Portal:Tornadoes
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The Tornadoes Portal
Selected tornado article -
The 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado (locally referred to as the May 3 tornado) was a large and exceptionally powerful F5 tornado in which the highest wind speeds ever measured globally were recorded at 301 ± 20 miles per hour (484 ± 32 km/h) by a Doppler on Wheels (DOW) radar. Considered the strongest tornado ever recorded to have affected the metropolitan area, the tornado while near peak intensity devastated southern portions of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, along with surrounding suburbs and towns to the south and southwest of the city during the early evening of Monday, May 3, 1999. Due to the unavailability of direct measurements and remotely sensed tornado wind speeds at ground level, damage surveying has been the primary approach for estimating tornado strength. Tornado outbreaks in the United States have serious consequences for people's lives and properties. Tornado outbreaks are sequences of six or more tornadoes rated F1 or greater on the Fujita scale or EF1 or greater on the Enhanced Fujita scale that occur in close succession.
Parts of Bridge Creek were rendered unrecognizable. The tornado covered 38 miles (61 km) during its 85-minute existence, destroying thousands of homes, killing 36 people (plus an additional five indirectly), and leaving US$1 billion (1999 USD) in damage, ranking it as the fifth-costliest on record not accounting for inflation. Its severity prompted the first-ever use of the tornado emergency statement by the National Weather Service.The tornado first touched down at 6:23 p.m. Central Daylight Time (CDT) in Grady County, roughly two miles (3.2 km) south-southwest of the town of Amber. It quickly intensified into a violent F4, and gradually reached F5 status after traveling 6.5 miles (10.5 km), at which time it struck the town of Bridge Creek. It fluctuated in strength, ranging from F2 to F5 status before it crossed into Cleveland County where it reached F5 intensity for a third time shortly before entering the city of Moore. By 7:30 p.m., the tornado crossed into Oklahoma County and battered southeastern Oklahoma City, Del City, and Midwest City before dissipating around 7:48 p.m. just outside Midwest City. A total of 8,132 homes, 1,041 apartments, 260 businesses, eleven public buildings, and seven churches were damaged or destroyed. (Full article...)
Selected tornado list -
The tornado outbreak of March 28–31, 2007, also known as the Late-March 2007 tornado outbreak, was a tornado outbreak that took place across the central United States. It developed in the High Plains from South Dakota to central Texas on March 28, 2007, which produced most of the tornadoes. Several more tornadoes were reported the next three days before the system weakened on March 31. It affected western Nebraska, western Kansas, extreme eastern Colorado, and much of Oklahoma, and Texas. It was the second major outbreak of 2007, four weeks after an outbreak farther east. The outbreak produced 80 confirmed tornadoes, with five deaths and extensive damage being reported. In addition to the tornadoes, widespread hail as large as softballs and destructive straight-line winds as strong as 90 mph (140 km/h) were reported.
The activity level was very uncertain for March 29, as it was conditional on the dry line refiring. Despite the squall line remaining intact, several more tornadoes developed. Several more tornadoes developed on March 30 and 31 before the system weakened. (Full article...)Selected image -
Selected tornado year -
This page documents the tornadoes and tornado outbreaks of 1958, primarily in the United States. Most tornadoes form in the U.S., although some events may take place internationally. Tornado statistics for older years like this often appear significantly lower than modern years due to fewer reports or confirmed tornadoes.
(Full article...)Related portals
Recent tornado outbreaks
Recent tornado outbreaks
July
- July 1
- A violent EF4 tornado hits Mountain View County, Alberta, Canada, becoming only the third EF4 tornado in the province's history. (Northern Tornadoes Project)
- July 12–13
- Several tornadoes occur in the Midwestern United States and Central Canada, including an EF1 tornado that passed through the suburbs of Chicago. (NWSChicago)
- July 16
- A rare EF1 tornado touches down in Aguada, Puerto Rico, significantly damaging two houses. (Iowa State University)
Tornado anniversaries
April 26
- 1884 – A photographer in Garnett, Kansas took a picture of a tornado as it dissipated, marking the first time the funnel of a tornado had been photographed.
- 1989 – The Daulatpur–Saturia tornado, the deadliest tornado ever recorded, struck the Manikganj District of Bangladesh, killing an estimated 1,300 people.
- 1991 – A significant tornado outbreak hit the central United States. An F5 tornado tore through the Wichita, Kansas metropolitan area, hitting McConnell Air Force Base and causing its worst damage in Andover, resulting in 17 deaths and 225 injuries. Another 4 people were killed by other tornadoes in Oklahoma and Kansas.
April 27
- 1942 – An F4 tornado destroyed about a third of Pryor, Oklahoma, killing 52 people. Many of the homes destroyed had been hastily built during the town's wartime expansion.
- 2011 – The peak of the 2011 Super Outbreak saw 216 tornadoes produced in 24 hours across the Southeastern United States. Four EF5s and eleven EF4s were among the tornadoes that devastated parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia. The death toll on April 27 was 319. For the entire outbreak, 360 tornadoes occurred over four days, resulting in 324 fatalities.
April 28
- 1893 – An F4 tornado severely damaged or destroyed every building in Cisco, Texas, killing at least 23 people. Half of the town's population was left with no shelter of any kind and 43 of the 45 businesses in town were destroyed. An entire train was thrown 80–200 feet (24–61 m) from the tracks.
- 1950 – Strong tornadoes killed 11 people in Oklahoma and Texas. Five died as an F4 tornado swept away two homes near Clyde, Texas. A refrigerator was carried half a mile (0.8 km) and stuck on top of a telephone pole. Another F4 tornado killed five people as it devastated Holdenville, Oklahoma. One other person died near Lone Wolf, Oklahoma.
- 2002 – Part of a larger outbreak, a rare F4 tornado hit La Plata, Maryland, killing three people and inuring more than 100. The tornado was initially rated F5, but it was downgraded after the swept-away houses were found to have been very poorly anchored. A report on this tornado led to the creation of a "Quick Response Team" for assessing damage from potential F4 and F5 tornadoes.
Did you know…
- ...that the 2013 Moore tornado that struck Moore and Newcastle, Oklahoma, is the most recent EF5 tornado?
- ...that the 2021 South Moravia tornado, an IF4 tornado with winds between 207–260 mph (333–418 km/h), was the strongest tornado to hit the Czech Republic in modern history?
General images -
The 1999 Sydney hailstorm was the costliest natural disaster in Australian insurance history, causing extensive damage along the east coast of New South Wales. The storm developed south of Sydney on the afternoon of Wednesday, 14 April 1999, and struck the city's eastern suburbs, including the central business district, later that evening.
The storm dropped an estimated 500,000 tonnes of hailstones in its path. The insured damage bill caused by the storm was over A$1.7 billion (equivalent to $3.8 billion in 2022), with the total bill (including uninsured damage) estimated to be around $2.3 billion. It was the costliest single natural disaster in Australian history in insured damage, surpassing the $1.1 billion in insured damage caused by the 1989 Newcastle earthquake. Lightning also claimed one life during the storm, and the event caused approximately 50 injuries. (Full article...)Topics
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