F0 tornado, Custer City, Oklahoma, April 2, 1999

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

April 2, 1999

Touchdown

9:55 PM CST (03:55 UTC)

Path length

1.1 miles (1.8 km)

Path width

10 yards (9 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$10,000

County

Custer County

Touchdown point

35.700, -98.880

Lift-off point

35.700, -98.880

Record number

902

Severe thunderstorms affected much of western and central Oklahoma from the afternoon of the 2nd through the early morning of the 3rd. Six tornadoes were confirmed, 5 of which occurred in west-central and southwest Oklahoma. There were also numerous reports of large hail and damaging straight-line winds. The first tornado developed in Noble County at 1545 CST and was witnessed by a member of the Noble County Sheriff's Department who said it developed a short distance southwest of the Cimarron Turnpike near Sooner Lake. The tornado then moved across the highway and quickly dissipated over the western edge of Sooner Lake. No damage was reported with this tornado (F0). The Butler Fire Department and 2 nearby homeowners witnessed the 2nd tornado, an F0, develop near Foss Lake in Custer County knocking down large tree limbs. Local media witnessed the 3rd tornado touching down about 8 miles southwest of Bloomington in Greer County near the Harmon/Greer County line. The tornado, an F1, tracked to the northeast for 7.5 miles, damaging barns, grain storage bins, and Quonset hut-type buildings. The 4th tornado, an F1, was witnessed by several people developing near the Greer/Beckham County border and tracking northeast for nearly 6 miles before dissipating about 2 miles southwest of Carter in Beckham County. Damage was mainly confined to near US 283, near the beginning of the tornado path. Grain silos and a barn were damaged; an ostrich building was unroofed, and tractor windows were broken. Minor roof damage also occurred to a house. Little or no damage was observed in Beckham County. The 5th tornado, rated an F1, developed on the west side of Dill City in Washita County and ripped most of the roof off a well-constructed brick home. A storage shed in the neighbor's yard was destroyed, and numerous trees and power lines were downed. The 6th and last tornado was witnessed by a Custer County Sheriff's Deputy touching down briefly in a wheat field 2 miles north of Custer City, with no significant damage (F0).In addition to the tornadoes, baseball-size hail fell in Roger Mills County 8 miles south of Hammon. Several mobile homes were severely damaged. Two semis were blown over on Interstate 40 four miles west of Canute in Washita County near mile marker 42. Three people were treated for minor injuries. Power poles were also blown down in Canute, and in Butler, which is in Custer County. Numerous trees were blown down in Mountain View in Kiowa County, while minor roof damage occurred to several buildings on Monroe Ave. and Piedmont Rd. in Piedmont in Canadian County. Power poles, signs, and a barn were also damaged in Piedmont. In Kingfisher in Kingfisher County, 6 mobile homes were damaged in the Major Home Park; 3 barns and a chicken house were destroyed; numerous pine trees were downed; 3 pine trees were snapped behind Southside Auto; power was knocked out for 3 hours; extensive tree damage occurred in the park; a golf cart storage building sustained roof damage; portable corrals were blown over on Lemon Rd, and numerous billboard signs were blown down. A few homes were damaged, and a tree was downed in Perkins in Payne County. Also in Payne County, 8 miles southeast of Glencoe, 3 outbuildings and pick-up trailer were destroyed; a trampoline was blown away; trees were downed, and minor damage occurred to roof shingles. A metal barn and fence were destroyed, and 3 power poles were downed in Meeker in Lincoln County, while in Ponca City in Kay County a roof was blown off a building; 4 power poles were downed; and windows were broken on West Grand Ave. and North Second Street; numerous traffice signals were blown down, one onto a car, and numerous homes received minor roof damage. A woman also received minor injuries when she stepped on a piece of broken glass.Minor flooding occurred 2 miles northeast of Tonkawa in Kay County, where the intersection of Highway 70 and Highway 177 was flooded, and also in Ponca City, also in Kay County, where the intersection of Waverly and Hubbard was closed due to high water.

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

44 minutes of warning. NWS OUN issued a tornado warning for this county at 03:11 UTC, 44 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 04:00 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 Moderate Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 00:43 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 live radar over the trackEvery 1999 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

6 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.