Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, August 22, 1997

Name: Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, August 22, 1997
Start: 1997-08-22T00:45
End: 1997-08-22T06:45
Location: Oklahoma

August 22, 1997 · NWS OUN · 43 events in 20 counties and zones

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: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $253,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 43

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS OUN wrote it up.

Summary of events of the very early morning hours of August 22, 1997:A cluster of severe thunderstorms moved rapidly south out of southern Kansas and into northern Oklahoma shortly after midnight (CST) on the 22nd. The storms moved almost due south across the western portions of Oklahoma during the early morning hours, leaving a trail of severe wind damage in their wake. The highest measured wind speed reached 84 mph, measured at the Oklahoma Mesonet site near Bessie in Washita County. Reports of tree, limb, fence, sign, and power line damage were common, stretching from Harper to Kay County along the Oklahoma/Kansas border and then southward across the state to as far south as Tillman and Carter Counties in extreme southern Oklahoma. Structural wind damage was reported near Cherokee in Alfalfa County, in Laverne and May in Harper County, in Woodward in Woodward County, in Carnegie, Cyril, and Fort Cobb in Caddo County, in Fort Sill in Comanche County, in Chickasha in Grady County, and near Wilson in Carter County.See preceding individual Storm Data entries for further details and additional reports.

The radar

The Vance AFB radar (KVNX), 34 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 06:47 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

43 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Alfalfa

When: August 22, 12:45 AM CST
Where: Alfalfa County, 2 mi W of Burlington
Property damage: $10
Coordinates: 36.900, -98.450

Tree limbs up to six inches in diameter were blown from trees.

Thunderstorm Wind, Grant

When: August 22, 12:50 AM CST
Where: Grant County, 12 mi NW of Medford
Property damage: $10
Coordinates: 36.930, -97.880

Tree limbs up to three inches in diameter were blown from trees.

Thunderstorm Wind, Woods

When: August 22, 1:15 AM CST
Where: Woods County, Alva
Property damage: $10
Coordinates: 36.800, -98.670

Tree limbs up to four inches in diameter were blown from trees.

Thunderstorm Wind, Woods

When: August 22, 1:30 AM CST
Where: Woods County, Alva
Property damage: $10
Coordinates: 36.800, -98.670

Tree limbs up to ten inches in diameter were blown from trees.

Thunderstorm Wind, Alfalfa

When: August 22, 1:45 AM CST
Where: Alfalfa County, 7 mi WNW of Cherokee
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Property damage: $10,000
Coordinates: 36.780, -98.470

Severe winds estimated at 60 mph ahead of a thunderstorm overturned an empty cattle tractor trailer.

Thunderstorm Wind, Kay

When: August 22, 1:57 AM CST
Where: Kay County, Ponca City Arpt
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Coordinates: 36.730, -97.100

measured at the Ponca City airport

Thunderstorm Wind, Harper

When: August 22, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Harper County, Laverne
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph)
Property damage: $500
Coordinates: 36.720, -99.900

Power lines and tree limbs up to six inches in diameter were blown down. Part of a roof was blown off of a building.

Thunderstorm Wind, Alfalfa

When: August 22, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Alfalfa County, Goltry
Property damage: $10
Coordinates: 36.530, -98.150

Tree limbs up to four inches in diameter were blown from trees.

Thunderstorm Wind, Major

When: August 22, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Major County, Isabella
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph)
Property damage: $10
Coordinates: 36.230, -98.330

Tree limbs were blown from trees.

Thunderstorm Wind, Major

When: August 22, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Major County, 3 mi S of Isabella
Property damage: $100
Coordinates: 36.180, -98.330

Trees and limbs up to one foot in diameter were blown down.

Thunderstorm Wind, Harper

When: August 22, 2:15 AM CST
Where: Harper County, May
Property damage: $2,000
Coordinates: 36.620, -99.730

A power tower and power lines were blown down.

Thunderstorm Wind, Woods

When: August 22, 2:15 AM CST
Where: Woods County, 8 mi NE of Lookout
Property damage: $10
Coordinates: 37.030, -99.170

Tree limbs up to six inches in diameter were blown from trees.

Thunderstorm Wind, Woodward

When: August 22, 2:15 AM CST
Where: Woodward County, Woodward
Property damage: $75,000
Coordinates: 36.430, -99.400

A roof was blown off of an apartment building.

Thunderstorm Wind, Noble

When: August 22, 2:30 AM CST
Where: Noble County, Perry
Property damage: $10
Coordinates: 36.300, -97.280

Tree limbs up to six inches in diameter were blown from trees.

Thunderstorm Wind, Dewey

When: August 22, 2:45 AM CST
Where: Dewey County, 4 mi WNW of Camargo
Measured: 62 kt (71 mph)
Coordinates: 36.030, -99.350

measured at the Oklahoma Mesonet site

Thunderstorm Wind, Dewey

When: August 22, 3:00 AM CST
Where: Dewey County, 3 mi N of Putnam
Measured: 54 kt (62 mph)
Coordinates: 35.900, -98.970

measured at the Oklahoma Mesonet site

Thunderstorm Wind, Custer

When: August 22, 3:10 AM CST
Where: Custer County, Weatherford
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 35.530, -98.720

Severe thunderstorm winds downed limbs, trees, fences, and several signs.

Thunderstorm Wind, Custer

When: August 22, 3:30 AM CST
Where: Custer County, 4 mi WSW of Weatherford
Measured: 58 kt (67 mph)
Coordinates: 35.520, -98.780

measured at the Oklahoma Mesonet site

Thunderstorm Wind, Washita

When: August 22, 3:35 AM CST
Where: Washita County, 4 mi WNW of Bessie
Measured: 73 kt (84 mph)
Coordinates: 35.400, -99.050

measured at the Oklahoma Mesonet site

Thunderstorm Wind, Washita

When: August 22, 3:40 AM CST
Where: Washita County, 4 mi WNW of Bessie
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Coordinates: 35.400, -99.050

measured at the Oklahoma Mesonet site

Thunderstorm Wind, Washita

When: August 22, 3:45 AM CST
Where: Washita County, 1 mi W of Cordell
Property damage: $500
Coordinates: 35.300, -99.000

Severe thunderstorm winds snapped power poles along Hwy 152.

Thunderstorm Wind, Kiowa

When: August 22, 4:09 AM CST
Where: Kiowa County, Hobart
Measured: 51 kt (59 mph)
Coordinates: 35.020, -99.100

Thunderstorm Wind, Caddo

When: August 22, 4:10 AM CST
Where: Caddo County, 4 mi NNW of Ft Cobb
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph)
Coordinates: 35.250, -98.380

measured at the Oklahoma Mesonet site

Thunderstorm Wind, Caddo

When: August 22, 4:15 AM CST
Where: Caddo County, Ft Cobb
Property damage: $12,000
Coordinates: 35.100, -98.430

Severe thunderstorm winds snapped trees and large limbs and turned a large storage building on its side.

Thunderstorm Wind, Caddo

When: August 22, 4:15 AM CST
Where: Caddo County, Carnegie
Property damage: $50,000
Coordinates: 35.100, -98.600

Severe thunderstorm winds removed part of the roof from a junior high school, tossed an irrigation system across a field, snapped utility poles, and severely damaged a business.

Thunderstorm Wind, Caddo

When: August 22, 4:20 AM CST
Where: Caddo County, Anadarko
Property damage: $1,000
Coordinates: 35.070, -98.250

Severe thunderstorm winds uprooted trees, snapped large limbs, and tossed a trampoline onto a truck windshield.

Thunderstorm Wind, Comanche

When: August 22, 4:30 AM CST
Where: Comanche County, Lawton
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 34.620, -98.400

Severe thunderstorm winds downed power lines, limbs, and trees throughout Lawton and Fort Sill. Windows were also blown out on Fort Sill.

Thunderstorm Wind, Caddo

When: August 22, 4:30 AM CST
Where: Caddo County, Cyril
Property damage: $1,000
Coordinates: 34.880, -98.200

Severe thunderstorm winds knocked down 3/4 of a brick wall at an elementary school.

Thunderstorm Wind, Comanche

When: August 22, 4:40 AM CST
Where: Comanche County, 3 mi W of Medicine Park
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Coordinates: 34.730, -98.550

measured at the Oklahoma Mesonet site

Thunderstorm Wind, Comanche

When: August 22, 4:45 AM CST
Where: Comanche County, 3 mi W of Medicine Park
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Coordinates: 34.730, -98.550

measured at the Oklahoma Mesonet site

Thunderstorm Wind, Comanche

When: August 22, 4:55 AM CST
Where: Comanche County, 3 mi W of Medicine Park
Measured: 53 kt (61 mph)
Coordinates: 34.730, -98.550

measured at the Oklahoma Mesonet site

Thunderstorm Wind, Grady

When: August 22, 5:00 AM CST
Where: Grady County, 2 mi NNW of Ninnekah
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Coordinates: 34.980, -97.930

measured at the Oklahoma Mesonet site

Thunderstorm Wind, Grady

When: August 22, 5:00 AM CST
Where: Grady County, 4 mi WNW of Rush Spgs
Measured: 67 kt (77 mph)
Coordinates: 35.050, -97.950

measured at the Oklahoma Mesonet site

Thunderstorm Wind, Comanche

When: August 22, 5:11 AM CST
Where: Comanche County, Lawton
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph)
Coordinates: 34.620, -98.400

Thunderstorm Wind, Grady

When: August 22, 5:15 AM CST
Where: Grady County, 4 mi WNW of Rush Spgs
Measured: 54 kt (62 mph)
Coordinates: 35.050, -97.950

measured at the Oklahoma Mesonet site

Thunderstorm Wind, Grady

When: August 22, 5:20 AM CST
Where: Grady County, Chickasha
Property damage: $50,000
Coordinates: 35.050, -97.950

Severe thunderstorm winds blew 2/3 of the roof off a convenience store, flipped a travel trailer onto a car, lifted another trailer and blew it onto a fence, and blew the roofs off several barns.

Thunderstorm Wind, Stephens

When: August 22, 5:22 AM CST
Where: Stephens County, 1 mi NE of Marlow
Measured: 65 kt (75 mph)
Coordinates: 34.670, -97.930

Thunderstorm Wind, Stephens

When: August 22, 5:30 AM CST
Where: Stephens County, Marlow
Property damage: $500
Coordinates: 34.650, -97.950

Trees and power lines were blown down.

Thunderstorm Wind, Tillman

When: August 22, 5:30 AM CST
Where: Tillman County, Grandfield
Property damage: $10
Coordinates: 34.230, -98.680

Severe thunderstorm winds downed tree limbs.

Thunderstorm Wind, Stephens

When: August 22, 5:38 AM CST
Where: Stephens County, 1 mi NE of Marlow
Measured: 65 kt (75 mph)
Coordinates: 34.670, -97.930

Thunderstorm Wind, Garvin

When: August 22, 5:55 AM CST
Where: Garvin County, 4 mi SW of Lindsay
Property damage: $10
Coordinates: 34.800, -97.650

Tree limbs up to four inches in diameter were blown from trees.

Thunderstorm Wind, Jefferson

When: August 22, 6:10 AM CST
Where: Jefferson County, 1 mi N of Ringling
Measured: 54 kt (62 mph)
Coordinates: 34.200, -97.580

measured at the Oklahoma Mesonet site

Thunderstorm Wind, Carter

When: August 22, 6:45 AM CST
Where: Carter County, 5 mi SW of Wilson
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph)
Coordinates: 34.120, -97.480

Winds blew over a swingset and blew tree limbs up to two inches in diameter from trees. Shingles were also blown off of homes.

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Oklahoma in 1997 Every state in 1997 This day in weather history Warnings in Oklahoma, August 1997

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: 5622647, 5622648, 5622642, 5622643, 5622655, 5622638, 5622644, 5622649, 5622650, 5622651, 5622645, 5622652, 5622736, 5622646, 5622636, 5622637, 5622656, 5622639, 5622640, 5622641, 5622657, 5622579, 5622728, 5622659, 5622660, 5622661, 5622658, 5622753, 5622729, 5622730, 5622733, 5622731, 5622732, 5622580, 5622734, 5622754, 5622581, 5622583, 5622755, 5622582, and more.