Tornado in Texas, May 4, 1999

Name: Tornado in Texas, May 4, 1999
Start: 1999-05-04T13:50
End: 1999-05-04T14:25
Location: Texas

May 4, 1999 · NWS SHV · 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
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: 22
Property damage: $125 million
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 Shreveport radar (KSHV), 134 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:50 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Bowie

When: May 4, 1:50 PM CST to 2:25 PM CST
Where: Bowie County, De Kalb to 9 mi NE of De Kalb
Rating: F3
Path length: 19.5 mi
Path width: 200 yd
Injuries: 22 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $125 million
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 33.400, -94.730

This tornado moved directly through the downtown district of De Kalb and across a high school. Numerous homes and businesses were severely damaged or destroyed. The high school suffered severe damage. Sirens sounded 15 minutes prior to arrival of the storm. The damage resulted in a Presidential Disaster Declaration. This tornado moved from Red River county, TX across Bowie county, TX into Little River county, AR.

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 Texas in 1999 Every state in 1999 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Texas, 1999 Warnings in Texas, May 1999

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: 5696338.