F4 Moore tornado, Oklahoma, May 8, 2003

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 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 mphthis tornado

   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

F4

Date

May 8, 2003

Touchdown

5:10 PM CDT (22:10 UTC)

Path length

17.3 miles (27.8 km)

Path width

700 yards (640 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

134

Property damage

$370 million

Counties

Cleveland and Oklahoma counties

Touchdown point

35.330, -97.530

Lift-off point

35.470, -97.250

Record number

1130

Two tornadic supercells produced four tornadoes during the afternoon hours of May 8, 2003. One supercell produced three tornadoes that affected Moore, southern Oklahoma City, Midwest City, and Choctaw. A few locations in Moore and southeast Oklahoma City had also been hit by an F5 tornado that moved through the area on May 3, 1999. The General Motors Plant in southeast Oklahoma City sustained some of the most significant damage. This event was the second tornadic event of the day. Several tornadoes moved across south central Oklahoma during the early morning hours of May 8th (refer to appropriate data). This event was also the first of two days in a row where the Oklahoma City Metropolitan area was affected by tornadoes (refer to May 9, 2003 data). These thunderstorms developed near and along a strong dryline located across central Oklahoma.

This is the first segment of a tornado that began in Cleveland County and moved into Oklahoma County before dissipating 2.5 miles south-southeast of Choctaw. The tornado began in the area of Northwest 5th Street and Santa Fe Avenue in Moore, near the Church of Latter Day Saints. Damage intensities increased quickly to F2 and isolated F3 as the tornado, initially narrow, moved east along 5th street. Substantial structural damage in this initial touchdown area was confined to homes on the north side of 5th Street, just east of Santa Fe. Homes on the south side of 5th, and those on 6th Street one block to the north, were relatively undamaged.The damage track then widened quickly to nearly one-fifth of a mile as the tornado turned more to the northeast through residential areas, crossing Markwell Avenue between North 2nd and North 7th Streets. The most significant damage on Markwell, rated F2, was at North 6th Street. Continuing northeast and widening to nearly a quarter of a mile, the tornado crossed Janeway Avenue between Dillon Avenue (south edge) and 12th Street (north edge). Maximum damage on Janeway was to homes near 8th Street, and was rated F2.Damage intensity increased to F3 as the tornado approached 12th Street between Janeway and Interstate 35. A commercial building on the south side of 12th suffered F3 damage, as did several homes on the north side of 12th Street at City Avenue where several homes lost most of their outside walls. Maximum damage intensity on Sunrise Avenue (north of 12th and one block east of City Ave.) was rated strong F2 and consisted mostly of homes being partially or totally unroofed. Several vehicles were tossed into front yards, and in one case nearly into the front of a home.The worst damage produced within the city of Moore was as the tornado approached west sides of Interstate 35, just north of 12th Street. Damage in this area included major damage to two hotels, the First Christian Church, the Young Child Development Center, a Project Headstart building, an office building, and several restaurants. The church, child care center, and office building were leveled. The two hotels, both two-story, had their second floors partially or totally removed by the tornado. At least a half dozen vehicles were tossed in this area, with evidence suggesting that some of them may have traveled 100 yards or more. Had the leveled buildings here shown evidence of better construction, damage might have been rated F4. As it was, damage here was rated strong F3.A southbound moving Greyhound bus was hit by the tornado as it crossed Interstate 35. The bus was carrying twenty-three passengers, some of which chose to disembark to take cover in a ditch while others chose to stay on the bus. The bus rolled several times jostling passengers around the interior. Passengers were trapped between crushed seats and buckled walls while others were left hanging upside down and out broken windows. Of those that hid in the ditch, eleven were injured by flying debris. Eight passengers that stayed on the bus were also injured. Most of the injuries to the passengers were minor.The tornado crossed Interstate 35 0.25 to 0.50 miles north of 12th Street, damaging or destroying several businesses along Broadway, just east of the interstate. Intensity dropped to F2 in this area, but the path width remained close to a quarter of a mile. The tornado continued northeast across south and east parts of the Highland Park residential area, causing F1 and spotty F2 damage. The tornado weakened to F1 intensity and turned slightly to the north-northeast as it crossed Pole Road and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks near and just south of Northeast 27th Street.It should be noted that the damage track of this tornado through Moore was nearly parallel to, and generally a quarter of a mile or less south of, the track of the F5 tornado that struck Moore on 3 May 1999. In fact, Highland Park also suffered extensive damage from the May 3rd tornado, but that damage was mainly in the north and west parts of the area. The damage track through Highland Park on 8 May 2003 was roughly two blocks farther south.The tornado crossed Northeast 27th between Pole Road and Eastern Avenue and continued northeast, crossing Eastern at the Lakeside Golf Course, just east of Eastern and straddling the Oklahoma City and Moore city limits. This golf course also took a direct hit from the tornado on 3 May 1999, and from this point northeastward for about one mile, the two tornado tracks overlapped. The tornado, at this point F1, continued northeast from the golf course into an open field just south of Southeast 89th Street, then struck the northwest part of a subdivision just south of 89th Street and west of Bryant Avenue. More than a dozen residences, including duplexes and single-family homes, were heavily damaged or destroyed in this area. The same northwest part of this subdivision was hit hard on 3 May 1999; many of the homes damaged or destroyed on 8 May had been rebuilt and were less than four years old.This tornado continued into Oklahoma County becoming an F4 and traveling a total of 17.3 miles.

This is the final segment of a tornado that moved east-northeast from Cleveland County, 1.5 miles west-northwest of Moore, into Oklahoma County crossing the county line at Southeast 89th Street. The western edge of the damage path along SE 89th Street was about halfway between Eastern Avenue and Bryant Avenue and the eastern edge of the damage path was just east of Bryant Avenue. As the tornado approached Sunnylane Road, it produced significant damage to a manufacturing and distribution plant just west of Sunnylane along Southeast 85th Street. Six people were in the plant when the tornado struck, but were able to seek shelter in a safe room and nobody was injured at the plant. The manufacturing part of the complex was a large, free-span structure that was destroyed. The adjoining office part of the complex to the south was a brick structure that received significant damage to the exterior walls. To the east of the plant along the east side of Sunnylane Road, a car was flipped over. Between Sunnylane Road and Sooner Road, the tornado traveled through an open area narrowly missing a residential area. But as it crossed Sooner Road, it damaged or destroyed a number of businesses including a convenience store and a bank to the south of Interstate 240.The tornado continued east-northeast crossing Interstate 240 and Southeast 74th Street. Along SE 74th, a number of businesses received significant damage including a storage facility, a boat dealership, a Mary Kay Training Center, and a trucking company.Crossing Air Depot Boulevard, the tornado moved onto the property of the General Motors Corporation Assembly Plant causing significant (F4) damage to the plant. A newly built paint shop sustained the heaviest damage exposing equipment and new production parts to the weather. The body shop, power house, and a couple of cooling tanks also sustained significant damage. The stack of one of the boilers was also sheared off. More than 600 newly assembled sport utility vehicles parked outside the plant were damaged or destroyed. Approximately 100 employee vehicles were also damaged with one compact car being flipped vertically and wedged into the side of the paint shop. Two truck drivers making deliveries to the plant sustained minor injuries. However, the more than one thousand plant employees remained uninjured by moving to shelter well before the tornado struck. The nearby United Auto Workers Union headquarters was also heavily damaged in this area.The tornado moved into the southeast section of Tinker Air Force Base, including the south part of the runway complex. An ammunition storage bunker and a guard shack at the gate near Southeast 59th Street and Douglas Boulevard were heavily damaged. The guards and other personnel were able to seek shelter in an underground shelter. After crossing Douglas Boulevard, the tornado continued to slowly veer to the northeast and damaged homes along Berryman Road. The tornado continued to damage homes and downing trees and power lines. Strong F2 to F3 damage was observed on the west side of Post Road to the south of Southeast 44th Street.A number of homes were significantly damaged or destroyed in the north part of the Kennington neighborhood, which is located southeast of Southeast 44th Street and Post Road. Two homes in the north part of the neighborhood were completely destroyed consistent with F4 damage. One of these was a two story home with no roof or walls remaining. Two cars from the garage of a residence on the west side of Kennington Lane were found about 50 yards to the east. Another home farther east was destroyed, although walls remained intact. Other homes were severely damaged. The tornado continued across SE 44th Street and Interstate 40 and went into a residential area just west of Westminister Road. Homes were damaged on Newey Avenue, Randy Street, and Rowlett Avenue with the most significant damage near the intersection of Randy Street and Rowlett Avenue where house damage consistent with an F3 rating was observed. The tornado was likely a multiple-vortex tornado in this area as some of the damage in this area was inconsistent with a single cyclonic rotation.The tornado crossed Westminister Road and damaged more homes along Burning Oaks Drive. F3 damage occurred to a few homes along Burning Oaks Drive between Westminister and Twisted Oaks Drive. To the northeast, homes in another residential area on Southeast 32nd Street were significantly damaged and a number of large trees were also downed. Damage continued to the northeast crossing Anderson Road and Southeast 29th Street moving into the city of Midwest City. There were no known structures to hit as the tornado traveled northeast from near SE 29th and Anderson Road to Hiwassee Road. Significant tree damage was observed and one structure was damaged (F1) along Hiwassee Road just to the south of Southeast 15th Street. A large number of power poles and large trees were downed along SE 15th Street to the east of Hiwassee.To the north of Southeast 15th Street, the tornado moved into the "Hidden Valley" residential area of the city of Choctaw. The only known injury in Choctaw occurred where a woman suffered a broken leg as one home on Hidden Valley Lane was destroyed (F4). Two homes under construction were also destroyed. The tornado was narrower in this area. Other homes in the neighborhood were damaged along Willow Drive, Hummingbird Drive, and Kingbird Drive. In eastern portions of the neighborhood, significant tree damage continued, although there was no significant structural damage. The tornado turned more to the east-northeast again and crossed Henney Road and approached Choctaw Road near Southeast 10th Street where more homes were damaged. The tornado weakened as it moved east-northeast and dissipated southwest of Indian Meridian Road and Reno Avenue.This tornado carved a total path of 17.3 miles moving across the Oklahoma City Metropolitan area with the most significant damage (F4) occurring in Oklahoma County.

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

21 minutes of warning. NWS OUN issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:49 UTC, 21 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:45 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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:14 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), 13 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:10 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 2003 tornado in OklahomaEvery tornado in Oklahoma since 1950Warnings in force in Oklahoma nowThe forecast where you are

46 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.