Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma

1969 tornadoes in Oklahoma

31 tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma in 1969, 47 percent below the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

1968 1970 The whole country in 1969

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 1969

April 4 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 45:05 PM GMT-6F1Delaware0.1100$5,000 to $50,000
April 46:38 PM GMT-6F1Pittsburg0.110$500 to $5,000

April 16 7 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 162:30 PM GMT-6F2Alfalfa13.8200$50,000 to $500,000
April 163:30 PM GMT-6F2Cotton24.2101$5,000 to $50,000
April 164:30 PM GMT-6F1Garfield2.010$5,000 to $50,000
April 166:00 PM GMT-6F2Stephens8.2101$50,000 to $500,000
April 166:20 PM GMT-6F0Ottawa0.310$50 to $500
April 167:15 PM GMT-6F1Osage0.110
April 169:00 PM GMT-6F0Carter0.110

April 26 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 265:00 PM GMT-6F1Grady10.410$50,000 to $500,000

May 2 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 29:52 PM GMT-5F0Beckham0.110

May 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 33:00 PM GMT-5F1Grady0.110

May 6 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 66:15 PM GMT-5F0Jefferson0.110

May 13 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 1310:00 PM GMT-5F0Greer0.110

May 15 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 151:01 AM GMT-5F0Beckham0.110

June 7 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 711:10 PM GMT-5F2Texas0.110$500 to $5,000

June 10 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 108:00 PM GMT-5F0Beaver0.110

June 11 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 114:00 PM GMT-5F0Garfield0.110

June 14 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 144:00 AM GMT-5F2Bryan12.8100$5,000 to $50,000

June 22 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 229:30 PM GMT-5F2Lincoln0.110$500 to $5,000

June 23 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 236:00 PM GMT-5F0Ellis0.110
June 237:00 PM GMT-5F1Creek0.110
June 237:10 PM GMT-5F0Noble0.110
June 237:50 PM GMT-5F2Payne13.110$50,000 to $500,000
June 2311:00 PM GMT-5F1Craig1.510$500 to $5,000

June 25 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 256:00 PM GMT-5F2Oklahoma0.810$500 to $5,000

June 27 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 277:00 PM GMT-5F1Dewey0.110$5,000 to $50,000
June 278:57 PM GMT-5F0Dewey0.110

July 25 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 256:30 PM GMT-5F2Jackson0.840$5,000 to $50,000

September 15 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 158:27 PM GMT-5F0Woods0.110

October 10 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 1010:00 PM GMT-5F2Hughes0.8200$50,000 to $500,000

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.