Tornadoes and Hail in Oklahoma, April 21 to 22, 1999

Severe thunderstorms affected parts of western and central Oklahoma from late afternoon of the 21st through the early morning of the 22nd. An F2 tornado that struck the town of Carrier in Garfield County received the most attention, however 2 other tornadoes did form, and there were many reports of damaging straight-line winds and large, destructive hail. A team of National Weather Service meteorologists surveyed the damage in and near Carrier and rated the tornado an F2. The tornado developed at 1745 CST approximately 4 miles west-southwest of Carrier. The tornado moved along a path from west-southwest to east-northeast from its starting point to Carrier. The path width was approximately 150 yards wide early in the tornado's life. At a point 2 miles southwest of Carrier F2 damage was observed. A home had its roof ripped off and two walls collapsed. As the tornado began to approach Carrier it widened to approximately 500 yards. Four homes in Carrier lost all of their roofs with all four walls standing. One older abandoned cinder block building collapsed. A school and church on the north side of Carrier suffered only minor roof or window damage. As the storm moved out of Carrier it turned to the northeast and narrowed to 200 yards. At about 2 miles northeast of Carrier one home had significant damage to its roof while another suffered minor roof damage. The tornado was rated F1 at this point.The tornado dissipated at 1805 CST about 4 miles northeast of Carrier. The combination of the tornado and straight-line winds in believed to have been responsible for the majority of damage. After the tornado dissipated, straight-line winds continued to cause some damage for several miles. Significant tree damage was noted 4 miles east northeast of Carrier which was one and a half miles south of the tornado damage path. In total 8 homes and businesses were destroyed; 14 buildings sustained major damage, while 19 others sustained minor damage. Damage is estimated at 1.5 million dollars.Another tornado, an F0, was reported by Garfield County Emergency Management causing minor damage to roofs of 2 homes west-northwest of Vance Air Force Base. The 3rd and last tornado of the day, an F1, touched down about 1 mile northeast of Billings in Noble County and destroyed a barn and 2 outbuildings. In addition trees were blown down and several house windows were blown out; numerous farm animals were killed, and 2 semis were blown over on Interstate 35 near mile marker 207. The driver of one of the trucks was injured by broken glass. In addition to tornadoes, large and destructive hail fell in many areas including Hennessey in Kingfisher County where an unusually large amount of golf ball to baseball-size hail fell several times on the 21st causing extensive damage to vehicles, homes, and wheat crop. At least 900,000 dollars is expected to be paid out by just one insurance company which received nearly 750 claims. Among the list of hail damage reports: a pick-up truck was struck by golf ball-size hail 6 miles west of Lacey in Kingfisher County, and numerous vehicles had their windows broken by tennis ball-size hail 16 miles west of Hennessey, also in Kingfisher County.Damaging straight-line winds were observed by the Chief of the Kremlin Fire Department in Garfield County who experienced a brief period of 70 to 80 mph winds from the northwest near the intersection of Highway 81 and Great Lakes Road 8 miles south of Kremlin. He also witnessed an old barn being blown over. Power lines were also downed on the north side of Enid in Garfield County. A wind gust of 90 mph was also observed at the Stillwater Regional Airport in Payne County, where many signs were blown down.