Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma

1979 tornadoes in Oklahoma

48 tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma in 1979, 19 percent below the average of the record for the state. They killed 7 people and injured 149. 1 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

1978 1980 The whole country in 1979

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 mph
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.

Every tornado in Oklahoma in 1979

March 18 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
March 18	7:00 AM CST	F2	Kay	0.1	10	$5,000 to $50,000
March 18	9:00 AM CST	F3	Washington	7.9	30	$5,000 to $50,000
March 18	1:10 PM CST	F2	Tulsa	2.6	33	$50,000 to $500,000

March 19 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 19	5:05 PM CST	F1	Choctaw	9.8	30			$500 to $5,000

March 29 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 29	1:20 PM CST	F2	Okfuskee	2.0	30			$5,000 to $50,000

April 1 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 1	1:16 AM CST	F1	Lincoln	0.2	20			$500 to $5,000

April 10 9 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 10	4:05 PM CST	F2	Tillman	9.2	120		1	$50,000 to $500,000
April 10	4:35 PM CST	F1	Comanche	7.1	100			$500 to $5,000
April 10	5:05 PM CST	F3	Comanche	4.5	170	3	100	$5 million to $50 million
April 10	6:40 PM CST	F2	Cleveland	2.0	10			$500 to $5,000
April 10	6:45 PM CST	F2	Pottawatomie	4.6	100			$50,000 to $500,000
April 10	6:50 PM CST	F2	Cleveland	1.5	40			$5,000 to $50,000
April 10	7:55 PM CST	F3	Carter	12.8	170			$50,000 to $500,000
April 10	8:05 PM CST	F0	Pottawatomie	0.2	13
April 10	8:05 PM CST	F0	Pottawatomie	0.2	13

April 11 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
April 11	12:01 AM CST	F1	Pontotoc	3.0	50		$5,000 to $50,000
April 11	1:05 AM CST	F2	Marshall	0.1	10		$5,000 to $50,000
April 11	4:00 AM CST	F0	Muskogee	0.1	10
April 11	11:15 AM CST	F2	McCurtain to AR	42.0	440	20	$50,000 to $500,000

May 2 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 2	4:50 PM CDT	F0	Woods	0.3	13
May 2	5:15 PM CDT	F4	Major	20.6	880	1	25	$500,000 to $5 million
May 2	5:17 PM CDT	F2	Major	20.3	1,760			$50,000 to $500,000
May 2	6:45 PM CDT	F3	Garfield	8.4	120			$50,000 to $500,000
May 2	7:50 PM CDT	F2	Logan	1.0	40			$50,000 to $500,000
May 2	8:13 PM CDT	F1	Payne	0.3	13			$5,000 to $50,000

May 9 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 9	9:30 PM CDT	F1	Woodward	0.3	13		1	$5,000 to $50,000

June 6 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 6	6:00 PM CDT	F1	Caddo	0.3	17			$500 to $5,000

June 8 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 8	3:00 PM CDT	F1	Comanche	0.3	17			$500 to $5,000

June 21 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 21	9:30 PM CDT	F0	Custer	0.1	10

July 16 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 16	5:50 PM CDT	F2	Oklahoma	0.1	10			$50,000 to $500,000

July 23 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 23	3:30 PM CDT	F1	Washita	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000

August 19 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 19	3:00 PM CDT	F0	Cleveland	0.1	10			$500 to $5,000

August 21 7 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
August 21	4:10 PM CDT	F0	Dewey	8.8	10
August 21	7:15 PM CDT	F0	Noble	0.1	10
August 21	7:15 PM CDT	F0	Noble	0.1	10
August 21	7:15 PM CDT	F0	Noble	0.1	10
August 21	7:40 PM CDT	F0	Pawnee	0.1	10
August 21	8:30 PM CDT	F0	McClain	0.1	10
August 21	10:00 PM CDT	F0	Tillman	0.1	10

August 22 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 22	7:14 PM CDT	F1	Canadian	0.1	10			$500 to $5,000
August 22	7:55 PM CDT	F0	Canadian	0.1	10			$500 to $5,000

August 24 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 24	6:20 PM CDT	F0	Grant	0.1	10

August 31 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 31	4:15 PM CDT	F2	Kingfisher	16.2	440			$50,000 to $500,000
August 31	8:55 PM CDT	F1	Carter	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000

September 2 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 2	4:55 AM CDT	F0	Cotton	0.1	10			$50 to $500

October 21 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 21	9:10 PM CDT	F2	Murray	1.0	60			$5,000 to $50,000

October 30 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 30	10:05 AM CST	F3	Carter	8.4	530	3	2	$50,000 to $500,000

November 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
November 20	2:20 PM CST	F1	Canadian	0.2	27			$5,000 to $50,000

Crossed into Oklahoma

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into Oklahoma. They are counted under the state they began in.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 10	3:20 PM CST	F4	Wilbarger, TX to OK	39.7	880	11	68	$5 million to $50 million
April 10	3:55 PM CST	F2	Wilbarger, TX to OK	74.1	1,056	1	3	$500,000 to $5 million
April 10	5:50 PM CST	F4	Wichita, TX to OK	46.9	1,320	42	1740	$50 million to $500 million

Nearby

Every tornado in Oklahoma since 1950 Warnings in force in Oklahoma The 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.