Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 1958

F2 tornado, Caddo County, Oklahoma, November 17, 1958

This F2 tornado ran 5.4 miles across Caddo County on November 17, 1958, touching down at 7:00 AM GMT-6 and reaching 10 yards wide. It killed nobody.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mphthis tornado

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

The record

Rating
F2
Date
November 17, 1958
Touchdown
7:00 AM GMT-6 (13:00 UTC)
Path length
5.4 miles (8.7 km)
Path width
10 yards (9 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Caddo County
Touchdown point
34.870, -98.430
Lift-off point
34.920, -98.370
Record number
534

This ground now

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The other tornadoes of November 17, 1958

33 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 175:00 AM GMT-6F2Crawford, KS0.110
November 175:30 AM GMT-6F2Nowata, OK0.110$500 to $5,000
November 176:00 AM GMT-6F2Haskell, TX1.0337$50,000 to $500,000
November 176:15 AM GMT-6F2Jackson, OK14.8100
November 176:31 AM GMT-6F1Throckmorton, TX0.3174under $50
November 176:45 AM GMT-6F2Young, TX7.61331$50,000 to $500,000
November 177:10 AM GMT-6F1Palo Pinto, TX7.867$5,000 to $50,000
November 177:15 AM GMT-6F2Wichita, TX4.9200$5,000 to $50,000
November 177:35 AM GMT-6F3Cotton, OK65.8504
November 178:08 AM GMT-6F3Garfield, OK39.210under $50
November 178:30 AM GMT-6F2Murray, OK3.6300$5,000 to $50,000
November 178:30 AM GMT-6F2Pontotoc, OK8.8500under $50
November 178:47 AM GMT-6F1Carter, OK0.1204under $50
November 179:15 AM GMT-6F1Grayson, TX4.333$500 to $5,000
November 179:23 AM GMT-6F3Seminole, OK18.330015$50,000 to $500,000
November 179:30 AM GMT-6F1Cowley, KS10.3220$5,000 to $50,000
November 179:30 AM GMT-6F2Jackson, OK1.010
November 179:45 AM GMT-6F0Elk, KS0.110
November 179:45 AM GMT-6F3Elk, KS8.5880$5,000 to $50,000
November 1710:20 AM GMT-6F2Leavenworth, KS0.110$500 to $5,000
November 1710:50 AM GMT-6F0Coffey, KS0.110
November 1710:55 AM GMT-6F2Osage, KS0.110
November 1711:00 AM GMT-6F2Franklin, KS0.110$50 to $500
November 1711:10 AM GMT-6F1Douglas, KS0.110
November 1711:15 AM GMT-6F0Leavenworth, KS0.110
November 1711:20 AM GMT-6F1Craig, OK3.6127$5,000 to $50,000
November 1711:30 AM GMT-6F3Barton, MO30.24001$50,000 to $500,000
November 171:30 PM GMT-6F1Putnam, MO2.750$5,000 to $50,000
November 171:30 PM GMT-6F2Webster, MO12.8127$5,000 to $50,000
November 171:45 PM GMT-6F2Grundy, MO14.950$50,000 to $500,000
November 172:00 PM GMT-6F2Harrison, MO4.1100$50,000 to $500,000
November 172:15 PM GMT-6F0Harrison, TX0.567
November 172:30 PM GMT-6F2Hot Spring, AR8.610$5,000 to $50,000

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.