This tornado developed about 2-3 miles southeast of the Frances school house (~3 miles south-southwest of Humphreys) in old Greer County (now Jackson County). Homes were swept away about 14 miles southeast of Altus. From its inception, this tornado moved east-northeast crossing the North Fork of the Red River near the mouth of Otter Creek. The tornado followed very close to Otter Creek curving to the northeast through what is now northern Tillman County (but was still part of Kiowa County at the time). Three people were killed about 6 miles southwest of Snyder. As the tornado continued to the northeast it struck the city of Snyder around 8:45 pm CST.

The tornado moved into the Snyder beginning in the southwest corner of the town, and destroyed or damaged homes and other buildings west of Main Street and from 6th Street northward through the city. No buildings north of the railroad were left standing. After moving through Snyder, the tornado continued to the northeast, destroying a couple of small residences within two miles of the townsite, then lifted about three miles northeast of Snyder.

* Current "official" numbers. ^# Path length is approximated and is based on research done by NWS Norman staff.

A violent tornado formed at the town of Vici at 11:00 pm CST on April 14, 1939 in northwestern Dewey County and moved to the northeast through the southeastern part of Vici, where it damaged 50 buildings. The twister then continued through rural parts of extreme northwestern Major County and southeastern Woodward County before tracking into Woods County. In Woods County the tornado moved along a path that was south of Waynoka, northwest of Hopeton and southeast of Alva before it struck the town of Capron at 12:15 am CST during the early morning of April 15, 1939.

After exiting Capron, the tornado continued to the northeast through extreme northwestern Alfalfa County and then dissipated near Kiowa, KS in southeastern Barber County just north of the Oklahoma-Kansas state line. The storm produced damage along a track that was about 73 miles long. It is possible that this event was comprised of a family of tornadoes from a parent supercell thunderstorm instead of being a single, long-track tornado.

Many farm homes and other buildings were destroyed in the rural areas near Waynoka, Hopeton and Alva, as well as the entire business section of Capron. Damage reached F5 intensity in an area 5 miles south of Waynoka where most of the fatalities occurred and farmhouses were completely swept away. At least one death in this area occurred when the tornado struck an automobile. In a case of unfortunate timing, the tornado and a train arrived simultaneously at Capron, and several railroad cars were derailed. The new brick school building in Capron was a total loss, and the southeast part of that town sustained heavy damage.

A total of 7 persons were killed and another 19 were injured by the tornado, with 15 of the injuries occurring in Capron. The damage caused by this storm was estimated at $104,000.

This violent tornado was part of an outbreak of devastating severe weather and flooding that occurred in Oklahoma on April 12-15, 1945, and was one of the 5 violent twisters that hit the state on April 12, 1945. The tornado touched down at 5:30 pm CST in about 5 miles southwest of Antlers near the Hall Community in Pushmataha County. The tornado moved to the northeast and struck Antlers, passing from the southwest corner of the town through the northeast portion. It produced a damage swath a half mile wide through both business and residential areas, and devastated about a third of the town. Some areas were swept completely clean of all debris. The tornado then continued for another 20+ miles, striking the One Creek area before dissipating near Nashoba, OK.

The tornado killed 69 persons and injured 353 more people. A total of 379 homes and 254 buildings were destroyed, and 200 more homes and buildings were damaged. Approximately 1500 people were made homeless by the tornado. Damage estimates were at $1.5 million. This tornado might have garnered more state and national media attention had it not occurred on the same day as the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The most deadly tornado to ever strike within the borders of the state of Oklahoma occurred on Wednesday, April 9, 1947 in the city of Woodward. The Woodward tornadic supercell thunderstorm began in the Texas Panhandle during the afternoon of April 9, 1947, and produced at least six tornadoes along a 220-mile path that stretched from White Deer, TX (northeast of Amarillo) to St. Leo, KS (west of Wichita). While it is still officially attributed to have traveled in a single long track through 3 states, work done by Tom Grazulis of the Tornado Project, and research scientist Don Burgess indicates that a separate tornado occurred near White Deer, TX, and 4 or more tornadoes occurred near the Oklahoma state line and into Kansas. In addition, the Woodward tornado may have begun closer to Pampa, TX, but there is no corroborating evidence to confirm a damage path in the area.

What is known is that the violent tornado that struck Woodward had a confirmed path that started 3 miles northwest of Canadian, TX. The tornado moved northeast, and continued on the ground continuously for about 98 miles, before ending in Woods County, Oklahoma about 10 miles west of Alva. The tornado was massive, up to 1.8 miles wide, and traveled at forward speeds of about 50 miles per hour. It first struck Glazier and Higgins in the Texas Panhandle, devastating both towns and producing at least 69 fatalities in Texas before crossing into Oklahoma. In Ellis County, Oklahoma, the tornado did not strike any towns, passing to the southeast of Shattuck, Gage, and Fargo. Even though no towns were struck, nearly 60 farms and ranches were destroyed and 8 people were killed with 42 more injured. Moving into Woodward County, one death was reported near Tangier.

The violent tornado (F5 on the Fujita Scale) unleashed its worst destruction on Woodward, striking the city without warning at 8:42 pm CST. Over 100 city blocks on the west and north sides of the city were destroyed with lesser damage in the southeast portion of the town. Confusion and fires reigned in the aftermath with over 1000 homes and businesses destroyed, at least 107 people killed in and around Woodward, and nearly 1000 additional injuries.

Normal communications between Woodward and the outside world were not restored for some time and there was great uncertainty as to victim status. In fact, the bodies of three children were never identified, and one child who survived the tornado was lost and never reunited with her family. Help for Woodward came from many places, including units from as far away as Oklahoma City and Wichita. Beyond Woodward, the tornado lost some intensity, but still destroyed 36 homes and injured 30 people in Woods County before it dissipated. The supercell thunderstorm would produce at least another 4 tornadoes near the Oklahoma State line and in southern Kansas.

In all, at least 116 lives were lost in Oklahoma on that fateful night with another 68 deaths occurring in Texas. Never before or since has a tornado been so costly to human life in the Sooner State. Another 782 people were in Oklahoma with 198 injuries occurring in Texas. Damages were estimated at $1.5 million in Texas and $8 million in Oklahoma. The tornado destroyed 507 structures and damaged 803 more in Oklahoma. A  total of 119 structures were destroyed and another 117 were damaged in Texas.

Because of the Woodward tornado and other devastating tornadoes in the late 1940's and early 1950's, and because of new technologies available after World War II, the Weather Bureau (now the National Weather Service) began a tornado watch and warning program in 1953. Since then, the warning system composed of the National Weather Service, local civil preparedness agencies, and the media has continued to mature and provide better and better information to citizens to help them protect themselves from tornadoes. Because of the strengths of the warning system, tornado death tolls in Oklahoma, and nationwide, have dropped considerably with each passing decade and, hopefully, will continue to decrease.

This violent tornado formed at 7:30 pm CST in rural eastern Roger Mills County about 15 miles west-southwest of Leedey, OK. The tornado unroofed the Three Corner School near its touchdown point before slowly moving east-northeast and crossing into Dewey County. The tornado then hit Leedey and slowly ground through the northern two-thirds of the town before dissipating 3 miles east-northeast of Leedey. The tornado was slow moving and highly visible, and Leedey residents had 30-45 minutes to take cover from the approaching storm. A warning sounded by siren and loud-speaker sent many of the city's residents, who were busy with Saturday evening shopping, into storm cellars well before the arrival of the tornado.

The twister took about 5 minutes to cut a swath a half mile wide through Leedey, and it destroyed 75 percent of the business district, including 20 buildings in a thirty-block area. Many homes and businesses were swept clean by the tornado, and several inches of top soil were vacuumed from the ground in some of the affected areas. A total of 147 homes were destroyed and another 200 or 300 homes were damaged. Seven people were killed by the tornado and 15 people were injured. These totals may have been much higher if the tornado had occurred undetected after dark. It is possible that the slow movement of the storm lent to the F5 appearance of the damage, and winds of less than F5 intensity may have been responsible for the worst damage.

This violent tornado initially touched down about 8 miles west of Marland around 9:00 pm CST. It caused some light damage as it moved almost due north into Kay County. The tornado passed to the east and northeast of Tonkawa and destroyed a few homes while its parent supercell storm also produced baseball-sized hail in Tonkawa.

The tornado continued north and moved through the east side of Blackwell at 9:27 pm CST, causing complete destruction in much of the east side of town. Nineteen people were killed in Blackwell, as well as one person to the northeast of Blackwell. Another 280 people were injured. Approximately 80 blocks in town were damaged or destroyed. The damage was massive with 500 homes damaged, 400 homes destroyed, 20 business establishments leveled, and 40 additional businesses were damaged. The tornado passed east of Braman, then turned to the north-northwest and dissipated to the southeast of South Haven, in south central Kansas. Damage to crops in the area was estimated at $15,000 and damage to other property was estimated at $8,000,000.

The supercell thunderstorm also produced another tornado that touched down about 4 miles north of Peckham that moved into Kansas, eventually killing 80 people in and near Udall, KS. Both the Blackwell tornado and Udall, KS tornadoes were rated F5, although the Udall tornado produced minimal damage in Oklahoma.

At about 10:00 pm CST, this tornado touched down in northern Kay County about 4 miles north of Peckham and then moved north into Kansas. No injuries or deaths were reported, and the tornado damage was minimal in Oklahoma. This tornado was produced by the same parent supercell thunderstorm that had generated the violent tornado that struck Blackwell, OK earlier that evening.

The tornado crossed the Kansas state line due south of Ashton, KS and moved northward across the extreme eastern part of Sumner County to near Oxford, passing along the west side of Geuda Springs. At 10:15 pm CST, the tornado was located five miles south of Oxford. As is moved northward, it swung eastward around the town of Oxford to a farm three miles north-northeast of Oxford where it took the lives of five children of one family.

At 10:30 pm CST, the tornado plowed into the town of Udall, KS which had population of 500 people in 1955. It almost completely destroyed the town, killing 75 of the inhabitants, causing major injuries to 165 persons, and less serious injuries to 105 others.

After exiting Udall, the storm was reported to have moved to the east-northeast, passing the town of Rock on the south and lifting just north of Atlanta. However, the damage east of Udall may have been caused by downburst winds. The main damage was along a path which varied in width from 1/4 to 1/2 mile. The path was irregular and indicated occasional swinging of the funnel as much as a mile on either side of a smoothed path.

Farm buildings and farm implements sustained heavy damage. No estimate was computed of the amount of crop damage left by this storm. Damage to other property was estimated at $2.225 million. This storm is still the deadliest tornado in Kansas history

*Although it is listed as a F5 tornado for Oklahoma, the F5 damage produced by this tornado occurred only in Kansas.

This violent tornado was initially observed as it formed in the North Canadian River bottomlands just south of the city of Shawnee. Several farmsteads and the Resthaven Cemetery were damaged or destroyed 2 miles east of Shawnee. Several more farmsteads were destroyed and general destruction occurred in the Econtuchka area. At least 14 farmsteads were destroyed between Prague and Paden at 5:27 pm CST. There was extensive destruction in the area.

The tornado was described as barrel as a huge, white, barrel-shaped cloud that stayed completely on the ground. Northeast of Prague, a million-dollar refinery received about $750,000 in damage. Several company homes were destroyed. Farmsteads were damaged and destroyed along the rest of the path.

Two people were killed and eleven injured in the Iron Post area south of Bristow. This tornado caused the most damage as it moved through the west and north portions of Sapulpa at 6:32 pm CST. Three persons were killed and 70 injured, and a total of 1000 people were made homeless.

There were about 300 homes destroyed or damaged. Of this, a total approximately 100 homes were completely destroyed with 100 more receiving heavy damage and another 100 homes incurring partial damage. A school and 2 churches were also destroyed, and trees and utilities were heavily damaged. The storm covered a 12-15 block area in Sapulpa.

The funnel lifted northeast of Sapulpa and was observed aloft over Tulsa at 7:00 pm CST. High winds destroyed a house in Tulsa and other general damage was reported. Large hail fell east and northeast of Shawnee, and some hail was observed near the entire path of the tornado.

This tornado touched down 4 miles east of Bokoshe and 0.75 miles north of OK State Highway 31 in Leflore County at 3:28 pm CST. It began moving to the northeast, crossing OK State Highway 59 about 2 miles south of the intersection of Highway 59 and OK State Highway 9. A local business structure and a mobile home were destroyed in this area.

The tornado then continued its northeast path and entered the southeast portion of Spiro. Great destruction occurred in this area, and railroad cars, trailer homes, houses and business buildings were destroyed.

The tornado then crossed State Highway 9 where additional homes were either damaged or demolished. A survey of the damage in this area indicated that the tornado reached F5 intensity after crossing State Highway 9 and entering the rural Murray Spur area east of Spiro. One man was killed, seven homes were destroyed, and one mobile home was demolished in the Murray Spur area.

The tornado then turned toward the east after crossing the Lock and Dam/Fort Coffey Road where 3 mobile homes were destroyed. The eastward movement continued for about 1 mile at which point the tornado crossed OK State Highway 9 for a second time. The tornado lifted about 3/10 of a mile east of the point where it had crossed State Highway 9 at 3:45 pm CST.

Along the total path of the tornado two people were killed and another 64 persons were injured. A total of 28 homes and 2 business buildings were destroyed. Another 63 homes and a vo-tech training center building sustained major damage. Approximately 20 cattle and 20 horses were killed by the storm. Many cars and farm vehicles were also destroyed. Eye witness claimed that 2 separate funnels occasionally traveled in close proximity to each other along the path.

A powerful, long, wide-tracked tornado touched down just south of Speer in Choctaw County and moved east-southeastward near Messer and across the Hugo Reservoir. It then moved nearly due east to just north of Valliant, to just south of Wright City and through Golden, It continued through the south tip of Broken Bow before eventually dissipating 4 miles southeast of Eagletown in McCurtain County, The total path length for this tornado was 53 miles, and it had a maximum width of 1.5 miles near Golden. The physical state of this tornado varied as it morphed between multiple vortex and solid funnel phases during its lifetime.

In the Messer area, a new house that was destroyed even had the carpet pulled up, and all that remained on the slab were the carpet tack strips. In addition, a 2'x4' board was driven through an oak tree in the area. The Tri-Night Motel sign of Broken Bow was found 30 miles away in Arkansas.

A total of 29 people were injured by the storm. Damages to real property estimated in excess of $7 million and losses for timber and other crops was in excess of $1 million. Approximately 30-40 houses and 30-40 large barns were destroyed. About 10-15 large chicken houses were also destroyed with significant losses of poultry occurring. A total of 5-10 trailer houses as well as a motel, lumber yard, church, airplane, farm equipment, vehicles, power lines, timber, etc. were also destroyed by the tornado.

This tornado was part of the April 2, 1982 tornado outbreak which produced 56 tornadoes in 11 states, killing 30 persons and injuring another 383 people. This was the only F5 Tornado that occurred in the 1980's in Oklahoma. A tornado damage path map shows the damage paths in southeastern Oklahoma and northeast Texas.

This violent, long-lived tornado was the most infamous of nearly 60 tornadoes that struck central Oklahoma during an unprecedented outbreak on the afternoon and evening of Monday, May 3, 1999. The tornado was the 9th of 14 tornadoes produced by a supercell thunderstorm during the tornado outbreak. It formed around 5:26 pm CST about 2 miles south-southwest of Amber, and grew rapidly to monstrous proportions as it headed NE, paralleling I-44. It moved across Bridge Creek and rural parts of northwest Newcastle, causing continuous F4 and sporadic F5 damage. The tornado was estimated to be a mile in diameter in this area.

It weakened to F2/F3 intensity and narrowed to less than 1/4 mile in width as it crossed I-44 and the Canadian River northeast of Newcastle and entered far south Oklahoma City SW of 149th and May Ave. around 6:12 pm CST. But it regained F4/F5 intensity and widened again to 1/2 to occasionally 3/4 mile as it moved northeast across south Oklahoma City, entering Moore just west and north of 12th and Santa Fe.

Still moving northeast and still producing F4 and occasional F5 damage, it crossed I-35 at the Shields Blvd. junction and moved into northeast Moore, at which point it weakened slightly to F3/sporadic F4 intensity and began a gradual turn to the left. This turn took the tornado more to the north-northeast as it crossed I-240 between Bryant Ave. and Sunnylane Road. It crossed southeastern Oklahoma City and entered Del City as an F4 tornado, width 1/3 to 1/2 mile, along SE 44th between Sunnylane and Sooner Roads, and continued north-northeast to the northwestern part of Tinker Air force Base, near SE 29th Street and Sooner Road.

Continuing to turn slowly, it moved almost due north but maintained F4 intensity as it crossed I-40 just east of Sooner Road and continued north to between SE 15th and Reno Ave. The tornado then weakened rapidly to F0/F1 intensity as it crossed Reno Avenue, and at 6:48 pm CST dissipated about 3 blocks north of Reno Avenue between Sooner Road and Air Depot Boulevard.

Totals from this tornado include 36 direct fatalities (12 in Bridge Creek, 1 in Newcastle, 9 in southern/southeastern Oklahoma City, 5 in Moore, 6 in Del City, and 3 in Midwest City), 5 indirect fatalities during or shortly after the tornado, 583 direct injuries, numerous indirect injuries (too many to count), 1800 homes destroyed, and 2500 homes damaged. The tornado was also the 118th tornado to strike the Oklahoma City area since 1890. Total damage was estimated at $1 billion.

This deadly, violent tornado was part of an outbreak of tornadoes on that occurred in parts of central and eastern Oklahoma as well as 5 other states in the central U.S. The tornado began very close to the Caddo/Canadian County border and quickly became a strong/violent tornado. The tornado destroyed numerous trees, many of which were debarked, before crossing U.S. Interstate Highway 40. Three people died in vehicles near the I-40 Calumet exit, and two other fatalities occurred just northeast of that location. Cars were thrown thousands of feet off the roadways. It is believed that the tornado reached its maximum intensity just after crossing I-40, and it was here that a mobile radar measured winds of greater than 210 mph just off the surface.

The tornado side-swiped the El Reno Oklahoma Mesonet station (located 5 miles west of El Reno) along its path, and the site measured wind gusts of 131 and 151 mph. From this location, the tornado continued northeast, narrowly missing the town of Piedmont. Widespread EF-3, occasional EF-4 damage occurred between El Reno and Piedmont. More widespread EF-4 damage was seen west and north of Piedmont. Especially hard hit was the Falcon Lake neighborhood, near the Kingfisher County border. Two children were killed at this location.

The tornado entered far southeast Kingfisher County before moving into Logan County. However, EF-3 damage occurred just over the Kingfisher County border, debarking trees and significantly damaging buildings. As the tornado continued northeast, the damage was mainly considered EF-2, with damage to mostly outbuildings and trees. The tornado then continued into Logan County.

The tornado moved into Logan County and resulted in two additional fatalities (both of whom were outside when the tornado struck) near Cashion. The tornado destroyed several manufactured homes (both double and single-wide) after entering Logan County. Large high-transmission line tresses collapsed. Trees were debarked with only stumps remaining. Several buildings had most of their exterior walls collapse, with only the inner walls remaining. EF-2 to occasionally EF-3 damage occurred as the tornado neared Guthrie. Luckily, most of the town of Guthrie was spared to the tornado as it moved west and then north of the center of the city. Finally, the tornado dissipated northeast of Guthrie with some minor tree damage. The tornado’s path total path length was 63 miles, and it was on the ground for nearly one hour and 45 minutes.

Note: This was the first Oklahoma tornado rated EF-5 since the Enhanced Fujita Scale was adopted by the National Weather Service in 2007.

The Newcastle-Oklahoma City-Moore tornado was first observed developing at 1:56 pm CST about one-half mile south of State Highway 37 in northwest Newcastle to the east of Rockwell Avenue. EF-4 damage occurred soon after the tornado moved northeast and crossed State Highway 37. The tornado continued to expand in size as it approached the Canadian River near Interstate Highway 44 and moved into Cleveland County at 2:04 pm CST. The tornado then turned more east and then east-northeast after crossing Interstate 44. Upper range EF-4 damage was again observed as it began to move into progressively higher density residential areas approaching May Avenue.

The center of the large tornado path passed near SW 149th Street and Western Avenue. After crossing Western Avenue, numerous buildings were destroyed and horses killed at Orr Family Farm. Two storage tanks estimated to weigh approximately 10 tons were lifted from Orr Family Farm and landed about one-half mile east. Moving east, the tornado destroyed much of Briarwood Elementary School, where the NWS storm survey team rated damage as EF-5. Despite the destruction of this elementary school during school hours, no fatalities occurred at the school.

As the tornado continued to move east and east-northeast, it moved through much more densely populated suburban neighborhoods of southwest Oklahoma City and Moore where violent destruction was widespread. The width of EF-4 and greater damage was up to 250 yards wide as the tornado moved through neighborhoods east of Western Avenue. The first two fatalities occurred in a house in the neighborhood just east of Briarwood Elementary, with another fatality in a house as the tornado approached Santa Fe Avenue.

After crossing Santa Fe Avenue, the tornado moved through more suburban neighborhoods and toward Plaza Towers Elementary School. Damage to the school was extensive and seven children were killed when a wall collapsed at the school. Nine other people were killed in eight different neighborhood homes within one-quarter mile of Plaza Towers Elementary, most occurring just south of the school.

The tornado turned northeast as it approached Telephone Road, made a loop near the intersection of Telephone Road and 4th Street, then moved southeast crossing the interstate. Three people were killed when a convenience store along Telephone Road was destroyed. Crossing Telephone Road, the tornado inflicted significant damage to the Moore Medical Center, a post office and numerous businesses along Telephone Road and U.S. Interstate Highway I-35.

Although the tornado was narrower after crossing I-35, it continued to produce EF-4 damage in neighborhoods east of the interstate as it curved east and then again east-northeast. One fatality occurred at a business just east of the interstate, and one final fatality occurred in a home between Eastern Avenue and Bryant Avenue. Consistent EF-4 damage continued until the tornado passed SE 4th Street just east of Bryant Avenue.

Moving east from Bryant, the tornado continued to produce EF-2 damage with isolated EF-4 damage noted. The density of housing also decreased east of Bryant as the tornado moved east and east-northeast before dissipating at 2:35 pm CST east of Air Depot Blvd. between SE 119th Street and SE 134th Street in southeast Oklahoma City.

Overall, over 300 homes experienced EF-4/EF5 damage along the tornado path.