PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK 1150 AM CST TUE MAY 4 1999 ...PRELIMINARY INFORMATION ON THE MAY 3 TORNADO OUTBREAK IN CENTRAL OKLAHOMA... METEOROLOGISTS AND TECHNICIANS FROM THE FOUR NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION...NOAA...UNITS IN NORMAN WILL BE SURVEYING APPROXIMATELY EIGHT DAMAGE TRACKS FROM LAST NIGHT/S TORNADOES IN CENTRAL AND PARTS OF SOUTHWEST OKLAHOMA TODAY. SOME VERY PRELIMINARY INFORMATION ON THE NUMBER OF TORNADOES AND THEIR INTENSITY WILL BE AVAILABLE LATER THIS AFTERNOON. MOST OF THE SURVEY ATTENTION WILL BE FOCUSED ALONG AN APPROXIMATELY 60 MILE LONG TRACK FROM WEST OF CHICKASHA...THROUGH MOORE AND MIDWEST CITY INTO EAST CENTRAL OKLAHOMA COUNTY. ANOTHER VERY LONG TRACK TO BE SURVEYED LIES FROM WEST OF ANADARKO TO JUST WEST OF UNION CITY...BETWEEN YUKON AND EL RENO...THROUGH PIEDMONT...TO MULHALL. OTHER AREAS ARE IN KINGFISHER COUNTY...AND FROM NEAR SHAWNEE TO AROUND STROUD. COMPARING YESTERDAY/S STORM TO PREVIOUS EVENTS... THE MOST DEADLY TORNADO EVENT IN OKLAHOMA CITY BEFORE YESTERDAY WAS ON JUNE 12 IN 1942 WHEN 35 PEOPLE WERE KILLED AND 70 HOMES DAMAGED. WHILE AN INTENSITY HAS YET TO BE ASSIGNED TO YESTERDAY/S TORNADOES...THE STRONGEST IN PREVIOUS OKLAHOMA CITY EVENTS IS F4...WHICH PRODUCES WINDS IN THE 207 TO 260 MPH RANGE. SEVEN F4 TORNADOES HAVE OCCURRED IN THE METRO AREA...MOST RECENTLY ON APRIL 30 IN 1978. THE MOST DEADLY TORNADOES ON REACORD IN OKLAHOMA INCLUDE... WOODWARD...116 FATALITIES ON 4/9/47 SNYDER...97 FATALITIES ON 5/10/05 PEGGS...71 FATALITIES ON 5/2/20 ANTLERS...69 FATALITIES ON 4/12/45 PRYOR...52 FATALITIES ON 4/27/42 OKLAHOMA CITY...35 FATALITIES ON 6/12/42 NORMAN...33 FATALITIES ON 4/25/1893 BETHANY...23 FATALITIES ON 11/19/30 MCALESTER...21 FATALITIES ON 5/8/1882 BLACKWELL...20 FATALITIES ON 5/25/55 THE MOST RECENT TORNADOES IN OKLAHOMA CITY WERE ON OCTOBER 4 IN 1998 WHICH ALSO STRUCK THE CITY OF MOORE...AND ON JUNE 13 IN 1998 WHEN A TORNADO PASSED ACROSS NORTHERN PARTS OF THE METRO AREA AND STRUCK FRONTIER CITY. BOTH OF THESE TORNADOES WERE RATED F2 IN INTENSITY. THOSE TWO TORNADOES WERE THE FIRST TO STRIKE PARTS OF OKLAHOMA CITY SINCE OCTOBER OF 1992...THE SECOND LONGEST STRETCH WITHOUT A TORNADO. THE LONGEST PERIOD OF TIME BETWEEN TORNADOES IN OKLAHOMA CITY WAS FROM JUNE 1981 TO MAY 1986. ===== PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK 510 PM CST TUE MAY 4 1999 ...MORE PRELIMINARY INFORMATION ON THE MAY 3 TORNADO OUTBREAK IN CENTRAL OKLAHOMA... SURVEYS BY NOAA METEOROLOGISTS CONTINUE THIS AFTERNOON...AND WILL RESUME ON WEDNESDAY...HOWEVER PRELIMINARY SURVEY RESULTS INDICATE THAT A PORTION OF THE TORNADO DAMAGE FROM THE BRIDGE CREEK AREA WEST OF NEWCASTLE...INTO THE EAST LAKE ESTATES DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHWEST OKLAHOMA CITY IS IN THE F5 CATEGORY. THIS IMPLIES WIND SPEEDS IN EXCESS OF 260 MPH. THIS WAS PART OF THE TRACK PRIOR TO MOORE AND MIDWEST CITY. ANOTHER VIOLENT TORNADO...RATED F4...OCCURRED AT DOVER IN KINGFISHER COUNTY. A THIRD VIOLENT TORNADO...ALSO RATED F4...OCCURRED THREE MILES EAST OF CRESCENT. A NUMBER OF OTHER SITES HAVE BEEN SURVEYED...INCLUDING... SEMINOLE COUNTY...ONE F2 AND TWO F1 TORNADOES FROM ABOUT ONE MILE EAST OF PINK TO THE NORTHWEST SIDE OF SHAWNEE...TO JUST SOUTH OF MEEKER IN LINCOLN COUNTY. LOGAN COUNTY...F3 DAMAGE FROM JUST SOUTH OF CIMARRON CITY TO MULHALL...WITH THE F4 DAMAGE EMBEDDED EAST OF CRESCENT. KINGFISHER COUNTY...IN ADDITION TO THE F4 AT DOVER...F3 DAMAGE STARTING ABOUT 8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DOVER. TWO OTHERS...RATED F1...FROM A FEW MILES NORTHEAST OF GEARY INTO SOUTHWEST KINGFISHER COUNTY. ANOTHER...RATED F0...ABOUT 4 MILES LONG...WEST AND NORTHWEST OF OKARCHE. CADDO AND GRADY COUNTIES... THE START OF AT LEAST TWO TRACKS IN THE VICINITY OF ANADARKO ARE STILL BEING SURVEYED...BUT INITIAL RATINGS ARE IN THE F1 RANGE. THE START OF THE TRACK LEADING INTO BRIDGE CREEK WAS RATED F3 TO F4 FROM WEST TO NORTH OF CHICKASHA. ===== PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK 430 PM CST WED MAY 5 1999 REPORT ON TORNADO DAMAGE IN SOUTH OKLAHOMA CITY AND MOORE... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SURVEY TEAMS HAVE COMPLETED INITIAL SURVEYS OF TORNADO DAMAGE ACROSS MOORE AND SOUTH OKLAHOMA CITY. THIS REPORT INCLUDES DETAILS ONLY OF THAT PART OF THE DAMAGE TRACK FROM THE SOUTH CANADIAN RIVER... NORTHEAST TO INTERSTATE 240. NOTE THAT ADDITIONAL SURVEY TEAMS ARE CONTINUING TO WORK ON OTHER SEGMENTS OF THIS DAMAGE TRACK... WHICH CURRENTLY IS BELIEVED TO BE CONTINUOUS FROM WEST OF CHICKASHA TO MIDWEST CITY... OVER 40 MILES. ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED ON THESE SEGMENTS... AND ON OTHER TORNADO TRACKS IN THE STATE... AS THE MASSIVE VOLUME OF INFORMATION IS COMPILED. THIS UNPRECEDENTED EVENT WILL BE RECORDED AS AN F5 TORNADO - THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE RATING ON THE FUJITA SCALE OF TORNADO DAMAGE INTENSITY. TORNADOES ARE ASSIGNED A RATING BASED ON THE MAXIMUM DAMAGE INTENSITY OBSERVED... BUT ACTUAL DAMAGE OF THAT INTENSITY GENERALLY ONLY AFFECTS A VERY SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THE TOTAL DAMAGE AREA. F5 DAMAGE IN THIS CASE WAS VERY ISOLATED... BUT THE TORNADO LEFT A CONTINUOUS 4-MILE TRACK OF F4 DAMAGE ACROSS SOUTH OKLAHOMA CITY INTO MOORE. INTERMITTENT F4 DAMAGE CONTINUED NORTHEAST TO INTERSTATE 240. THE TOTAL DAMAGE PATH WAS CONTINUOUS AND AT LEAST ONE HALF MILE WIDE FROM THE SOUTH CANADIAN RIVER 1 TO 2 MILES EAST OF I-44... TO I-240 BETWEEN BRYANT AND SUNNYLANE. THIS IS THE FIRST F5 TORNADO ON RECORD TO AFFECT THE OKLAHOMA CITY METROPOLITAN AREA. SOUTH OKLAHOMA CITY... THE TORNADO CROSSED THE RIVER IN THE SECTION BETWEEN PORTLAND AND MAY... AND BETWEEN SOUTH 164TH STREET /SOUTH 34TH IN MOORE/ AND INDIAN HILLS ROAD. DAMAGE WAS RATED F2 IN THIS AREA... WITH A PATH WIDTH OF ABOUT 1/2 MILE. THE TORNADO INTENSIFIED TO F3 JUST SOUTHWEST OF 149TH AND MAY AVENUE.... MAINTAINING A GENERAL NORTHEASTWARD COURSE. THE TOTAL DAMAGE PATH WIDENED TO ABOUT 3/4 MILE NEAR THIS INTERSECTION. THE PATH OF SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE /F2 OR GREATER/ WAS OVER 1/2 MILE. F4 DAMAGE BEGAN IN THE COUNTRY PLACE ESTATES... JUST SOUTHWEST OF 134TH /OR SOUTH 4TH IN MOORE/ AND PENNSYLVANIA. HOMES WERE TOTALLY LEVELLED IN THE SOUTHEAST PART OF THIS ADDITION. OKLAHOMA CITY POLICE INDICATED THAT PART OF AN AIRPLANE WING... BELIEVED TO HAVE ORIGINATED IN CHICKASHA... LANDED IN THIS AREA. TOTAL PATH WIDTH WAS ABOUT 2/3 MILE... MUCH OF IT F2 OR GREATER. THE WORST DAMAGE SEEN ALONG THIS ENTIRE PART OF THE PATH WAS IN THE EASTLAKE ESTATES... NORTH OF 134TH AND BETWEEN PENN AND WESTERN. ENTIRE ROWS OF HOMES WERE VIRTUALLY FLATTENED TO PILES OF RUBBLE. FOUR ADJACENT HOMES ON ONE STREET WERE VIRTUALLY CLEANED OFF OF THEIR FOUNDATIONS... LEAVING ONLY CONCRETE SLABS. THESE HOMES EARNED THE F5 RATING... BUT THE REMAINING DESTRUCTION IN THIS RESIDENTIAL AREA WAS ON THE HIGH SIDE OF F4. THE DAMAGE PATH JOGGED VERY SLIGHTLY TO THE RIGHT IN THIS AREA... BUT IT MAINTAINED A NORTHEASTWARD TRACK. SURVEY TEAMS DID NOT HAVE DIRECT ACCESS TO SOME OF THE DESTROYED RESIDENTIAL AREAS EAST OF WESTERN AND SOUTH OF 119TH... EAST OF WESTMOORE HIGH SCHOOL. BUT EXAMINATION FROM A DISTANCE CONFIRMED THAT WIDESPREAD F4 DAMAGE CONTINUED THROUGH THIS AREA. LATER EXAMINATION MAY CONFIRM ADDITIONAL F5 DAMAGE IN PART OF THIS AREA. MOORE... THE SECOND SIGNIFICANT TORNADO TO STRIKE MOORE IN 7 MONTHS ENTERED THE CITY LIMITS ALONG SANTA FE NEAR 119TH /12TH STREET IN MOORE/. MAXIMUM DAMAGE... RATED STRONG F4... RAN FROM NEAR NW 13TH AND SANTA FE TO NEAR NW 18TH AND JANEWAY... AND NORTHEAST TO SOUTH SHIELDS JUST NORTH OF THE JUNCTION WITH I-35. TOTAL PATH WIDTH THROUGH NORTH MOORE WAS 2/3 TO 3/4 MILE... WITH F2 OR GREATER DAMAGE NEARLY 1/2 MILE WIDE. SUBSEQUENT REPORTS FROM ENGINEERING SURVEY TEAMS INDICATE THAT SOME OF THE DAMAGE IN MOORE MAY BE UPGRADED TO F5. BASED ON DAMAGE... THE TORNADO APPEARED TO WEAKEN JUST SLIGHTLY AFTER CROSSING I-35. HOWEVER IT REMAINED A FORMIDIBLE STORM WITH WIDESPREAD STRONG F3 DAMAGE... AND ISOLATED LOW-F4 DAMAGE IN THE RESIDENTIAL AREA SOUTH OF THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH ON 27TH STREET. THE CHURCH APPEARED TO ESCAPE WITH RELATIVELY MINOR DAMAGE. THE TOTAL DAMAGE PATH NARROWED BRIEFLY TO LESS THAN 1/2 MILE IN THE AREA OF 27TH BETWEEN I-35 AND EASTERN. THIS MAY HAVE BEEN DUE TO BRIEF WEAKENING... BUT MORE LIKELY IS DUE TO A RELATIVE LACK OF STRUCTURES IN THE AREA NW OF EASTERN AND 27TH. THE TORNADO EVENTUALLY REGAINED STRENGTH AND WIDENED TO ABOUT 3/4 MILE AS IT MOVED TOWARD I-240. SPORADIC F4 DAMAGE WAS FOUND NEAR THE CENTER OF THE DAMAGE PATH SOUTHEAST OF 89TH AND EASTERN... AND AGAIN NEAR I-240 BETWEEN BRYANT AND SUNNYLANE. ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED ON THE DAMAGE NORTHEAST INTO DEL CITY AND MIDWEST CITY... AND FROM NEAR CHICKASHA TO NEAR BRIDGE CREEK AND NEWCASTLE... AS SOON AS IT IS RECEIVED AT THE NWS OFFICE.