Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 1977

F3 tornado, Beckham and Roger Mills counties, Oklahoma, May 16, 1977

Name: F3 tornado, Beckham and Roger Mills counties, Oklahoma, May 16, 1977
Start: 1977-05-16T23:24:00.000Z
Location: Beckham and Roger Mills counties, Oklahoma

This F3 tornado ran 18.2 miles across Beckham and Roger Mills counties on May 16, 1977, touching down at 6:24 PM CDT and reaching 1,320 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $50,000 to $500,000 of property damage.

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.

F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
F3158 to 206 mphthis tornado
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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: F3
Date: May 16, 1977
Touchdown: 6:24 PM CDT (23:24 UTC)
Path length: 18.2 miles (29.3 km)
Path width: 1,320 yards (1207 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $50,000 to $500,000
Counties: Beckham and Roger Mills counties
Touchdown point: 35.330, -99.870
Lift-off point: 35.450, -99.580
Record number: 266

The surface observations

Clinton-Sherman (CSM), 48 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Pressure (mb)
22:00 UTC	80	32	180° 18 kt	1010.8
23:00 UTC	77	32	180° 19 kt	1010.8
00:00 UTC	76	32	150° 14 kt	1010.8
01:00 UTC	74	32	150° 14 kt	1010.5

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 1977 tornado in Oklahoma Every tornado in Oklahoma since 1950 Warnings in force in Oklahoma now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 16, 1977

12 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 16	4:00 PM CDT	F0	Delaware, IA	0.1	10
May 16	4:10 PM CDT	F3	Collingsworth, TX	16.7	500	$500 to $5,000
May 16	5:00 PM CDT	F0	Miller, MO	0.1	10	$5,000 to $50,000
May 16	5:05 PM CDT	F3	Collingsworth, TX	12.1	500	$500 to $5,000
May 16	6:00 PM CDT	F3	Beckham, OK	6.5	800	$5,000 to $50,000
May 16	6:45 PM CDT	F0	Roger Mills, OK	0.1	10
May 16	6:00 PM MDT	F1	Bennett, SD	0.1	10	$5,000 to $50,000
May 16	7:15 PM CDT	F0	Clinton, IA	0.1	10
May 16	7:35 PM CDT	F0	Webster, NE	0.1	10
May 16	7:50 PM CDT	F3	Adams, NE	47.3	50	$5,000 to $50,000
May 16	9:00 PM CDT	F0	York, NE	0.1	10
May 16	9:23 PM CDT	F0	Buffalo, NE	0.2	30

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.