Oklahoma Tornado, May 3rd 1999 (formation of the tornado)
Channel 4’s program on the May 3rd tornado. The F5 tornado killed 44 people in Moore, Oklahoma. There’s an amazing footage showing how the tornado is formed by several funnels merging as one (0:46). This tornado produced the strongest wind speeds ever recorded on Earth, 318 mph.
Tagged with: 1999 • 3rd • city • May • moore • Oklahoma • Tornado
Filed under: Tornado
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wow what a monster that was the king of all F5 tornados
I’m 21 now, but I remember seeing this on tv as well. I live in Tulsa, Oklahoma and I thank GOD that the storm lost its power before it ever got to Tulsa. Stroud was hit pretty bad but Moore was the worst—it looked like a bomb had gone off. I also knew that that day didn’t feel right since the wind was so strong, I thought it was going to rip the classroom door off its hinges. And yes bollock, unfortunately it pretty much takes the cake of all the other storms…well, it felt like it did.
I was nine when this happened playing with my god sister when my neighbor came out telling my mom to turn on the news. about 30 minutes later it started hailing so bad, and the second my dad got home we raced to the storm shelters down the block. I heard the roaring of this tornado, it tore down my school in OKC it was horrible. I mean one moment it’s clear and sunny and the next a tornado comes to tear down the city.
im stunned now
That tornado was such a disasterous one! Without the warnings, the death toll would have been in the hundreds, or even thousands.
One of my relatives had purchased a brand new Mercedes(forgot the model) in April 99, in the storm winds blew tress over and one landed and crushed it making it unrecognizable.
When you see sth like that, onely one thing : GET OUTTA HERE
That thing was *the* f*cking F5 of all F5s…unless you count the Tri-State Tornado (which I personally wouldn’t count due to the fact that there were no warning systems/advanced building structures in those days, whereas today there are sturdier structures and more advanced warning systems).
There’s also the Greensburg tornado that could be counted as a close contender to this one (although the Greensburg twister was like 1.7 miles wide…meh, there are millions of ways you could compare them).
Man, I’ve seen it all. I lived in Louisiana for a couple years when I was young. Experienced several hurricanes, nothing like Katrina, though. No evac was required. Lived in OK for 20+ years. Experienced one tornado that passed over me. Very small F1. Lived in L.A. while going to college. Experienced an earthquake while in class that was 3-something on the Richter scale.
I won’t be going anywhere near volcanoes anytime soon, lol. Whew.
Uh, because they didn’t have a warning system maybe? And probably not too many storm shelters.
Had there been no TV coverage or warning, and no shelters, this tornado would’ve killed thousands.
This was during the day but this storm made it look like midnight.
man i remember that day like it was yesterday…..i was sittin in my living room watchin tv when my dad turned on the evening news we didnt even know bout it till it hit moore and for the next 3 or 4 hours we watched it till it finally hit us…..destroyed our house and most of the neighborhood we lived in……we lived just north of OKC
wow i mean i love tornadoes and i love learing about them. i just hat how peoples lifes can be taken from it i always get excited when there is always some things that might cause a tornado actully where i love(not going to say) there was so close to being a tornado it was like forming it was close to touching the ground but it dident there wasent enough wind and to top it off i was in a movie theather to like if it were to touch the ground who knows what could have happend.
Waco, Texas
Xenia, Ohio
According to the OLD Fujita scale - this was an F6 tornado. F6 goes from 318 to 379mph.
Badass.
When I was just a kid this thing came incredibly close to striking my home-town, but it made a U-turn just as it was coming up to the outskirts.
This was an F5. The scale does not have an F6 category. The scale is based on damage and an F5 leaves nothing more to destroy.
this was such a scary day,i lived in midwest city,a few blocks from del city, where the whole towm was destroy.
The scale is based on wind speed
No it’s damage. At least according to the NOAA, of which the National Weather Service, the department that rates tornadoes, is a branch.
scary
yeah okc moore and norman are like one big city with moore in between them
damn think of all the parents with babies to worry about!
dude this tornado came up to ks later that day and it tore my old house up
This bitch tore up my cousin’s house in Moore.