Summary of events for March 8 1999:A band of moderate to heavy rain moved across the area during the morning of March 8 in association with a warm front out in advance of a low pressure center. The rain brought localized nuisance flooding.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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 episode as NWS TSA wrote it up.
Summary of events for March 8 1999:A band of moderate to heavy rain moved across the area during the morning of March 8 in association with a warm front out in advance of a low pressure center. The rain brought localized nuisance flooding. Once the morning rains passed, warmer air moved into eastern Oklahoma during the afternoon, and an upper level low with lots of cold air aloft moved into the area. Thunderstorms then erupted late in the afternoon along an eastward moving dryline/cold front. Some of these thunderstorms displayed characteristics of low-precipitation supercells which then produced damaging tornadoes, most notably in McIntosh County and at Broken Arrow in Tulsa County. The Broken Arrow tornado occurred miles behind any radar-indicated thunderstorm activity and was possibly the result of a cold-air funnel under the cold upper low which reached the ground.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
10 hail, 9 thunderstorm wind, 6 tornado, 1 lightning, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
A home in Henryetta was hit by lightning. The lightning blew siding off the house, bent an antenna, damaged the central heat/air, and destroyed several small appliances.
Two streets in Tulsa had to be closed due to heavy rain. They were Louisville Avenue between 68th and 70th Streets, and Sheridan Road between 95th and 97th Streets.
Strong winds blew several windows out of a mobile home. The mobile home was then lifted off of its foundation and laid back down seven feet north of its original foundation.
A tornado touched down in Broken Arrow in the Turtle Creek subdivision just southwest of 81st Street (Houston Street) and 145th East Avenue (Aspen Avenue). The tornado then moved across Aspen Avenue into the Wedgewood subdivision, crossed 81st Street, nipping the southeast corner of the Aspen Creek subdivision. The tornado finally lifted near Park Grove Cemetery, which is on the north side of 81st Street about halfway between 145th and 161st East Avenue. Sixty homes received at least some minor F0-strength roof damage, but two homes in the Turtle Creek subdivision lost parts of their roofs, causing this tornado to be rated an F1 on the Fujita scale. Three buildings at an apartment complex just east of Aspen lost parts of their roofs, and a window was blown out. This tornado blew over numerous trees and privacy fences. An off-duty NWS employee located about three blocks south of where the tornado lifted reported wind gusts to 60 miles an hour lasting for less than one minute. At 606 PM, an aircraft pilot reported a funnel cloud near Broken Arrow.
A tornado first touched down near Burney, which is in western McIntosh County near mile marker 248 on Interstate 40. The tornado travelled parallel to and south of the interstate in the Tiger Mountain area but then crossed interstate 40 closest to mile marker 249 as it was lifting. Most of the damage from this tornado was F1-strength, but some F2-strength damage occurred.The tornado first destroyed two mobile homes. Roofing from the first destroyed home was found 150 feet to the east, and a car was crushed in a car port. The second mobile home destroyed was a brand new double-wide that had recently been tied down. The mobile home rolled 30 to 40 feet and was totally destroyed. Four members of a family inside the home were injured, one of them critically. Two cars in a car port were damaged. Further east, shingles were torn off the south and west sides of a house, and a tin shed was destroyed with debris scattered to the north and east. Another shed with appliances inside was destroyed. The tornado then passed near a small dwelling, where numerous large trees were down and a 20-foot pontoon was moved 15 feet over a tree. The tornado then hit another double-wide mobile home, which had its apron blown out on one side, had trim peeled off, and it had a window broken. Two nearby power poles were snapped off. Finally, the tornado passed a well-built two-story home. This home had shingles blown off the roof, windows broken, a sun porch was destroyed, a metal hay shed lost its roof, many large trees were blown down, two small storage sheds were destroyed,a 20-foot horse trailer rolled over, and a Ford F150 crew cab was moved 10 feet.
The same parent storm which produced a tornado near Burney and Tiger Mountain produced another tornado which touched down near Pierce. At Pierce, the tornado removed roofs from quite a few homes. In Pierce, the tornado also damaged vehicles and boats.Further east, the tornado crossed Interstate 40 near Fountainhead Road (OK Hwy 150). As it crossed the interstate, four 18-wheelers were knocked over, but the drivers escaped injury. After crossing the interstate, the tornado travelled through the Sycamore Bay development, damaging ten to twelve homes. The damage included cracked ceilings, a destroyed garage, and shingles ripped off to the bare wood. One home was moved 30 feet from its foundation, and it took the roof off of another.The tornado then crossed Lake Eufaula as a waterspout, destroying five boats and several docks at Emerald Bay. Once the tornado came back onshore, it hit Lotawatah Road, where it moved a double-wide mobile home from its foundation. Another home lost its roof, and outbuildings were destroyed. A trucking company was hit, destroying five 60-foot trailers and damaging others. The tornado then crossed Humphrey Road at a racing stable, destroying six of their structures and six corrals. When the tornado reached US Hwy 266, part of a home's roof collapsed, and a horse trailer was thrown on top of a barn, which then collapsed. Along its entire path, numerous power poles were snapped off at the base. Spotters reported seeing two or three simultaneous tornadoes at times. Fortunately, the tornado lifted just before entering Checotah.
A brief F1-tornado touchdown ripped the roof off of a block house.
A garage was heavily damaged by an F1 tornado. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported a tornado 4 miles west of Chelsea near Allen Point. Several mobile homes in the Spencer Creek mobile home park sustained roof and siding damage.
A large picture window was blown out of the enclosed porch of a home, and an empty chicken house was blown over onto its side.
Strong winds estimated at 60 miles an hour blew a 30-foot section of roof off of a house in downtown Inola. A fence and basketball goal in the back yard were also blown over. Nearby, a church sustained roof damage, a tree was blown onto a house, a shed was blown away, and two power poles were blown over.
Three power poles near Stone's Corner were snapped.
Numerous large tree limbs were blown down near Fort Gibson Lake.
Several large tree limbs were blown down.
The steel frame of a warehouse under construction was destroyed near the Port of Muskogee.
The same parent thunderstorm that spawned the earlier tornado further west in McIntosh County again spawned a brief tornado touchdown about three miles west of Warner in far eastern McIntosh County. No damage was reported with this touchdown.
Several tree limbs were blown down in Qualls.
A tree limb and a power line were knocked down by strong winds.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oklahoma in 1999Every state in 1999This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Oklahoma, 1999Warnings in Oklahoma, March 1999
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: 5688871, 5688620, 5688870, 5688619, 5688873, 5688748, 5688752, 5688753, 5688868, 5688623, 5688624, 5688867, 5688869, 5688625, 5688621, 5688622, 5688750, 5688872, 5688749, 5688759, 5688755, 5688626, 5688754, 5688757, 5688751, 5688756, 5688758.