F2 tornado, Wewoka to Yeager, Oklahoma, June 8, 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 8, 1998

Touchdown

7:35 PM CDT (00:35 UTC)

Path length

8.0 miles (12.9 km)

Path width

440 yards (402 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Counties

Seminole and Hughes counties

Touchdown point

35.120, -96.520

Lift-off point

35.150, -96.400

Record number

832

Summary of events of June 8, 1998:Severe thunderstorms developed and moved across much of Oklahoma during the afternoon and evening of the 8th, producing hail as large as softballs, wind gusts to 70 mph, and 3 tornadoes. The tornadoes were spawned by a single storm between 6 and 715 pm CST in Pottawatomie and Seminole Counties. The first tornado (an F1) touched down 3.5 miles west-southwest of Maud in Pottawatomie County, moved east into Seminole County, lifting about 11 miles west-southwest of Wewoka. The second tornado (rated F2) touched down 2.5 miles southwest of Wewoka in Seminole County, moved east through Wewoka, and crossed into Hughes County. Meanwhile, the third tornado (also an F2) developed about 4.5 miles west-southwest of Yeager in Hughes County. These two tornadoes then merged about 3.5 miles southwest of Yeager and continued east until they lifted 4 miles east of Yeager. This tornadic thunderstorm also produced hail as large as softballs southwest of Seminole in Seminole County. Baseball sized hail was reported with a different storm in Oklahoma City in Oklahoma County. Widespread hail and wind damage occurred in Ponca City in Kay County and in Norman in Cleveland County.Wind gusts were estimated as high as 70 mph near Wellston and Warwick in Lincoln County. Significant thunderstorm wind damage occurred throughout Lincoln County, in Purcell in McClain County, and near Calumet and El Reno in Canadian County.See preceding individual Storm Data entries for further details and additional reports.

Surveys revealed that a narrow tornado touched down around 711 pm 3 miles west-southwest of Maud in Pottawatomie County where it destroyed a barn. The tornado then moved east destroying another barn about one-half mile south of Maud as it crossed into Seminole county. It lifted 1/2 mile east of the Seminole County line at around 715 pm. The tornado was rated F1.

Surveys showed that at about 735 pm, a tornado touched down about 1/2 mile southwest of the intersection of US-270 and SH-59, or about 2.5 miles southwest of Wewoka. The storm moved east through the south side of Wewoka causing damage in a neighborhood in the southwest side of Wewoka and along state highway 56 in the south part of town. The tornado continued moving east destroying two mobile homes southeast of Wewoka before crossing into Hughes County. It caused minor damage to a couple of homes and unroofed a mobile home near State Highway 48. The tornado then turned northeast and apparently merged with the Yeager tornado (see separate Storm Data entry) just northeast of the intersection of State Highway 48 and county road EW129. This tornado was on the ground for 8 miles and had a maximum width of 1/3 of a mile. The tornado was rated F2 (winds estimated between 113 and 157 mph) based on damage in southwest Wewoka including a brick house unroofed and the south exterior wall blown in. Eyewitness reports indicate that this was likely a multiple vortex tornado.

Surveys showed that at about 735 pm, a tornado touched down about 1/2 mile southwest of the intersection of US-270 and SH-59, or about 2.5 miles southwest of Wewoka. The storm moved east through the south side of Wewoka causing damage in a neighborhood in the southwest side of Wewoka and along state highway 56 in the south part of town. The tornado continued moving east destroying two mobile homes southeast of Wewoka before crossing into Hughes County. It caused minor damage to a couple of homes and unroofed a mobile home near State Highway 48. The tornado then turned northeast and apparently merged with the Yeager tornado (see separate Storm Data entry) just northeast of the intersection of State Highway 48 and county road EW129. This tornado was on the ground for 8 miles and had a maximum width of 1/3 of a mile. The tornado was rated F2 (winds estimated between 113 and 157 mph) based on damage in southwest Wewoka including a brick house unroofed and the south exterior wall blown in. Eyewitness reports indicate that this was likely a multiple vortex tornado.

Surveys revealed that this tornado formed about a mile east of the intersection of State Highway 48 and county road EW129. About one mile after touching down, the Wewoka tornado apparently merged with it. This tornado damaged a house and destroyed numerous pecan trees shortly after the merger. The tornado moved east passing one-half mile south of the town of Yeager, but overturning a mobile home and downing power lines along a railroad just south of town. The tornado then began moving east-northeast as it moved south of Yeager. It completely destroyed a mobile home and toppled an oil pumping jack and storage tank east of Yeager. The last damage was a barn damaged 4 miles east of Yeager and the tornado lifted at 815 pm. The Yeager tornado was on the ground for 8 miles with a maximum width of four-tenths of a mile. This tornado was rated F2 (winds estimated between 113 and 157 mph) based on the destruction of a mobile home east of Yeager.

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

22 minutes of warning. NWS OUN issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:13 UTC, 22 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:45 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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 10:33 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 Norman radar (KTLX), 77 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:33 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 1998 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

24 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.