Tornadoes · United States · Oklahoma · 1995

F1 tornado, Duke, Oklahoma, June 3, 1995

This F1 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Jackson County on June 3, 1995, touching down at 9:15 PM CDT and reaching 30 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.

  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 mphthis tornado

    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.

The record

Rating
F1
Date
June 3, 1995
Touchdown
9:15 PM CDT (02:15 UTC)
Path length
0.1 miles (0.2 km)
Path width
30 yards (27 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$50,000 to $500,000
County
Jackson County
Touchdown point
34.670, -99.400
Record number
644

The warnings

35 minutes of warning. NWS OUN issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:40 UTC, 35 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:15 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
01:05 UTC01:45 UTCTornado WarningOUN
01:40 UTC02:15 UTCTornado WarningOUN
02:13 UTC03:00 UTCTornado WarningOUN
02:57 UTC05:00 UTCFlash Flood WarningOUN
02:58 UTC03:45 UTCTornado WarningOUN
03:45 UTC04:30 UTCTornado WarningOUN
03:54 UTC04:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN
04:27 UTC05:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN
04:55 UTC06:45 UTCFlash Flood WarningOUN
06:59 UTC10:00 UTCFlash Flood WarningOUN
08:17 UTC09:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN
16:25 UTC17:01 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUN
18:10 UTC21:00 UTCFlash Flood WarningOUN

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:36 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 1995 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 3, 1995

18 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 33:30 PM MDTF0Weld, CO0.110
June 34:39 PM CDTF0Hall, TX1.050
June 36:02 PM CDTF0Childress, TX1.050
June 36:02 PM CDTF0Childress, TX3.0100
June 36:05 PM CDTF0Childress, TX0.573
June 36:09 PM CDTF1Childress, TX1.0100
June 36:14 PM CDTF0Childress, TX0.250
June 35:25 PM MDTF0Otero, CO0.110
June 36:40 PM CDTF0Childress, TX1.0100$50,000 to $500,000
June 37:05 PM CDTF0Childress, TX0.5100
June 36:10 PM MDTF0Adams, CO0.5200
June 38:00 PM CDTF0Harmon, TX to OK0.223
June 39:25 PM CDTF1Canadian, OK5.0200$50,000 to $500,000
June 310:15 PM CDTF1Childress, TX0.52001$50,000 to $500,000
June 310:41 PM CDTF0Jackson, OK0.130
June 311:40 PM CDTF0Briscoe, TX1.073
June 311:57 PM CDTF0Tillman, OK0.130
June 312:16 AM CDTF0Tillman, OK0.130

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.