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Tornadoes in Oklahoma

Tornadoes in Oklahoma
Clockwise from top:
Tornadoes statewide>4,100[1]
Location of max. windspeeds321 mph (517 km/h)
Bridge Creek, Oklahoma F5 tornado
on May 3, 1999
Fatalities>1,707
Injuries>14,000
Deadliest single tornado116 deaths[2]
Woodward, Oklahoma F5 tornado
on April 9,1947
Worst year2024 (152 tornadoes)[3]

Several destructive tornadoes have hit the state of Oklahoma since 1882, the year with the first recorded tornado within state boundaries. Oklahoma, located in Tornado Alley, experiences around 68 tornadoes annually, with each EF3+ tornado killing an average of 2.9 people. 497 tornadoes have been classified as "intense" in Oklahoma, being rated F3+ on the Fujita Scale[note 1] or EF3+ on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. Oklahoma has seen thirteen F5 or EF5 tornadoes since 1905, the most recent hitting Moore in May 2013. The deadliest sliced through the Oklahoma panhandle in April 1947, hitting Woodward and killing at least 182 people.

Oklahoma was struck by several significant tornadoes prior to 1950, including an F5 tornado that hit Snyder and a large tornado that passed over Woodward and surrounding communities. The first tornado warning ever issued in the United States was sent out for the Tinker Air Force Base area on March 25, 1948, shortly before an F3 tornado hit the base. The 1950s were particularly devastating for Oklahoma, with 546 tornadoes killing a total of 154 people.[6] A large F5-rated tornado hit Blackwell in the early hours of May 26, 1955, and an F4 tornado killed seven people west of Stonewall in May 1959. Tornadoes in the 1960s were less damaging, with a total of 581 tornadoes touching down within state boundaries, killing 57 people. An F5 tornado moved through Prague and Sapulpa in May 1960, killing five people along a 71.8 mi (115.6 km) track. An F3 tornado hit downtown Oklahoma City five days earlier, inflicting $2.5 million (1960 USD)[7] in damages to the city and injuring 57 people.[6]

The 1970s, like the 1950s, was a particularly deadly decade for tornadoes in Oklahoma, with 433 tornadoes killing a combined total of 110 people.[6] The deadliest, rated F4, hit Wichita Falls, Texas before moving into Jefferson County on April 10, 1979. 42 people were killed by the tornado and a further 1,740 were injured. The majority of casualties took place along the tornado's track through Texas. Only 25 people were killed by tornadoes through the 1980s, eight of which were the result of an F3 tornado that moved through Morris on April 26, 1984. The strongest tornado was an F5 that moved through rural Choctaw and McCurtain counties, injuring 29.[6]

The 1990s were a significant decade for severe weather in Oklahoma, with over 55 people being killed by a total of 688 tornadoes.[6] The deadliest and most powerful devastated Bridge Creek, Moore and surrounding suburbs of Oklahoma City on May 3, 1999, where 41 people were killed. The tornado, which received an F5 rating, had the highest measured windspeeds ever recorded on Earth, at 321 miles per hour (517 km/h). The tornado inflicted a total of $1 billion (1999 USD)[8] in damage to the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, making it the second-costliest in Oklahoma history.[9] A large F4 tornado killed two people in Cimarron City and Mulhall on the same day; it was the largest tornado ever measured quantitatively.[10]

The 2000s were less significant, with 483 tornadoes killing a total of 32 people.[6] A large F4 tornado moved through southwestern Oklahoma City in May 2003, injuring 134 people. The first violent tornado to be rated on the Enhanced Fujita scale in Oklahoma hit the town of Picher on May 10, 2008, killing 21 people and inflicting an estimated $15,000,000 (2008 USD)[11] in damages to structures and farms along a 75.5 mi (121.5 km) spanning from Craig County in Oklahoma to Barry County in Missouri. The 2010s would mark a broad increase in the number of tornadoes that touched down annually, jumping from 103 in 2010 to 149 in 2019; the latter was the second-worst year for tornadoes in Oklahoma history, only behind 2024, which saw 152 tornadoes. The deadliest tornado of the decade would again hit Moore on May 20, 2013, killing 24 people and receiving a rating of EF5, making it the most recent tornado worldwide to top the Enhanced Fujita Scale as of January 2025. The tornado was the costliest in Oklahoma history and the third costliest in US history, leaving an estimated $2 billion (2013 USD) worth of damages in its wake.[12]

Tornadoes in Oklahoma have broken numerous national and worldwide records. Both the widest and most powerful tornadoes ever recorded occurred in Oklahoma. Two of the top ten costliest tornadoes in history have happened in Oklahoma and the state also has the most violent tornadoes out of any other state.[13] Tornadoes in Oklahoma have also been extensively featured in media; both 1996's Twister and 2024's Twisters take place primarily in Oklahoma.[14][15] Into the Storm and 13 Minutes, released in 2014 and 2021 respectively, are both set in fictional Oklahoman towns that were hit by tornadoes.[16]

  1. ^ "Monthly/Annual statistics for Tornadoes in Oklahoma (1950-Present)". National Weather Service. Retrieved 2025-01-26.
  2. ^ "Top Ten Deadliest Oklahoma Tornadoes (1882-Present)". National Weather Service. Retrieved 2025-01-26.
  3. ^ "2024 Oklahoma Tornadoes". National Weather Service. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
  4. ^ McCarthy, Daniel. "NWS Tornado Surveys and the Impact on the National Tornado" (PDF). www.spc.noaa.gov.
  5. ^ Grazulis, Thomas P. (July 1993). Significant Tornadoes 1680–1991. St. Johnsbury, Vermont: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films. ISBN 978-1-879362-03-1.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Oklahoma Event Report: F3 Tornado". National Weather Service. National Centers for Environmental Information. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  8. ^ "The Great Plains Tornado Outbreak of May 3–4, 1999: Storm A Information". National Weather Service Forecast Office, Norman, Oklahoma. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. May 22, 2013. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
  9. ^ "Top Ten Costliest Oklahoma Tornadoes (1950-Present)". National Weather Service. Retrieved 2025-01-24.
  10. ^ Wurman, Joshua; C. Alexander; P. Robinson; Y. Richardson (January 2007). "Low-Level Winds in Tornadoes and Potential Catastrophic Tornado Impacts in Urban Areas". Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. 88 (1). American Meteorological Society: 31–46. Bibcode:2007BAMS...88...31W. doi:10.1175/BAMS-88-1-31.
  11. ^ "EF4 tornado on May. 10, 2008 16:25 PM CDT". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 2025-01-24.
  12. ^ "10 Costliest U.S. Tornadoes". www.spc.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2025-01-27.
  13. ^ "These States Have Had the Most Violent Tornadoes Since 1950". The Weather Channel. Retrieved 2025-01-25.
  14. ^ McDonnell, Brandy. "Where was 'Twisters' filmed? Summer blockbuster puts Oklahoma locations in spotlight". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 2025-01-25.
  15. ^ Sharma, Dhruv (2022-08-03). "Twister (1996): Where Was the Movie Filmed?". The Cinemaholic. Retrieved 2025-01-25.
  16. ^ McDonnell, Brandy (October 29, 2021). "Twister's path: Oklahoma-made tornado movie '13 Minutes' stars Anne Heche, Amy Smart and more". The Oklahoman. Retrieved October 10, 2022.


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