Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, October 29, 2009

Name: Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, October 29, 2009
Start: 2009-10-29T05:19
End: 2009-10-29T05:46
Location: Oklahoma

October 29, 2009 · NWS OUN · 3 events in 3 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $6,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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.

An upper level disturbance moved out of the southwest United States, dragging a cold front across the Texas panhandle through much of Oklahoma. Thunderstorms began to organize over the Texas panhandle during the evening hours of the 28th. By sunrise on the 29th, the thunderstorms were moving through much of central Oklahoma. The quality of moisture was much greater over Oklahoma, and wind shear was also greater, and the thunderstorms increased in intensity as they moved east. Very strong winds were reported with some of the thunderstorms, with some of the gusts causing damage to trees and minor structures. The thunderstorm complex moved into eastern Oklahoma by mid morning.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Norman, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 29, 2:28 AM CST, 2 hours 51 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 29, 2:28 AM CST, 2 hours 51 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 28, 7:10 PM CST, 10 hours 9 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
810 PM CDT WED OCT 28 2009

OKZ004>048-050>052-TXZ083>090-291000-
HARPER-WOODS-ALFALFA-GRANT-KAY-ELLIS-WOODWARD-MAJOR-GARFIELD-NOBLE-
ROGER MILLS-DEWEY-CUSTER-BLAINE-KINGFISHER-LOGAN-PAYNE-BECKHAM-
WASHITA-CADDO-CANADIAN-OKLAHOMA-LINCOLN-GRADY-MCCLAIN-CLEVELAND-
POTTAWATOMIE-SEMINOLE-HUGHES-HARMON-GREER-KIOWA-JACKSON-TILLMAN-
COMANCHE-STEPHENS-GARVIN-MURRAY-PONTOTOC-COAL-COTTON-JEFFERSON-
CARTER-JOHNSTON-ATOKA-LOVE-MARSHALL-BRYAN-HARDEMAN-FOARD-WILBARGER-
WICHITA-KNOX-BAYLOR-ARCHER-CLAY-
810 PM CDT WED OCT 28 2009

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK COVERS NORTHERN...WESTERN...
CENTRAL...AND SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA...AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT...

THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...
THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT OVER ALL OF
WESTERN NORTH TEXAS AND PORTIONS OF OKLAHOMA.

LOCATION...
THE SLIGHT RISK AREA COVERS ALL OF WESTERN NORTH TEXAS AND PORTIONS
OF OKLAHOMA WEST OF A LINE EXTENDING FROM MEDFORD...TO THE OKLAHOMA
CITY METRO...TO MADILL.

TIMING...
THE MOST LIKELY TIME FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE FROM 10 PM
THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS.

IMPACTS...
DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH WILL BE THE PRIMARY CONCERN. HAIL TO
THE SIZE OF HALF-DOLLARS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE WITH THE STRONGER
STORMS.

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS...
STORM SPOTTER GROUPS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL ACROSS THE
RISK AREA SHOULD PLAN FOR SEVERE WEATHER OPERATIONS THIS EVENING AND
OVERNIGHT.

DISCUSSION...
THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED OVER THE TEXAS PANHANDLE THIS EVENING IN
ADVANCE OF A STRONG STORM SYSTEM MOVING OUT OF THE ROCKIES. THESE
STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO WESTERN PARTS OF OKLAHOMA AND NORTH
TEXAS LATER THIS EVENING. ALTHOUGH INSTABILITY IS EXPECTED TO BE LOW
WHEN THIS STORM SYSTEM PUSHES INTO THE REGION...VERY STRONG WIND
SHEAR AND UPWARD FORCING FROM THE STORM WILL LIKELY ALLOW SOME
STORMS TO REACH SEVERE LEVELS. SEVERE STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ALONG
AND AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT FROM LATE EVENING THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT
HOURS. THE FRONT IS FORECAST TO APPROACH FAR WESTERN OKLAHOMA AND
WESTERN NORTH TEXAS LATE THIS EVENING...THEN PROGRESS EASTWARD
OVERNIGHT...REACHING THE I-35 CORRIDOR AROUND MID-MORNING THURSDAY.
ALTHOUGH THE GREATEST SEVERE WEATHER RISK WILL BE ASSOCIATED WITH A
SQUALL-LINE ALONG THE COLD FRONT...ANY DISCRETE THUNDERSTORMS AHEAD
OF THE LINE WILL ALSO HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE SEVERE WEATHER.

PROBABILITY TABLE...
VALID THROUGH 700 AM CDT THURSDAY OCT 29.
PROBABILITY OF THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRING IN THE
              NWS NORMAN COUNTY WARNING AREA...100 PERCENT.
PROBABILITY OF SEVERE STORMS IF STORMS OCCUR...70  PERCENT

OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER...
NONE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...

THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...
THUNDERSTORMS...SOME STRONG AND POSSIBLY SEVERE...ARE EXPECTED TO BE
ONGOING THURSDAY MORNING ACROSS CENTRAL PORTIONS OF OKLAHOMA.
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO SHIFT EASTWARD DURING THE DAY
THURSDAY...EXITING THE NWS NORMAN COUNTY WARNING AREA BY LATE
AFTERNOON.

OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER...
A FROST OR LIGHT FREEZE IS POSSIBLE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY MORNINGS
ACROSS WESTERN AND NORTHERN PORTIONS OF OKLAHOMA.

THE NEXT SCHEDULED HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED BY
5 AM THURSDAY.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Oct 29, 2:00 AM CST, 3 hours 19 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Special weather statement, Oct 29, 2:33 AM CST, 2 hours 46 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Special weather statement, Oct 29, 3:10 AM CST, 2 hours 9 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Special weather statement, Oct 29, 3:59 AM CST, 1 hour 20 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Special weather statement, Oct 29, 4:31 AM CST, 48 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Special weather statement, Oct 29, 5:18 AM CST, 1 minute before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
618 AM CDT THU OCT 29 2009

OKZ008-013-019-020-025>030-039-040-045-046-TXZ090-291145-
LINCOLN OK-LOGAN OK-NOBLE OK-KAY OK-OKLAHOMA OK-POTTAWATOMIE OK-
PAYNE OK-CLEVELAND OK-GRADY OK-MCCLAIN OK-JEFFERSON OK-GARVIN OK-
CARTER OK-STEPHENS OK-CLAY TX-
618 AM CDT THU OCT 29 2009

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY...

THIS SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY IS FOR CARTER...CLAY...CLEVELAND...
GARVIN...GRADY...JEFFERSON...KAY...LINCOLN...LOGAN...MCCLAIN...
NOBLE...OKLAHOMA...PAYNE...POTTAWATOMIE AND STEPHENS COUNTIES.

AT 618 AM CDT...A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED FROM PONCA
CITY... TO STILLWATER... TO GUTHRIE AND THE OKLAHOMA CITY METRO
SOUTH TO LINDSEY... TO DUNCAN... TO SUGDEN...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40
MPH.

HAZARDS INCLUDE...
WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH...
FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...
MINOR FLOODING IN AREAS OF POOR DRAINAGE...

MONITOR THE WEATHER SITUATION CLOSELY AND BE ALERT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS.

LAT...LON 3675 9682 3675 9689 3669 9694 3669 9706
      3660 9704 3661 9691 3658 9688 3651 9703
      3635 9702 3634 9692 3626 9689 3592 9694
      3511 9719 3400 9774 3408 9815 3475 9793
      3555 9758 3606 9744 3690 9741 3696 9679

30

The radar

The Norman radar (KTLX), 94 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 11:20 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Payne

When: October 29, 5:19 AM CST
Where: Payne County, (Swo)stillwater Airport
Measured: 62 kt (71 mph) measured gust
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 36.160, -97.090

Thunderstorm Wind, Noble

When: October 29, 5:35 AM CST to 5:37 AM CST
Where: Noble County, Morrison
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 36.290, -97.010

Numerous two to three inch diameter tree limbs were downed. Minor damag was also reported to a carport. Monetary damages were estimated.

Thunderstorm Wind, Stephens

When: October 29, 5:44 AM CST to 5:46 AM CST
Where: Stephens County, 4 mi W of Loco
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: Amateur Radio
Coordinates: 34.330, -97.750

An 8-inch diameter tree was blown over by the strong winds. Monetary damages were estimated.

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 2009 Every state in 2009 This day in weather history Warnings in Oklahoma, October 2009

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 200699, 200700, 200702.