F1 tornado, Hester to Altus, Oklahoma, May 31, 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 mphthis tornado

   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

F1

Date

May 31, 1999

Touchdown

8:24 PM CDT (01:24 UTC)

Path length

2.5 miles (4.0 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$10,000

Counties

Jackson and Greer counties

Touchdown point

34.770, -99.450

Lift-off point

34.700, -99.400

Record number

1209

Severe thunderstorms affected much of western Oklahoma and portions of central Oklahoma during the afternoon and evening of May 31st, and the early morning of June 1st. Although 7 tornadoes were confirmed across western Oklahoma, all on the 31st, only 2 of them caused damage. The most extensive damage during this severe weather outbreak was caused by straight-line winds and occurred across southern Kiowa and western Comanche Counties during the evening of the 31st. A very large swath of damaging straight-line winds developed on the west side of Tom Steed Lake in southern Kiowa County and expanded in coverage as it moved through all of southern Kiowa County, at times 10 to 15 miles wide. Power poles and power lines were downed, and a house received 2 broken windows and minor roof damage 3 miles west of Mountain Park. Power lines were downed 4 miles south of Roosevelt. Several trees were downed, and windows were broken at a lumber yard in Snyder, and power lines were reported down on Highway 183 between Snyder and Roosevelt. Major damage was also reported to wheat and cotton crop. Winds across southern Kiowa County were estimated between 80 and 100 mph. This 10-15 mile-wide area of damaging winds continued to move east out of southern Kiowa County and across much of western and central Comanche County. Winds were mostly in the 80 to 100 mph range, however in the Pecan Valley Subdivision located just outside of the northwest Lawton city limits, winds are believed to have reached 110 mph to 130 mph. As the thunderstorm winds spread east across Lawton and Fort Sill, they gradually decreased, but still caused tree, power line, and roof damage. In total, across Comanche County, 5 single family homes were destroyed; 4 single family homes under construction were destroyed; 58 single family homes and 8 businesses sustained major damage; and 150 single family homes sustained minor damage. Damage was estimated at 5 million dollars. Three injuries were also reported.The 1st tornado was reported by the Beckham County Emergency Manager doing no damage (F0) 9 miles south of Erick in Beckham County. The 2nd tornado was reported by a storm chaser 8 miles southeast of Erick in Beckham County and was captured on video. No damage was reported (F0). The 3rd tornado was witnessed by several persons and formed 3 miles southwest of Brinkman in Greer County, however no damage was observed (F0). The 4th tornado was reported by Greer County Emergency Management 3 miles south-southwest of Hester in Greer County. In Hester, a porch roof was ripped off from a house; house siding was blown off, and trees and power lines were downed. No damage was associated with the tornado as it moved into Jackson County and dissipated 1 mile southwest of Martha. This tornado was rated F1 in Greer County and F0 in Jackson County. Two storm chasers observed the 5th tornado as it formed in an open field, 5 miles northeast of Altus in Jackson County. No damage was reported (F0). The 6th tornado was captured on video as it formed about 1/2 mile south of Highway 19 near the North Red River in Kiowa County, or about 9 miles southwest of Roosevelt. Although this tornado was reported to be 1/4 of a mile wide, no structures or trees were affected, so it was rated F0. The last tornado, the 7th of the outbreak, was confirmed by a post-storm damage survey, performed by local law enforcement officials from Alfalfa County. They determined a weak tornado (F0), touched down 3 miles west of Jet. Trees were knocked down from 2 miles west of Jet to 1.5 miles north of Jet, while in a local cemetery, trees were downed, and marble headstones were moved 30 to 40 feet across the street.Straight-line winds were responsible for blowing over 5 aircraft and blowing off 11 hangar doors at Altus Municipal Airport in Jackson County. In addition, 2 barns near the airport were destroyed, and roof damage was reported to several buildings. Also in Jackson County, 1 vehicle sustained major damage in Blair, while several barns were destroyed. In Kiowa County, 3 campers were overturned, and several outbuilding were destroyed near Tom Steed Resorvoir, while in Mountain View, a small building was destroyed, and some tree damage was reported. In Stephens County, several power poles were downed in Duncan, and several trees and power lines were downed in Marlow. A shop was destroyed, and several trees were uprooted 3 miles east of Hunter in Garfield County; 2 power poles were blown down 2 miles north of Cherokee in Alfalfa County, and large tree limbs were downed in Rush Springs in Grady County. Hail to the size of softballs (4.5 inches in diameter) damaged hundreds of homes and vehicles in Alva in Woods County. Lightning struck the back of a 2-story residence in Enid in Garfield County, setting it on fire. Lightning also struck 2 oil tank batteries, 1.5 miles west of Rush Springs in Grady County, setting them on fire. Finally, flooding was reported across portions of Kiowa and Beckham Counties. In Beckham County, a road 2 miles southwest of Delhi was flooded by fast-moving, high water, while in Kiowa County, street flooding was reported in Roosevelt.Only a few reports of large hail occurred during the morning of June 1st, and the specifics can be accessed in June Storm Data.

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

23 minutes of warning. NWS OUN issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:01 UTC, 23 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 Moderate Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 00:56 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 1999 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

21 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.