F2 tornado, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, June 13, 1998

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 mphthis tornado

   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

F2

Date

June 13, 1998

Touchdown

8:08 PM CDT (01:08 UTC)

Path length

1.5 miles (2.4 km)

Path width

80 yards (73 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

4

Property damage

$150,000

County

Oklahoma County

Touchdown point

35.550, -97.550

Lift-off point

35.550, -97.530

Record number

821

Summary of events of June 13, 1998:During the afternoon and evening four supercell thunderstorms developed near a dryline in western Oklahoma and tracked east into central sections of the state. The most significant storm developed in Washita county at approximately 400 pm CST and intensified as it moved east toward central Oklahoma. This storm produced at least six tornadoes as it tracked from Canadian County across Oklahoma County during the early evening. The most damaging tornado (an F2) touched down in northeast Oklahoma City and crossed Interstate 35 near the Frontier City theme park. Other tornadoes damaged the Oklahoma City Boat Club, portions of The Village and Nichols Hills, the Highland Park neighborhood west of Broadway Extension, and the area near May and Grand Avenues in Oklahoma City. Three weak tornadoes also touched down in open country northwest of El Reno and near Yukon. In addition to damaging tornadoes, the storm produced extensive straight-line wind damage from Lake Hefner, across Nichols Hills and The Village, into northeast Oklahoma County. Winds likely exceeded 100 mph in some areas. There were no fatalities and only 21 relatively minor injuries reported in Oklahoma County. The majority of the injuries were sustained at the Frontier City theme park. Earlier, another supercell thunderstorm produced tornadoes near Longdale in Blaine County and 3 miles southwest of Guthrie. Supercells that tracked across Noble County and northern Cleveland County produced large hail and severe winds, but no tornadoes.See preceding individual Storm Data entries for further details and additional reports.

This tornado touched down as a waterspout over Lake Hefner and moved east to dissipate between May Avenue and Lake Hefner Parkway. Total path length was approximately 3/4 mile and its width was approximately 50 yards. Numerous boats in dry dock suffered damage at the Oklahoma City Boat Club as the tornado passed slightly south of the marina. Boats that were in the water suffered little, if any, damage. Damage to the OKC Boat Club facilities and nearby boats was estimated at $250 K. Traffic signs along the east shore of the lake were bent and a small storage shed was destroyed approximately 1/8 mile south of the OKC Boat Club. Minor roof damage occurred to homes immediately east of Lake Hefner Parkway.

This tornado formed near NW 84th Street and Walker and traveled northeast until dissipating immediately east of the Broadway Extension 1/4 mile south of Britton Road. Total path length was 3/4 mile. Path width approximately 50 yards. This tornado was rated F1(73-112 mph). Along the damage path, a large portion of the roof decking was removed from a home on the southeast corner of 84th and Walker. Street signs also were torn from the ground (not well anchored) at this location. Several vehicles were damaged by flying debris. Minor roof damage occurred to other homes on 84th, 85th, and 86th Streets. On 87th and 88th Streets near Harvey, several homes suffered major roof damage and the western one-half of the New Life Baptist Church was destroyed. A portion of the church roof was thrown southeastward across 88th causing major damage to a home. Failure of the north, west and south walls of the church occurred as the roof lifted off.

This tornado touched down 1 block west of north May Avenue and Pembroke Terrace and moved east to Woods Park in Nichols Hills. Total path length was 1.5 miles and maximum width was 75 yards. This tornado was rated F2(113-157 mph). Four persons were injured and transported to local hospitals. Considerable damage was done to the strip mall in the 7400 block of north May Avenue. Windows were blown out of several businesses, several lost roofs, power lines were downed and large signs were bent. One business on the east side of May Ave. suffered collapse of an exterior south facing wall. On Pembroke Terrace, an RV was thrown into a house, a car was over-turned, trees were toppled, and shingles and roof decking were partially blown away. Lesser damage occurred eastward into Nichols Hills. Interestingly, this tornado rotated anticyclonically. Although the over-turned car and major damage to one wood frame house roof suggested the tornado may have reached F2 intensity in a very small area, the majority of the damage was consistent with an F1 rating.

This tornado was the most intense of the day. The tornado touched down approximately 1/4 mile southwest of the corner of Bryant Avenue and Hefner Road, and moved northeast crossing Interstate 35 at the Frontier City theme park parking lot. The tornado continued northeast along northeast 122nd Street and eventually dissipated 1/4 mile northeast of Interstate 44 at Douglas Blvd. The total path length was approximately 5 1/2 miles. Maximum width was 200 yards east of Interstate 35 and south of Interstate 44. The tornado was rated F2 (At 122nd Street approximately 1-2 miles east of I-35). Seventeen minor injuries (3 transported to hospital) occurred at Frontier City. Along the track, major structural damage occurred to businesses along Interstate 35 from 122nd Street southward for approximately three-quarters of a mile. The Frontier City theme park was among the hardest hit businesses. The tornado passed through the parking lot damaging numerous vehicles before striking a two-story concrete block building at the northeast corner of the park. This building suffered partial failure of external walls and the entire roof was removed. Damage to adjacent areas of the park was mainly due to strong inflow into the tornado.On the east side of Interstate 35, a Texaco truck stop was severely damaged. Empty semi-tractor trailers located in the east parking lot of the truck stop were over turned and rolled tens of feet. One trailer was briefly airborne and landed on another empty trailer. A small portable building containing a CB radio shop in the parking area was completely swept away into a grove of trees east of the lot. Numerous homes suffered major damage to roofs, windows, and garage doors in the Nottingham and Quail Ridge Run subdivisions located along 122nd Street 1-2 miles east of I35. Several homes suffered major or nearly complete roof failure, though most exterior walls remained intact. These homes were of recent construction and were well built with brick exterior facades (some likely in excess of $200K). No means of anchoring the roofs to the exterior walls was noted. The tornado may have approached F3 at times in these neighborhoods. The most severly damaged home was located atop a small hill with garage doors on the upwind side of the home. Debris patterns suggest the garage doors failed allowing the wind to lift the roof. Without the roof in place, failure of the external garage walls occurred. The most severe damage to trees occurred in these subdivisions and areas immediately adjacent.

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

26 minutes of warning. NWS OUN issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:42 UTC, 26 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:30 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 11:01 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.

The live radar over the trackEvery 1998 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

44 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.