Tornadoes in Oklahoma, March 13, 1953

Name: Tornadoes in Oklahoma, March 13, 1953
Start: 1953-03-13T17:15
End: 1953-03-13T22:00
Location: Oklahoma

March 13, 1953 · 7 events in 6 counties and zones

7 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 3
Injuries: 22
Property damage: $580,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

Event by event

7 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Grady

When: March 13, 5:15 PM CST
Where: Grady County
Rating: F2
Path length: 23.6 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 34.770, -97.950

Tornado, Grady

When: March 13, 6:19 PM CST
Where: Grady County
Rating: F3
Path length: 1 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 8 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 34.880, -97.700

Tornado, McClain

When: March 13, 6:45 PM CST
Where: McClain County
Rating: F2
Path length: 2 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Injuries: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 35.070, -97.480

Tornado, Cleveland

When: March 13, 7:30 PM CST
Where: Cleveland County
Rating: F2
Path length: 1.3 mi
Path width: 250 yd
Property damage: $3,000
Coordinates: 35.180, -97.250

Tornado, Love

When: March 13, 7:30 PM CST
Where: Love County
Rating: F3
Path length: 25.8 mi
Path width: 200 yd
Deaths: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 11 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 33.920, -97.270

Tornado, Carter

When: March 13, 7:30 PM CST
Where: Carter County
Rating: F3
Path length: 19.5 mi
Path width: 33 yd
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 34.180, -96.950

Tornado, Le Flore

When: March 13, 10:00 PM CST
Where: Le Flore County
Rating: F2
Path width: 100 yd
Property damage: $3,000
Coordinates: 35.000, -94.530

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Tornado, Grady	1953-03-13				Direct

What these are

Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Tornadoes in Texas, March 13, 195317 deaths · 25 injured · $5.0 million · F4 · 2 events

Every storm in Oklahoma in 1953 Every state in 1953 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Oklahoma, 1953

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 10099775, 10099776, 10099777, 10099778, 10099779, 10099780, 10099781.