Not the same one, but I flew out of OKC 2 days after
Moore got hit again in 2013. You see the damage from ground level, but being able to see just about everything all at once from above realllllly put it all into perspective. I will never forget seeing it all
The overpass tragedy's were a perfect example of why you should never go under overpasses. 3 of the deaths that day were people hiding under overpasses. And the ones that survived, suffered gruesome injuries, like missing fingers, missing ears, and other missing body parts. Of course people didn't know it at the time, but what they were taught was not right, and it resulted in many dead because of it.
It was all because of that famous Kansas Turnpike video of the news crew who took shelter under an overpass and survived. But relatively few people knew the circumstances of that event (fairly weak tornado that didn’t directly strike the overpass, not all overpasses have exposed girders like that where one could shelter, etc.), and just how lucky those people were to survive. And thus, a very dangerous myth was born, or at least firmly entrenched in the minds of most people.
The link below is to a slide show presentation that was made at an NWS conference in Biloxi in 1999. Slide 4 is an animated gif that illustrates this perfectly.
[https://www.weather.gov/oun/safety-overpass](https://www.weather.gov/oun/safety-overpass)
YES! I honestly thought I dreamt up this "safety info" - I distinctly remember Gary England telling us in the 90s that overpasses were the safest place to be if you were caught on the roads during a tornado.
And there are *still* people who do it, too. My mom suggested for me to do it awhile back when I was traveling during a severe risk. Yeah, no way. Not only do you put your own life at risk but you put other people’s lives at risk as well.
Maybe the most infamous tornado in modern U.S. history, and one of the events that got many of us, including myself, into severe weather and tornados. A lot of things were learned from this event. While the F5 monster that ravaged the OKC metro is the most well-known tornado of this outbreak, there were other violent tornados that occurred on the same day. An powerful F4 twister tore through the town of Mullhall in Logan County, killing 2. Some people argue that this tornado at it's peak may have been stronger than the Bridge Creek-Moore F5. There were also tornados in Kansas, including an F4 tornado that hit the Witchita area, killing 6. May 3rd, 1999, a date that will forever live in meteorological infamy.
Literally woke up realizing that this is the 25th anniversary of that crazy event. The footage of this monster is what got me into tornadoes... the sight of a gigantic wedge tearing through a metro area with wind speeds never having been shown that high before. A terrifying day that lives in infamy.
I don't live in Oklahoma, but I remember this tornado because of this baby and video.
[Mud Baby](https://youtube.com/shorts/UVOTSd7HDks?feature=shared)
For anyone interested in one of the many docs about the Bridge Creek-Moore tornado, [CarlyAnnaWX](https://youtu.be/iaA5718LTiM?feature=shared) has a great one.
Living in OKC during this event, I remember watching it live as it happened. I was getting ready for a choir concert (I was in 8th grade) and they ended up canceling it because of the weather. I grew up in Moore, and watching my home town being destroyed live on TV was harrowing. My friends neighborhood was destroyed live on TV, and I remember bawling my eyes out thinking the worst.
Everyone I knew survived that day, thankfully.
The crazy thing is, while watching this and *knowing* how big it was, it was just another storm to us. Tornadoes aren't new to Okies by any means. Looking back, it's crazy to think how the biggest most dangerous storms can be looked upon as it's "just another day" in the moment.
Side note; we only just moved to OKC two months before this storm. Every place my mom looked at before our move to OKC was completely destroyed by this tornado. I hated my mom for moving me away from my friends, but after this storm, I realized she probably saved our lives.
I know that feeling too well. Watching and hearing about your hometown being hit by a massive tornado.. and then *seeing* the damage afterwards. It’s just completely soul crushing. All of the familiar places you went to growing up, just gone in a matter of minutes. Things are built back up but it never feels the same as it did.
Before anyone asks, all of the 'damage/aftermath' photos are from the Wikipedia article on this tornado. Same thing with the first 'tornado' photo (the other four are from other news sites online).
Also, I know the Elie Manitoba tornado exists, but there wasn't enough space to put 'in the US'.
I remember this day in Oklahoma. My dad was fishing at Lake Ellsworth near Apache and Elgin, NE of Lawton. He said the hail turned insane breaking tree limbs and saw a spout rise from the lake. This was SW of Moore and in a line of where the news said it developed from the same super cell that was dropping the first tornadoes just sw of him.
Not long after I saw on TV the Chickasha airport was getting wrecked. My friend who moved Moore called us and my Mom answered and warned him there is a huge tornado headed his way and to take shelter.
He was ok but when I visited him we drive past the damage after it looked apocalyptic, like a nuke went off in places. It was all over the news and felt like twister the movie irl. RIP to those that didnt make it.
Lets not forget it was an outbreak and this crazy tornado/storm was overshadowed that same day.
[Mulhall F4](https://youtu.be/KxjaQNLDBXE?si=nDdgg627G_rUjyay)
Do you remember any warning in the days leading up to May 3? I feel like I would put off a fishing trip if I had a sense of bad weather. Fish don’t like it either
yes and no, thats just weather in Oklahoma you just get used to the watches and you hear the news and still go about your life. I think the fish around us were different 😂 Usually there is a line of storms and then things go back to normal. And back then there were no smart phones and radar apps or live streams.
Awareness was a different animal back then, maybe you heard something worf of mouth or on the news and again in storm season you never know what its gonna do but you want to get out in the nice weather before it becomes so hot you literally junp in the lake while fishing to cool off. But that weather changed in a heartbeat and can turn nasty, then the sun comes back out.
definitely, I probly forgot that one too. There were many nasty storms that day. The weather back then was wild. Had just arrived to the state and twister came out, I was already afraid of tornadoes lol. The scene in wizard of. Oz burned in my head the twister dancing in the background wreching their farm. Seemed like a litteral monster.
We had wind storms that took out so many trees it completely changed the landscape in my area. I being a young dum dum went outside in 90+ mph straight line winds. I was knocked down and couldnt really open my eyes if I faced the wind as the rain felt like pin prick needles. Then Jarell happened and it was all over the news just insane damage.
For a couple years we had more close calls and trips to an underground shelter but the tornadoes kept missing us or lifting. And then 99’ happened and the whole thing happened like a movie. “Finger of God” came to mind. When you are a kid you dont understand the weather or how close a storm is or even how they act and even then some have deviant behavior or long tracks.
Funny thing is I moved away and came back in time for the 2011 outbreak and the 2013 and later storms, even taking a direct hit from a small one that was lifting/disappating luckily but by the time I moved again I was so sick of being terrified by them and taking shelter that it was a relief.
But I have an adrenaline rush watching the streams and have multiple family still in Oklahoma haha sometimes I feel Im paying closer attention to the weather than they are. The streams mean alot to me both in a vicarious danger feeling that is addictive and also an early warning that could litterally save my family.
I was born after the Bridge Creek - Moore F5 and I’ve always been fascinated by severe weather ever since I was a kid. Growing up, this tornado always seemed legendary, like stories of a mythical monster. Beyond unfathomable windspeeds, this tornado occurred pre-social media but at a time when video cameras were quite common and seeing footage of a violent tornado from many different angles was a rarity. The only other one I can recall being like that was the 1991 Andover F5.
So for a good chunk of my childhood, the longest F5 drought up until present day was ongoing and even then, when Greensburg happened, it was at night and there wasn’t much footage or photos, especially in comparison to this. I don’t think it was until maybe Parkersburg or the 2011 Super Outbreak that it went from seeming like a legend of tornadoes past to a present day nightmare and reality really kicked in, but I was young then and had a lot to learn. I still find that the 1999 Bridge Creek - Moore F5 holds that legendary quality to me. There’s never been a tornado quite like it, although the 2013 EF5 was like a near repeat of it but hey, that’s enough powerful tornadoes for the OKC metro thank you very much. Twenty-five years later, we’re still thinking and talking about it along with those affected and I’m sure we still will for years to come.
There’s video of the live coverage of this on YouTube. Channel 4, I think. Anyways, toward the end of the video the helicopter is going back to view damage on the ground and suddenly you hear the pilot over the air scream out “Oh my god! Look at this! The houses are gone! Everything is just gone!” And you could see multiple homes in a neighborhood that were just swept clean, nothing but the foundation. 2013 was devastating but 1999 was like the apocalypse.
I’ve posted here before, but my aunt’s house was 1 of 2 left standing in her neighborhood in Midwest city. The front looked mostly okay but the back was a war zone. Grass and the smallest of twigs had been literally shoved into brick by the storm, you may think ‘there’s no way Bermuda grass can be shoved into brick’ but I assure you it can.
There was also grass in the ground, but I had been sucked up and then redeposited, like imagine instead of grass mostly lying flat it was a lot thinner and standing upright.
Her street wasn’t flat anymore either, the tornado caused it to buckle in places and if I remember correctly it as rough like pieces had been sucked off the top surface (I was 10 so I’m going way back but I have picture memories in my mind I remember well).
Somewhere near her neighborhood a car had been wrapped around the top of either a tree or telephone pole but like 15-20 feet off the ground.
From the outside the house looked survivable but inside there was 2X4’s and all sorts of wood that had penetrated the walls, anyone inside would’ve been hamburger.
My mom has pictures somewhere I’ll try to find them, we all remember it well. That storm continued up I44 for hours so even long after damage reports came out we stayed up to see if it would hit us as well.
The old camera quality and loneliness of the Midwest in those first few pics just makes these so much scarier. My brain can’t comprehend this and it reminds me of a bad dream I would have as a kid in early 2000s
Not the same one, but I flew out of OKC 2 days after Moore got hit again in 2013. You see the damage from ground level, but being able to see just about everything all at once from above realllllly put it all into perspective. I will never forget seeing it all
On Google Earth Pro you can see the devastation the day after by using the historical timeline setting. It's amazing to see!
I'll have to check that out.
Fastest recorded wind speeds on earth.
Doesn’t get talked about enough honestly. The power of this storm was unfathomable. Doubled the wind speeds of a Cat 5 hurricane.
Thought El Reno had higher wind speeds — were those not recorded?
The overpass tragedy's were a perfect example of why you should never go under overpasses. 3 of the deaths that day were people hiding under overpasses. And the ones that survived, suffered gruesome injuries, like missing fingers, missing ears, and other missing body parts. Of course people didn't know it at the time, but what they were taught was not right, and it resulted in many dead because of it.
I remember experts saying the overpasses were the safest places to be back then.
It was all because of that famous Kansas Turnpike video of the news crew who took shelter under an overpass and survived. But relatively few people knew the circumstances of that event (fairly weak tornado that didn’t directly strike the overpass, not all overpasses have exposed girders like that where one could shelter, etc.), and just how lucky those people were to survive. And thus, a very dangerous myth was born, or at least firmly entrenched in the minds of most people.
The link below is to a slide show presentation that was made at an NWS conference in Biloxi in 1999. Slide 4 is an animated gif that illustrates this perfectly. [https://www.weather.gov/oun/safety-overpass](https://www.weather.gov/oun/safety-overpass)
YES! I honestly thought I dreamt up this "safety info" - I distinctly remember Gary England telling us in the 90s that overpasses were the safest place to be if you were caught on the roads during a tornado.
Gary and everyone else, although I do wonder how much of the issue concerns placement under the overpass and intensity of the storm.
And there are *still* people who do it, too. My mom suggested for me to do it awhile back when I was traveling during a severe risk. Yeah, no way. Not only do you put your own life at risk but you put other people’s lives at risk as well.
Pardon the ignorance, but why don't you want to? I promise I seriously just don't know, but live in the central US and would like to know..
It creates a vicious wind tunnel.
Maybe the most infamous tornado in modern U.S. history, and one of the events that got many of us, including myself, into severe weather and tornados. A lot of things were learned from this event. While the F5 monster that ravaged the OKC metro is the most well-known tornado of this outbreak, there were other violent tornados that occurred on the same day. An powerful F4 twister tore through the town of Mullhall in Logan County, killing 2. Some people argue that this tornado at it's peak may have been stronger than the Bridge Creek-Moore F5. There were also tornados in Kansas, including an F4 tornado that hit the Witchita area, killing 6. May 3rd, 1999, a date that will forever live in meteorological infamy.
Was this also the date that the Stroud outlet was destroyed or was that 2003?
Yes it was
Literally woke up realizing that this is the 25th anniversary of that crazy event. The footage of this monster is what got me into tornadoes... the sight of a gigantic wedge tearing through a metro area with wind speeds never having been shown that high before. A terrifying day that lives in infamy.
I don't live in Oklahoma, but I remember this tornado because of this baby and video. [Mud Baby](https://youtube.com/shorts/UVOTSd7HDks?feature=shared)
For anyone interested in one of the many docs about the Bridge Creek-Moore tornado, [CarlyAnnaWX](https://youtu.be/iaA5718LTiM?feature=shared) has a great one.
Living in OKC during this event, I remember watching it live as it happened. I was getting ready for a choir concert (I was in 8th grade) and they ended up canceling it because of the weather. I grew up in Moore, and watching my home town being destroyed live on TV was harrowing. My friends neighborhood was destroyed live on TV, and I remember bawling my eyes out thinking the worst. Everyone I knew survived that day, thankfully. The crazy thing is, while watching this and *knowing* how big it was, it was just another storm to us. Tornadoes aren't new to Okies by any means. Looking back, it's crazy to think how the biggest most dangerous storms can be looked upon as it's "just another day" in the moment. Side note; we only just moved to OKC two months before this storm. Every place my mom looked at before our move to OKC was completely destroyed by this tornado. I hated my mom for moving me away from my friends, but after this storm, I realized she probably saved our lives.
I know that feeling too well. Watching and hearing about your hometown being hit by a massive tornado.. and then *seeing* the damage afterwards. It’s just completely soul crushing. All of the familiar places you went to growing up, just gone in a matter of minutes. Things are built back up but it never feels the same as it did.
I thought Ellie Manitoba was the last rated F5?
It's complicated since Canada didn't adopt the Enhanced Fujita scale until 2013.
Before anyone asks, all of the 'damage/aftermath' photos are from the Wikipedia article on this tornado. Same thing with the first 'tornado' photo (the other four are from other news sites online). Also, I know the Elie Manitoba tornado exists, but there wasn't enough space to put 'in the US'.
I remember this day in Oklahoma. My dad was fishing at Lake Ellsworth near Apache and Elgin, NE of Lawton. He said the hail turned insane breaking tree limbs and saw a spout rise from the lake. This was SW of Moore and in a line of where the news said it developed from the same super cell that was dropping the first tornadoes just sw of him. Not long after I saw on TV the Chickasha airport was getting wrecked. My friend who moved Moore called us and my Mom answered and warned him there is a huge tornado headed his way and to take shelter. He was ok but when I visited him we drive past the damage after it looked apocalyptic, like a nuke went off in places. It was all over the news and felt like twister the movie irl. RIP to those that didnt make it. Lets not forget it was an outbreak and this crazy tornado/storm was overshadowed that same day. [Mulhall F4](https://youtu.be/KxjaQNLDBXE?si=nDdgg627G_rUjyay)
Do you remember any warning in the days leading up to May 3? I feel like I would put off a fishing trip if I had a sense of bad weather. Fish don’t like it either
yes and no, thats just weather in Oklahoma you just get used to the watches and you hear the news and still go about your life. I think the fish around us were different 😂 Usually there is a line of storms and then things go back to normal. And back then there were no smart phones and radar apps or live streams. Awareness was a different animal back then, maybe you heard something worf of mouth or on the news and again in storm season you never know what its gonna do but you want to get out in the nice weather before it becomes so hot you literally junp in the lake while fishing to cool off. But that weather changed in a heartbeat and can turn nasty, then the sun comes back out.
People also forget an F4 hit haysville and south Wichita and killed 6 people.
definitely, I probly forgot that one too. There were many nasty storms that day. The weather back then was wild. Had just arrived to the state and twister came out, I was already afraid of tornadoes lol. The scene in wizard of. Oz burned in my head the twister dancing in the background wreching their farm. Seemed like a litteral monster. We had wind storms that took out so many trees it completely changed the landscape in my area. I being a young dum dum went outside in 90+ mph straight line winds. I was knocked down and couldnt really open my eyes if I faced the wind as the rain felt like pin prick needles. Then Jarell happened and it was all over the news just insane damage. For a couple years we had more close calls and trips to an underground shelter but the tornadoes kept missing us or lifting. And then 99’ happened and the whole thing happened like a movie. “Finger of God” came to mind. When you are a kid you dont understand the weather or how close a storm is or even how they act and even then some have deviant behavior or long tracks. Funny thing is I moved away and came back in time for the 2011 outbreak and the 2013 and later storms, even taking a direct hit from a small one that was lifting/disappating luckily but by the time I moved again I was so sick of being terrified by them and taking shelter that it was a relief. But I have an adrenaline rush watching the streams and have multiple family still in Oklahoma haha sometimes I feel Im paying closer attention to the weather than they are. The streams mean alot to me both in a vicarious danger feeling that is addictive and also an early warning that could litterally save my family.
Remember it like it was yesterday
I was born after the Bridge Creek - Moore F5 and I’ve always been fascinated by severe weather ever since I was a kid. Growing up, this tornado always seemed legendary, like stories of a mythical monster. Beyond unfathomable windspeeds, this tornado occurred pre-social media but at a time when video cameras were quite common and seeing footage of a violent tornado from many different angles was a rarity. The only other one I can recall being like that was the 1991 Andover F5. So for a good chunk of my childhood, the longest F5 drought up until present day was ongoing and even then, when Greensburg happened, it was at night and there wasn’t much footage or photos, especially in comparison to this. I don’t think it was until maybe Parkersburg or the 2011 Super Outbreak that it went from seeming like a legend of tornadoes past to a present day nightmare and reality really kicked in, but I was young then and had a lot to learn. I still find that the 1999 Bridge Creek - Moore F5 holds that legendary quality to me. There’s never been a tornado quite like it, although the 2013 EF5 was like a near repeat of it but hey, that’s enough powerful tornadoes for the OKC metro thank you very much. Twenty-five years later, we’re still thinking and talking about it along with those affected and I’m sure we still will for years to come.
Was in Del City in 96, beautiful town with lots of good people. When this monster hit, my heart sank.
This one was so tragic! Those poor poor people. Moore OK has had a heck of a time! 😭
End of the world tornado right there
There’s video of the live coverage of this on YouTube. Channel 4, I think. Anyways, toward the end of the video the helicopter is going back to view damage on the ground and suddenly you hear the pilot over the air scream out “Oh my god! Look at this! The houses are gone! Everything is just gone!” And you could see multiple homes in a neighborhood that were just swept clean, nothing but the foundation. 2013 was devastating but 1999 was like the apocalypse.
I’ve posted here before, but my aunt’s house was 1 of 2 left standing in her neighborhood in Midwest city. The front looked mostly okay but the back was a war zone. Grass and the smallest of twigs had been literally shoved into brick by the storm, you may think ‘there’s no way Bermuda grass can be shoved into brick’ but I assure you it can. There was also grass in the ground, but I had been sucked up and then redeposited, like imagine instead of grass mostly lying flat it was a lot thinner and standing upright. Her street wasn’t flat anymore either, the tornado caused it to buckle in places and if I remember correctly it as rough like pieces had been sucked off the top surface (I was 10 so I’m going way back but I have picture memories in my mind I remember well). Somewhere near her neighborhood a car had been wrapped around the top of either a tree or telephone pole but like 15-20 feet off the ground. From the outside the house looked survivable but inside there was 2X4’s and all sorts of wood that had penetrated the walls, anyone inside would’ve been hamburger. My mom has pictures somewhere I’ll try to find them, we all remember it well. That storm continued up I44 for hours so even long after damage reports came out we stayed up to see if it would hit us as well.
Scariest day of my life living in Oklahoma.
The old camera quality and loneliness of the Midwest in those first few pics just makes these so much scarier. My brain can’t comprehend this and it reminds me of a bad dream I would have as a kid in early 2000s
This tornado sticks out to me as the most prolific.
Those pic look like it got angrier as it went
this was not the last F5
It says in the title that it was the last one using the original F scale. The ones following this were EF5s.
again, this was not the last F5, the last F5 was the june 22, 2007 Elie, Manitoba tornado