Portal:Tornadoes
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The Tornadoes Portal
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The 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado was a large, long-lived and exceptionally powerful F5 tornado in which the highest wind speeds ever measured globally were recorded at 135 metres per second (302 mph; 486 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. 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 -
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2024 tornado activity
Tornado anniversaries
May 24
- 1973 – A highly-visible F4 tornado hit Union City, Oklahoma, killing two people. This was one of the intensely studied tornadoes in scientific history. For the first time, Doppler weather radar detected the circulation of the tornado before it touched down, a significant advancement in tornado forecasting. This was also the first time that scientists had documented the entire life cycle of a tornado in detail.
- 2011 – An extremely intense EF5 tornado passed near El Reno and Piedmont, Oklahoma, killing nine people and injuring 181. Mobile Doppler radar recorded wind speeds of up to 295 miles per hour (475 km/h). A tanker truck was thrown a mile (1.6 km) and a 1.9-million-pound (860,000 kg) oil rig was rolled three times. Two high-end EF4 tornadoes passed near Blanchard and Washington, Oklahoma. The Blanchard tornado may also have reached EF5 intensity.
May 25
- 1896 – An F5 tornado killed 47 people as it devastated areas in and near Ortonville, Oakwood, and Thomas, Michigan. Entire families were killed, including nine people in one home in Ortonville. Trees were stripped of bark "even to the twigs" and debris was carried up to 12 miles (19 km). Other tornadoes killed 10 people across Illinois and Michigan.
- 1955 – Part of a larger outbreak, a single supercell spawned two F5 tornadoes in succession. The first destroyed 400 homes, many of which were swept away, in Blackwell, Oklahoma, killing 20 people and injuring 280. The second, the deadliest tornado in Kansas history, destroyed the southern half of Udall, killing 80 people and injuring 270, accounting for more than half the town's population. The death toll included five children in a farmhouse near Oxford, Kansas. An F4 tornado killed two people near Cheyenne, Oklahoma.
- 2008 – The second tornado to be rated EF5 on the new Enhanced Fujita scale tore through Parkersburg and New Hartford, Iowa, killing nine people and injuring 70. Debris from homes was granulated to the size of coins.
May 26
- 1917 – One of the deadliest events of a larger outbreak sequence, a catastrophic tornado family moved across parts of Illinois and Indiana. It was previously cited as the longest recorded track of a single tornado at 293 miles (472 km). The deadliest member of this family, which itself may have been three or more tornadoes, killed 101 people and injured more than 600. The tornado destroyed almost every building in northern Mattoon, Illinois, where 53 people were killed, and another 38 died in the devastation of Charleston.
- 1924 – A significant tornado outbreak resulted in 38 deaths across Mississippi and Alabama, with multiple deaths in several families. One tornado family killed nine people in Collins, Mississippi and Brewer, Mississippi, including seven in one home. An F3 tornado killed ten people near Bay Springs and Increase, Mississippi, including another 7 in one family. An brief but devastating F3 tornado killed eight people in a poorly-built home near Elkmont, Alabama, all in one family. Deadly tornadoes continued into the early morning of May 27 with another 15 deaths. Eleven of these deaths, eight of which were in one family, were from an F3 tornado that hit small communities near Empire, Alabama.
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 -
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High-end EF4 damage to a house in Bremen (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
Radar 3D volume scan of the supercell showing debris lofted over 30,000 feet (9.1 km) in the air as the tornado struck Mayfield (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
A multi-ton freight car that was thrown from the tracks in Barnsley (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
Trees that were completely debarked and denuded near Buckeye, Arkansas. (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021) -
A satellite view of the extratropical cyclone that was responsible for the tornado outbreak on December 11. (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021) -
High-end EF3 damage to homes in the Creekwood subdivision in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Numerous fatalities occurred in this area. (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021) -
Low-end EF4 damage to a business in downtown Cayce (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
Derecho moving across eastern Nebraska and western Iowa (from December 2021 Midwest derecho and tornado outbreak) -
Aerial view of EF4 damage in Mayfield the day after the tornado (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
Major structural damage to a house near Hartford (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
Radar collage of a supercell that spawned a tornado family during the outbreak (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021) -
Widespread devastation in a residential area of Dawson Springs (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
Debris and destroyed homes along Alexander Street in Dawson Springs (from 2021 Western Kentucky tornado) -
A liquor store that was destroyed in the western part of Bowling Green, Kentucky. (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021) -
EF3 damage to businesses in downtown Dresden, Tennessee. (from Tornado outbreak of December 10–11, 2021)
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Featured Article or List -
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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The scope of WikiProject Severe weather is to write articles about severe weather, namely thunderstorms and tornadoes. Their talk page is located here.
WikiProject Weather is the main hub for all articles that are weather-related. WikiProject Weather strives to improve articles in a variety of weather topics, including Tropical Cyclones, Severe Weather, General meteorology, Non-tropical Storms, Climate, Floods, Droughts and wildfires, Meteorological instruments and data, Meteorological Biographies, and Space Weather. If you would like to help, please visit the project talk page.
WikiProject Meteorology is a collaborative effort by dozens of Wikipedians to improve the quality of meteorology- and weather-related articles. If you would like to help, visit the project talk page, and see what needs doing. The project is currently being merged into WikiProject Weather.
WikiProject Tropical cyclones is a daughter project of WikiProject meteorology. The dozens of semi-active members and several full-time members focus on improving Wikipedia's coverage of tropical cyclones.
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