Tornado in Oklahoma, March 27, 1997

Name: Tornado in Oklahoma, March 27, 1997
Start: 1997-03-27T23:55
End: 1997-03-27T23:55
Location: Oklahoma

March 27, 1997 · NWS OUN · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 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
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Winter weather
Heat and drought
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Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $550
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

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Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Blaine

When: March 27, 11:55 PM CST
Where: Blaine County, 1 mi NE of Watonga
Rating: F0
Path length: 0.1 mi
Path width: 10 yd
Property damage: $550
Coordinates: 35.850, -98.420

A brief tornado, probably a landspout, struck a barn just northeast of Watonga. Nearby witnesses described a white funnel that touched down for about 5 seconds and threw tin from the barn into the air. The barn lost its roof and two of its sides. A long piece of pipe that had been in the barn was thrown about a hundred feet and speared about 5 feet into the ground. Another piece of metal was blown through the roof and ceiling of a nearby house.The landspout formed in a small, weak, unorganized thunderstorm. Nearby witnesses, including the residents of the damaged farm, described a blue sky and only a few sprinkles with the brief storm.

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

Every storm in Oklahoma in 1997 Every state in 1997 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Oklahoma, 1997 Warnings in Oklahoma, March 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: 5592771.