Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma

1966 tornadoes in Oklahoma

36 tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma in 1966, 39 percent below the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody. 1 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

1965 1967 The whole country in 1966

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 mph

    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.

Every tornado in Oklahoma in 1966

February 8 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 85:20 PM GMT-6F2Stephens10.5672$50,000 to $500,000

April 11 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 116:40 PM GMT-6F3Wagoner7.31006$50,000 to $500,000
April 118:00 PM GMT-6F2Cherokee6.520$50,000 to $500,000
April 119:45 PM GMT-6F1Blaine0.110$500 to $5,000

April 17 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 173:40 PM GMT-6F1Ellis6.5100$500 to $5,000
April 174:40 PM GMT-6F0Ellis1.010

April 27 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 277:15 PM GMT-5F2Hughes3.61501$5,000 to $50,000
April 278:00 PM GMT-5F4Johnston10.23002$50,000 to $500,000
April 278:05 PM GMT-5F3Pittsburg8.0400$50,000 to $500,000

May 11 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 117:30 PM GMT-5F2Tulsa2.01001$5,000 to $50,000
May 118:30 PM GMT-5F1Delaware1.01,200$500 to $5,000
May 118:30 PM GMT-5F2Rogers8.4502$50,000 to $500,000

May 15 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 159:50 PM GMT-5F1Creek0.110
May 1510:55 PM GMT-5F0Lincoln0.110

May 16 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 169:30 PM GMT-5F0Grant0.110
May 1610:53 PM GMT-5F0Kay0.110

May 17 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 179:07 PM GMT-5F0Creek0.110
May 179:23 PM GMT-5F0Creek0.110
May 1711:15 PM GMT-5F0Cleveland0.417$500 to $5,000
May 1711:45 PM GMT-5F0Okfuskee0.110

June 5 7 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 56:00 PM GMT-5F0Blaine0.110
June 56:50 PM GMT-5F2Kay2.51001$50,000 to $500,000
June 57:30 PM GMT-5F0Garfield4.310
June 57:30 PM GMT-5F1Grant1.4150$500 to $5,000
June 57:35 PM GMT-5F2Garfield0.1106$50,000 to $500,000
June 57:55 PM GMT-5F0Garfield3.867$5,000 to $50,000
June 58:00 PM GMT-5F1Garfield5.710$50 to $500

June 7 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 77:00 PM GMT-5F0Ellis0.110

June 8 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 86:30 PM GMT-5F1Caddo0.510$5,000 to $50,000
June 87:00 PM GMT-5F0Washita0.110
June 88:20 PM GMT-5F0Caddo0.110

June 15 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 157:00 PM GMT-5F1Noble0.210$5,000 to $50,000

June 30 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 305:15 PM GMT-5F1Adair0.233$500 to $5,000

July 23 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 236:34 AM GMT-5F0Cleveland0.110

September 4 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 412:45 PM GMT-5F1Grant3.8100
September 41:45 PM GMT-5F0Garfield0.110

Nearby

Every tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in OklahomaThe live radar over Oklahoma

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.