F0 tornado, Wakita, Oklahoma, May 7, 1997

1. F040 to 72 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

F0

Date

May 7, 1997

Touchdown

7:00 PM CDT (00:00 UTC)

Path length

2.0 miles (3.2 km)

Path width

50 yards (46 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$3,000

County

Grant County

Touchdown point

36.880, -97.950

Lift-off point

36.870, -97.920

Record number

1024

Summary of events of May 7, 1997:Severe thunderstorms moved through parts of western, central, and north-central Oklahoma during the afternoon and evening of May 7th. Reports of large hail, flash flooding, damaging severe winds, and four tornadoes were received. The first tornado, and the only tornado that caused damage, moved from west of Wakita to south of Wakita in Grant County. Because the damage was limited to power poles and trees, the tornado was rated as F0. The second and third tornadoes, both brief and rated F0, were reported near Deer Creek (also in Grant County) by the county sheriff's office. The fourth and final tornado was observed west of Blackwell in Kay County by a county spotter. Once again, no damage resulted and the tornado was rated F0.Severe straight-line winds officially measured at up to 81 mph (near Weatherford in Custer County) caused widespread and extensive damage in portions of western Oklahoma. Beckham and Custer Counties were particularly hard-hit with major damage in Erick, Sayre, Elk City, Arapaho, Weatherford, Binger, and Clinton. Other wind damage also occurred in Wakita and near Medford in Grant County, in Canute and Cordell in Washita County, and in Oklahoma City in Oklahoma County.The largest hail was reported southwest of Renfrow in Grant County, where hail as large as golf balls fell. Flash flooding also occurred as storms moved repeatedly across parts of north-central Oklahoma producing very heavy rain. Reports of flash flooding were received from Grant County in and around Medford, most of southern Kay County, and Noble County near Red Rock and Perry.See preceding individual Storm Data entries for further details and additional reports.

A tornado touched down 2 miles west of Wakita and moved southeast to a location 1 mile south of Wakita on Highway 11A. Along this path, 9 power poles and numerous tree limbs were blown down and the cross-arms on all of the remaining utility poles were snapped.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

34 minutes of warning. NWS OUN issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:26 UTC, 34 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:00 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:59 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.

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Enid/Woodring Municipal (WDG), 57 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Vance AFB radar (KVNX), 23 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:02 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

The live radar over the trackEvery 1997 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

16 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.