F2 tornado, Seward to Guthrie, Oklahoma, December 2, 1999

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

December 2, 1999

Touchdown

6:43 PM CST (00:43 UTC)

Path length

12.0 miles (19.3 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

1

Property damage

$280,000

County

Logan County

Touchdown point

35.820, -97.520

Lift-off point

35.980, -97.430

Record number

104

Severe thunderstorm formed first across portions western Oklahoma during the late afternoon of the 2nd and moved into the central Oklahoma during the evening. As these storms reached central Oklahoma, straight-line winds caused minor tree damage 5 miles northwest of Edmond in northwest Oklahoma County. At 1836 CST, a tornado formed 5 miles southwest of Seward in Logan County, near Western and Simmons Road where a shed was damaged. The tornado, rated F1, then tracked north-northeast for 4 miles before dissipating 1 mile southwest of Seward. Tree damage was observed at a home along Sante Fe Avenue, and a sign was damaged at Sante Fe and EW86 Road. The tornado continued north-northeast inflicting tree damage as it crossed EW85 Road between Santa Fe and Kelley, then dissipated between EW85 and EW84 Roads. Near the end of the tornado's path, a one-mile width of straight-line wind damage, consisting of scattered, light tree damage, was observed southwest of Seward along EW85 Road and between Sante Fe and Kelley Roads. Small trees were also damaged by straight-line winds near the intersection of Sante Fe and Seward Road, or about 1.5 miles west of Seward.Another tornado then formed in Logan County about 6 miles southwest of downtown Guthrie along Kelley Avenue and about 1.2 miles south of Prarie Grove Road, where outbuildings received light damage. Very light damage was noted on Prairie Grove Road between Kelley and Broadway, and three power poles were downed along Industrial Road. The tornado crossed State Highway 33 where power poles were again downed. As it crossed State Highway 33, the tornado moved into the Cimarron National Golf Course and tracked down the 16th fairway. There was widespread tree damage along the eastern-most four holes of the golf course, and light damage to an outbuilding on the fringe of the tornado's path. The tornado then moved into a neighborhood adjacent to the golf course where a number of homes were damaged. One house, located on Canyon Road, suffered significant damage (rated F2) with most of the roof removed and some light damage to the walls. There was a minor injury reported at this home where a woman was cut by flying glass as she ran to take shelter. Two adjacent houses suffered roof damage. The framing to one home under construction was knocked off-center, and another house under construction received roof damage. The homes in this area looked to be well-built and of typical construction for newer homes. As the tornado traveled north-northeast, an old farmhouse on College Avenue received some minor roof and wall damage before the tornado crossed the Cimarron River. On the north side of the river, a mobile home roof was peeled off, and a permanent home received some minor damage along EW76 Road just to the east of NS311 Road. From this point northeast, damage was confined to trees in this rural area of Logan County. The tornado is believed to have crossed US Highway 77 once, and then dissipated in the Cimarron River Valley, traveling a distance of 12 miles.The third and final tornado of the day formed near EW55 Road and west of NS323 Road, or about 5 miles south-southeast of Perry in Noble County Oklahoma along North Stillwater Creek, producing tree damage. The tornado passed just west of the intersection of EW54 Road and NS323 Road, where a residential windmill and a hay barn were destroyed. Several 1500 pound cylindrical hay bales were blown 100 feet. The width of damage was estimated at 50 to 75 yards at this point. Sheet metal from the hay barn originally at this location was found 1/2 to 3/4 mile to the northeast along the west side of NS323 Road. Across the street (east) from the sheet metal remains of the hay barn, a metal frame/sheet metal exterior hay barn was pushed over to the north and the roof removed. One half mile north on EW53 Road, two wood utility poles were down. Sheet metal debris and grass caught in the barb wire fence indicated winds from the south-southwest. A total of 19 metal utility poles were blown over to the north along EW51 Road. The tornado crossed U.S. Highway 64 three miles east of downtown Perry, or at the intersection of NS324 Road. Damage width was estimated at 100 yards. A pole barn building used for auto repair was destroyed. Construction of this building consisted of 6x6 wooden uprights embedded in cement with a sheet metal exterior. Most of the building was carried away with a small amount of debris deposited on the north side of the slab. The owner stated that some of the 6x6 uprights were rotted near the footings. Across NS324 Road to the east of the auto repair building, a sheet metal hay barn lost its roof, and several smaller outbuildings were destroyed. Across Highway 64 to the northwest, a home suffered minor tree damage; a satellite dish was blown over and bent, and there was major damage to an outbuilding which was pushed over from the southwest. The tornado continued north crossing EW49 Road removing the roof from a hay barn and causing extensive tree damage. This F0 to low end F1 damage occurred in a 300 yard wide path at this point. One mile north on EW48 Road, a pole barn lost its roof and three walls, and extensive tree damage was noted. Two miles north, just south of EW46 Road, widespread, major tree damage was observed in a grove of trees along Black Bear Creek, and also on EW46 Road, where a hay barn filled with hay was destroyed. The tornado weakened rapidly after this point as it moved northeast, with the damage path ending somewhere just west of Red Rock Road (NS327 Road) and north of EW45 Road.Northward in Kay County, straight-line winds destroyed a shed 4 miles east of Ponca City, and power lines were downed in Kaw City, while in Pottawatomie County power lines and 1 tree were downed at Wolverine and Leo Streets in downtown Shawnee, interrupting power to about 300 residences. Also in Shawnee, lightning struck a high-voltage conductor which fell onto a power line leading into several homes. Many of these homes received damage to appliances and electrical systems.

Refer to summary at end of Dec 2nd storm reports for more information.

Refer to summary at end of Dec 2nd storm reports for more information.

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

13 minutes of warning. NWS OUN issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:30 UTC, 13 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:00 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 19:10 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.

Guthrie (GOK), 8 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Norman radar (KTLX), 66 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:45 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 1999 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

4 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.