tornado that hit the southern suburbs of Oklahoma City, there were numerous other significant tornadoes in the outbreak. An F3 tornado hit the town of Stroud
(between Oklahoma City and Tulsa
) on Interstate 44, destroying the Tanger Outlet Mall. The mall has not been rebuilt. This tornado also destroyed the local hospital, as well as the Sigma Trucking terminal. While there were no fatalities in Stroud, the economic impact of the tornado has been compared to the loss of Tinker Air Force Base, General Motors, and a major regional hospital for the Stroud region as compared to Oklahoma City at that time. Approximately 800 jobs were lost in a community of approximately 3400. Stroud's recovery was later complicated by the 9/11 attacks, although the town today seems to be in recovery as a result of higher oil and gas prices. Local leading industries include Service King, an oilfield manufacturing facilty, and Mint Turbines, a helicopter engine reconditioning facitility. Stroud is also now a downloading facility for oil produced in the northern United States into the Cushing pipeline network.
An F4 tornado hit the town of Mulhall
, north of Guthrie
, destroying most of the town and toppling the city's water tower
. This wedge tornado was very wide, at times exceeding a width of one mile (1.6 km). According to storm chaser
Roger Edwards, it may have been as violent or more than the F5 Moore/Bridge Creek tornado. A Doppler On Wheels (DOW) mobile radar observed this tornado as it crossed Mulhall. The DOW documented the largest ever observed core flow circulation with a distance of 1600 m between peak velocities on either side of the tornado, and a roughly 7 km width of peak wind gusts exceeding 43 m/s, making the Mulhall tornado the largest tornado ever measured quantitatively. The DOW measured a complex multiple vortex structure with several multiple vortices containing winds of up to 115 m/s rotating around the tornado. The 3D structure of the tornado has been analyzed in Lee and Wurman 2005.
One of the final tornadoes in the outbreak nearly hit the studios of ABC
affiliate KTUL
-TV in Tulsa located on Lookout Mountain, a few miles west of the city, at around 12:15 a.m. CDT on May 4. Chief meteorologist Travis Meyer advised his co-workers to take shelter while he remained on the air reporting on the approaching tornado. It weakened before reaching the station.
The May 3 tornado event was part of a three-day event that included tornadoes in the states of Kansas
, Texas
and Tennessee
. A deadly tornado killed six people in Haysville
and Wichita
, Kansas
, the same day. Other fatalities during the event included one person killed in Texas on May 4, and four people killed in Tennessee
on May 5–6.
The following is a list of the number of homes and businesses damaged by the tornadoes in the outbreak:
Severe weather
Severe weather phenomena are weather conditions that are hazardous to human life and property.- Examples Include :Severe weather can occur under a variety of situations, but three characteristics are generally needed: a temperature or moisture boundary, moisture, and , instability in the...
event that lasted from May 3 until May 6, 1999 and brought violent storms to Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, and Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
. This article concentrates on the events on May 3, when 66 tornado
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
es broke out in Oklahoma and Kansas. The most significant tornado first touched down southwest of Chickasha, Oklahoma
Chickasha, Oklahoma
Chickasha is a city in and the county seat, business and employment center of Grady County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 15,850 at the 2000 census. Chickasha is home to the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma and hosts an annual Festival of Light celebration located at...
, and became an F5
Fujita scale
The Fujita scale , or Fujita-Pearson scale, is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation...
before dissipating over Midwest City, Oklahoma
Midwest City, Oklahoma
Midwest City is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 54,371, making it the eighth largest city in the state....
. The tornado tore through Bridge Creek, Oklahoma
Bridge Creek, Oklahoma
Bridge Creek is a town in Grady County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2006 US Census estimate, the town is estimated to have a total population of 340.-Geography:Bridge Creek is located at ....
, Oklahoma City
Oklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
, Moore
Moore, Oklahoma
Moore is a city in Cleveland County, Oklahoma and is part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area. The population was 55,081 at the 2010 census, making it the seventh largest city in the state of Oklahoma....
, Del City, Tinker Air Force Base
Tinker Air Force Base
Tinker Air Force Base is a major U.S. Air Force base, with tenant U.S. Navy and other Department of Defense missions, located in the southeast Oklahoma City, Oklahoma area, directly south of the suburb of Midwest City, Oklahoma.-Overview:...
and Midwest City, Oklahoma
Midwest City, Oklahoma
Midwest City is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 54,371, making it the eighth largest city in the state....
, causing $1.1 billion in damage. Forty-eight people perished during the outbreak
Tornado outbreak
While there is no single agreed upon definition, generally at least 6-10 tornadoes produced by the same synoptic scale weather system is considered a tornado outbreak. The tornadoes usually occur within the same day, or continue into the early morning hours of the succeeding day, and within the...
. This tornadic event ranks in severity with the Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1965. With a total of 66-74 tornadoes, it was the most prolific tornado outbreak in Oklahoma history, although not the deadliest.
Outbreak description
May 3, 1999 started sunny, warm, and humid across the affected region. The Storm Prediction CenterStorm Prediction Center
The Storm Prediction Center , located in Norman, Oklahoma, is tasked with forecasting the risk of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes in the contiguous United States. The agency issues convective outlooks, mesoscale discussions, and watches as a part of this process...
in Norman, Oklahoma
Norman, Oklahoma
Norman is a city in Cleveland County, Oklahoma, United States, and is located south of downtown Oklahoma City. It is part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, Norman was to have 110,925 full-time residents, making it the third-largest city in Oklahoma and the...
initially issued a "slight risk" for severe weather for most of the state of Oklahoma early that morning. By late morning the latest observations and forecasts began to indicate an increasing likelihood of widespread severe weather, and the SPC upgraded sections of the southern plains to "moderate risk." By 3 p.m. it had become evident that a widespread severe weather event was imminent. Parts of Oklahoma and Kansas were then further upgraded to "high risk". When a "high risk" is issued, this usually indicates the potential for a significant severe weather event, including damaging tornadoes. The SPC issued a tornado watch
Tornado watch
A tornado watch is issued when conditions are right for a tornado to form. Since any thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado is defined as severe, a tornado watch is also automatically a severe thunderstorm watch...
by mid-afternoon as conditions gathered together for what would be a historic tornado outbreak. By the afternoon the CAPE
Convective available potential energy
In meteorology, convective available potential energy , sometimes, simply, available potential energy , is the amount of energy a parcel of air would have if lifted a certain distance vertically through the atmosphere...
values reached nearly 6,000 J/kg over the region. Large supercell
Supercell
A supercell is a thunderstorm that is characterized by the presence of a mesocyclone: a deep, continuously-rotating updraft. For this reason, these storms are sometimes referred to as rotating thunderstorms...
thunderstorms developed and in the late afternoon through the mid-evening hours of that Monday, tornadoes began to break out across the state.
Confirmed tornadoes
(based on NOAA Storm Data)Path
Amber, Oklahoma
Amber is a town in Grady County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 490 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Amber is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all of it land....
and headed northeast, parallel to Interstate 44, just after another tornado had passed over the airport in Chickasha
Chickasha, Oklahoma
Chickasha is a city in and the county seat, business and employment center of Grady County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 15,850 at the 2000 census. Chickasha is home to the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma and hosts an annual Festival of Light celebration located at...
. The storm continued moving northeast, destroying the community of Bridge Creek
Bridge Creek, Oklahoma
Bridge Creek is a town in Grady County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2006 US Census estimate, the town is estimated to have a total population of 340.-Geography:Bridge Creek is located at ....
and crossing I-44 just north of Newcastle
Newcastle, Oklahoma
Newcastle is the largest city in McClain County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area. The population was 7,685 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Newcastle is located at ....
.
The tornado then crossed the Canadian River
Canadian River
The Canadian River is the longest tributary of the Arkansas River. It is about long, starting in Colorado and traveling through New Mexico, the Texas Panhandle, and most of Oklahoma....
, passing into far southern Oklahoma City. As it passed over Bridge Creek
Bridge Creek, Oklahoma
Bridge Creek is a town in Grady County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2006 US Census estimate, the town is estimated to have a total population of 340.-Geography:Bridge Creek is located at ....
, around 6:54 p.m., a Doppler On Wheels
Doppler On Wheels
Doppler On Wheels is a fleet of radar trucks maintained by the Center for Severe Weather Research led by Joshua Wurman, with the funding mainly provided by the National Science Foundation...
(DOW: Wurman et al. 1997, Wurman 2001) mobile Doppler weather radar
Weather radar
Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, estimate its type . Modern weather radars are mostly pulse-Doppler radars, capable of detecting the motion of rain droplets in addition to the...
detected winds of 301 mph (484 km/h), ±20 mph inside the tornado at a height of 32 m AGL (Wurman et al. 2007). These winds, however, occurred above the ground, and winds at the surface may not have been quite this intense. The tornado continued on into Moore and then passed over the intersection of Shields Boulevard and Interstate 35 and back into Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...
, crossing Interstate 240
Interstate 240 (Oklahoma)
Interstate 240 is an Interstate Highway in Oklahoma, USA, that runs 16.22 miles west from Interstate 40 to Interstate 44 in southern Oklahoma City. After its terminus in southwest Oklahoma City, the main I-240 roadbed becomes Interstate 44 and Airport Road toward Will Rogers World Airport...
near Bryant Avenue. The storm then turned more northerly, striking parts of Del City
Del City, Oklahoma
Del City is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. The population was 21,332 at the 2010 census....
and Tinker Air Force Base
Tinker Air Force Base
Tinker Air Force Base is a major U.S. Air Force base, with tenant U.S. Navy and other Department of Defense missions, located in the southeast Oklahoma City, Oklahoma area, directly south of the suburb of Midwest City, Oklahoma.-Overview:...
near Sooner Road as an F4 before diminishing over Midwest City and finally lifting near the intersection of Reno Avenue and Woodcrest Drive.
Casualties
Broadcast warnings
Warnings were issued well in advance of the tornado's arrival, and Oklahoma City broadcast media interrupted programming to follow the storms on radar and by helicopterHelicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
. The death toll would likely have been higher if people had not had advance warning. Following the storm, three of the local television stations in Oklahoma City: KFOR-TV
KFOR-TV
KFOR-TV, virtual channel 4 , is the NBC-affiliated television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. KFOR-TV is owned by Local TV, a subsidiary of the private equity group Oak Hill Capital Partners, in a duopoly with MyNetworkTV affiliate KAUT-TV ; its studios are located at 444 East Britton Road in...
(channel 4), KOCO-TV
KOCO-TV
KOCO-TV, virtual channel 5 , is the ABC affiliate in the Oklahoma City television market. The station is owned by Hearst Television, Inc., but uses "Ohio/Oklahoma Hearst Television, Inc." as their end tag during their newscasts, the same licensing purpose corporation as sister Cincinnati, Ohio...
(channel 5) and KWTV
KWTV
KWTV-DT, virtual channel 9 , is the CBS-affiliated television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; it is owned by Griffin Communications of Oklahoma City...
(channel 9) continued coverage of the damaging and deadly tornadoes through May 4. The three stations' chief meteorologists Mike Morgan
Mike Morgan (meteorologist)
Mike Morgan is a television meteorologist. Since January 1993, he has served as the evening chief meteorologist at KFOR-TV, the NBC-affiliated television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Morgan is a member of the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association...
, Rick Mitchell and Gary England
Gary England
-External links:* *...
received commendations from then-governor Frank Keating
Frank Keating
Francis Anthony "Frank" Keating is an American politician from Oklahoma. Keating served as the 25th Governor of Oklahoma. His first term began in 1995 and ended in 1999...
for their coverage of the outbreak.
Most metro area radio stations had simulcast coverage from the area's television stations: KFOR-TV's coverage was simulcast on Renda Broadcasting
Renda Broadcasting
Renda Broadcasting is a privately held Pittsburgh-based radio broadcasting company founded by chief executive, Tony Renda.Renda Broadcasting operates stations in Pennsylvania, Florida and Oklahoma.-Stations:Pittsburgh*WSHH 99.7 – Adult contemporary...
owned KMGL
KMGL
KMGL is an adult contemporary music formatted radio station serving the Oklahoma City area and is owned by Renda Broadcasting.-History:...
, KRXO
KRXO
KRXO is a classic rock radio station serving the Oklahoma City area and is owned by Renda Broadcasting. Its transmitter is located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.-History:...
, KOMA-AM
KOKC (AM)
KOKC is a talk radio station located in Oklahoma City among a cluster of stations in the market owned by Pennsylvania-based Renda Broadcasting. KOKC is an affiliate of the CBS Radio Network.-The early years:...
and KOMA-FM
KOMA-FM
KOMA is a Classic Hits format radio station located in Oklahoma City. It is among a cluster of stations in the market owned by Pennsylvania-based Renda Broadcasting.-92.5 history:...
; KOCO-TV's coverage was simulcast on Clear Channel
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
owned KQSR
KBRU
KBRU is a commercial radio station located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, broadcasting to the Oklahoma City area on 94.7 FM. KBRU airs a 80's Classic Rock format branded as "94.7 The Brew".-History:...
, KTST
KTST
KTST, is a country music station serving the Oklahoma City area and is owned by Clear Channel Communications. Its transmitter is located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.-History:...
and KJYO
KJYO
KJYO, known as "KJ 103", is a Top 40 radio station serving the Oklahoma City area and is owned by Clear Channel Communications. Its transmitter is located in Oklahoma City.-History:...
(KTOK
KTOK
KTOK is a radio station broadcasting a News Talk Information format. Licensed to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA, the station serves the Oklahoma City area. The station is owned by Clear Channel Broadcasting Licenses and features programing from ABC Radio, Premiere Radio Networks and Westwood One...
provided their own coverage but utilized KOCO
KOCO-TV
KOCO-TV, virtual channel 5 , is the ABC affiliate in the Oklahoma City television market. The station is owned by Hearst Television, Inc., but uses "Ohio/Oklahoma Hearst Television, Inc." as their end tag during their newscasts, the same licensing purpose corporation as sister Cincinnati, Ohio...
's coverage heavily) with Citadel
Citadel Broadcasting
Citadel Broadcasting Corporation was a Las Vegas, Nevada-based broadcast holding company. Citadel owned 243 radio stations across the United States and was the third-largest radio station owner in the country...
owned KATT, KYIS
KYIS
KYIS , known as "98-9 Kiss FM", is a Hot AC radio station serving the Oklahoma City area and is owned by Cumulus Media. KYIS-FM is located on 4045 NW 64th in Oklahoma City.-History:...
, WWLS-AM, WWLS-FM and KKWD
KKWD
KKWD, known as "WILD 104.9", is a Rhythmic Top 40 radio station serving the Oklahoma City area. The Cumulus Media outlet broadcasts at 104.9 MHz with an effective radiated power of 6 kW and is licensed to Bethany, Oklahoma....
simulcasting KOCO's coverage as well; and KWTV's coverage was simulcast on KXXY-FM
KXXY-FM
KXXY-FM is a country music formatted radio station serving the Oklahoma City area and is owned by Clear Channel Communications...
. It is highly likely that the Emergency Alert System
Emergency Alert System
The Emergency Alert System is a national warning system in the United States put into place on January 1, 1997, when it superseded the Emergency Broadcast System , which itself had superseded the CONELRAD System...
also broadcast warnings.
The Moore tornado also resulted in the National Weather Service issuing the first-ever Tornado Emergency
Tornado emergency
A Tornado Emergency is enhanced wording of tornado warnings used by the National Weather Service in the United States during significant tornado occurrences in highly populated areas...
, a severe weather statement used only in extreme cases where a violent tornado is about to impact a densely-populated area.
Impact
| State | Total | County | County total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas Kansas Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south... |
6 | Sedgwick Sedgwick County, Kansas Sedgwick County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. The county's population was 498,365 for the 2010 census. The largest city and county seat is Wichita. The county was named after General John Sedgwick... |
6 |
| Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state... |
40 | Cleveland Cleveland County, Oklahoma Cleveland County is a county in the central part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 255,755 at the 2010 census. Its county seat is Norman. Cleveland County is part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:... |
11 |
| Grady Grady County, Oklahoma Grady County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2006, the population was 50,490. Its county seat is Chickasha.Grady County is part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:... |
12 | ||
| Kingfisher Kingfisher County, Oklahoma Kingfisher County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 14,384. Its county seat is Kingfisher.-History:... |
1 | ||
| Logan Logan County, Oklahoma Logan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population as of 2009 was 39,301. Its county seat is Guthrie. Logan County is part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:... |
1 | ||
| McClain McClain County, Oklahoma McClain County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 27,740 at the 2000 census. Its county seat is Purcell. McClain County is part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is in the top 3 fastest growing counties in Oklahoma with a growth rate of... |
1 | ||
| Payne Payne County, Oklahoma Payne County is a county in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population as of 2010 was 77,350. Its county seat is Stillwater, and the county is named for Capt. David L. Payne... |
1 | ||
| Pottawatomie Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma Pottawatomie County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 65,521 as of the 2000 census. Its county seat is Shawnee... |
1 | ||
| Oklahoma Oklahoma County, Oklahoma Oklahoma County is a county located in the central partof the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 718,633 at the 2010 census. The county seat and principal city is Oklahoma City... |
12 | ||
| Tennessee Tennessee Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area... |
3 | Perry | 3 |
| Texas Texas Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in... |
1 | Titus Titus County, Texas As of the census of 2000, there were 28,118 people, 9,552 households, and 7,154 families residing in the county. The population density was 68 people per square mile . There were 10,675 housing units at an average density of 26 per square mile... |
1 |
| Totals | 50 | ||
| All deaths were tornado-related | |||
Overpass storm shelter deaths
Three of the deaths reported in the tornado were from people who took shelter underneath overpassOverpass
An overpass is a bridge, road, railway or similar structure that crosses over another road or railway...
es in the area of the path of the Moore-Bridge Creek F5 tornado. The deaths occurred at the 16th Street overpass over Interstate 44 in Newcastle (just east of Bridge Creek), at the Shields Boulevard overpass over Interstate 35 in Moore, and the overpass at mile marker 176.5 on Interstate 35 in rural northwestern Payne County
Payne County, Oklahoma
Payne County is a county in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population as of 2010 was 77,350. Its county seat is Stillwater, and the county is named for Capt. David L. Payne...
, west of Stillwater.
Fujita scale
This tornado's remarkable windWind
Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the sun through space, while planetary wind is the outgassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space...
speed (at the high extreme of the Fujita Scale
Fujita scale
The Fujita scale , or Fujita-Pearson scale, is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation...
's F5) led to much speculation that the scale would be modified to include an F6 category, due to the winds possibly exceeding 318 mph (512 km/h). This speculation ignored the fact that the Fujita scale measures damage rather than windspeed, since the scale was developed prior to the introduction of Doppler weather radar. Windspeed estimates associated with the different categories represent the speeds scientists believe are required to produce that damage rather than the windspeed in that particular storm. The damage caused by an F5-designated tornado leaves very little room for a higher category.
The tornado was the last official F5 to hit the United States with the old Fujita scale rating. The next category 5 tornado occurred on May 4, 2007 in Greensburg, Kansas
Greensburg, Kansas
Greensburg is a city in and the county seat of Kiowa County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 777. Greensburg is also home to the world's largest hand-dug well....
during the May 2007 Tornado Outbreak
May 2007 Tornado Outbreak
The May 2007 Tornado Outbreak was an extended tornado outbreak that started on May 4, 2007, affecting portions of the Central United States. The most destructive tornado in the outbreak occurred on the evening of May 4 in western Kansas, where about 95% of the city of Greensburg in Kiowa County was...
and killed 11 people. Since February 1, 2007 the National Weather Service
National Weather Service
The National Weather Service , once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States government...
has used the Enhanced Fujita Scale
Enhanced Fujita Scale
The Enhanced Fujita Scale rates the strength of tornadoes in the United States based on the damage they cause.Implemented in place of the Fujita scale introduced in 1971 by Ted Fujita, it began operational use on February 1, 2007. The scale has the same basic design as the original Fujita scale:...
to rate tornadoes, and the Greensburg tornado was recorded as the first EF5 tornado. This tornado, however, is not the last category 5 tornado to be rated on the Fujita scale, as Canada still uses the Fujita scale, and a tornado that occurred in Manitoba in June 2007 was rated an F5.
Other significant tornadoes
Stroud, Oklahoma
Stroud is a city in Creek and Lincoln counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 2,758 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Stroud is located at ....
(between Oklahoma City and Tulsa
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
) on Interstate 44, destroying the Tanger Outlet Mall. The mall has not been rebuilt. This tornado also destroyed the local hospital, as well as the Sigma Trucking terminal. While there were no fatalities in Stroud, the economic impact of the tornado has been compared to the loss of Tinker Air Force Base, General Motors, and a major regional hospital for the Stroud region as compared to Oklahoma City at that time. Approximately 800 jobs were lost in a community of approximately 3400. Stroud's recovery was later complicated by the 9/11 attacks, although the town today seems to be in recovery as a result of higher oil and gas prices. Local leading industries include Service King, an oilfield manufacturing facilty, and Mint Turbines, a helicopter engine reconditioning facitility. Stroud is also now a downloading facility for oil produced in the northern United States into the Cushing pipeline network.
An F4 tornado hit the town of Mulhall
Mulhall, Oklahoma
Mulhall is a town in Logan and Payne counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 239 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, north of Guthrie
Guthrie, Oklahoma
Guthrie is a city in and the county seat of Logan County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City Metroplex. The population was 9,925 at the 2000 census.Guthrie was the territorial and later the first state capital for Oklahoma...
, destroying most of the town and toppling the city's water tower
Water tower
A water tower or elevated water tower is a large elevated drinking water storage container constructed to hold a water supply at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system....
. This wedge tornado was very wide, at times exceeding a width of one mile (1.6 km). According to storm chaser
Storm chaser
Storm chaser can refer to:*Storm chasing, the pursuit of any severe weather condition*Storm Chaser, registered US Service Mark for Warren Faidley confirmed by the US Trademark Office as the first, full-time, professional storm chasing journalist...
Roger Edwards, it may have been as violent or more than the F5 Moore/Bridge Creek tornado. A Doppler On Wheels (DOW) mobile radar observed this tornado as it crossed Mulhall. The DOW documented the largest ever observed core flow circulation with a distance of 1600 m between peak velocities on either side of the tornado, and a roughly 7 km width of peak wind gusts exceeding 43 m/s, making the Mulhall tornado the largest tornado ever measured quantitatively. The DOW measured a complex multiple vortex structure with several multiple vortices containing winds of up to 115 m/s rotating around the tornado. The 3D structure of the tornado has been analyzed in Lee and Wurman 2005.
One of the final tornadoes in the outbreak nearly hit the studios of ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
affiliate KTUL
KTUL
KTUL, virtual channel 8, is the ABC-affiliated television station in Tulsa, Oklahoma, owned by Allbritton Communications Company. KTUL broadcasts from its studios on Lookout Mountain in west Tulsa...
-TV in Tulsa located on Lookout Mountain, a few miles west of the city, at around 12:15 a.m. CDT on May 4. Chief meteorologist Travis Meyer advised his co-workers to take shelter while he remained on the air reporting on the approaching tornado. It weakened before reaching the station.
The May 3 tornado event was part of a three-day event that included tornadoes in the states of Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
. A deadly tornado killed six people in Haysville
Haysville, Kansas
Haysville is a city in Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States. It is a suburb of Wichita. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,826.-History:...
and Wichita
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, the same day. Other fatalities during the event included one person killed in Texas on May 4, and four people killed in Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
on May 5–6.
Damage estimates
| Oklahoma and Cleveland Counties |
Other Counties | |
|---|---|---|
| Homes destroyed | 1,780 | 534 |
| Homes damaged | 6,550 | 878 |
| Businesses destroyed | 85 | 79 |
| Businesses damaged | 42 | 54 |
| Churches destroyed | 3 | 2 |
| Schools destroyed | 2 | |
| Public buildings destroyed | 4 | 7 |
| Apartments destroyed | 473 | 568 |
See also
- List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
- Climate of Oklahoma CityClimate of Oklahoma CityOklahoma City lies in a temperate Humid subtropical climate, with frequent variations in weather daily and seasonally, except during the consistently hot and humid summer months. Consistent winds, usually from the south or south-southeast during the summer, help temper the hotter weather....
- Ultimate TornadoUltimate TornadoUltimate Tornado is a documentary that first aired on the National Geographic Channel on April 12, 2006. It focuses on several unusually violent tornado events that have occurred in the United States: the Attica, Kansas tornado outbreak, the Pampa, Texas tornado, the Jarrell tornado outbreak and...
(documentary) - Oklahoma's Advance Tornado Warning Saves Lives (News article)
- Twister (1996 film)
External links
- May 3, 1999 Oklahoma Tornado Special Report - The Oklahoman
- Great Plains Outbreak of 1999 Tornado History Project
- The Great Plains Tornado Outbreak of May 3, 1999 (National Weather Service, Norman, Oklahoma)
- The 3 May 1999 Oklahoma Tornadoes (David Schultz, CIMMS)
- Google Maps' location of Stroud, Oklahoma, with the bulldozed lot of the former Tanger Outlet Mall in the upper left of the screen, just north of Interstate 44
- May 3 Oklahoma Tornado Special video section from KOCO-TVKOCO-TVKOCO-TV, virtual channel 5 , is the ABC affiliate in the Oklahoma City television market. The station is owned by Hearst Television, Inc., but uses "Ohio/Oklahoma Hearst Television, Inc." as their end tag during their newscasts, the same licensing purpose corporation as sister Cincinnati, Ohio...
- Moore, Oklahoma Tornado Photos, May 1999 Aerial Photos of Moore Oklahoma taken three days after the May 3, 1999 tornado