Moore, Oklahoma Tornado Photos, May 1999

Back to xpda.com


On May 3, 1999, a bunch of tornadoes hit Oklahoma. The worst was in the Oklahoma City area, around Moore, Oklahoma. This was the strongest tornado ever measured. It's probably not the strongest tornado in history, but it's way up there. The wind, probably 200' above ground, was measured at 318 mph. The tornado was on the ground for 14 miles, and was about a mile wide at its widest point. 44 people died and about 500 were injured from this tornado.

Some people from Oklahoma University measured the wind speed using Doppler on Wheels.

Three days later, on May 6, my middle toddler Steven and I flew over the area and took some pictures. It's amazing the way that entire areas of houses were flattened. Not just a few houses, but hundreds. About 1800 houses were destroyed in the Oklahoma City area that night, in addition to lots of other buildings.

Here's a satellite image of that storm developing:

        satellite.jpg

Here's a picture of the storm when it got near Pryor. It wasn't as strong there, but it didn't look very nice:

Img03.jpg

One mile wide is amazing for a tornado, but on June 9, 1971 in the Texas panhandle there was a tornado that reached a width of 2 miles. I think that's the current record.

These photos were taken May 6, 1999, three days after the tornado.

Img07.jpg
Many houses were almost completely gone.
Img08.jpg
Img09.jpg
About 1,800 houses were destroyed in the Oklahoma City area that night.
Img10.jpg
Grass and wheet were ripped up in the path of the tornado.
Img11.jpg
The tornado was on the ground for about 14 miles.
Img12.jpg
Img13.jpg
Img14.jpg
Img16.jpg
Img17.jpg
Img18.jpg
Img19.jpg
Many of the houses in this addition are completely gone.
DSC00003.jpg
DSC00005.jpg
Img06.jpg
Another tornado in the same storm wiped out the Tanger Outlet Mall near Stroud, Oklahoma.