page_title: 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado
section_title: Storm development and track
hierarchical_section_title: 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado / Storm development and track
caption_attribution_description: English: F5 damage in Bridge Creek, OK from the 1999 tornado.
context_page_description: The 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado was a large and extraordinarily powerful F5 tornado in which the highest wind speeds ever measured globally were recorded at 301 ± 20 miles per hour by a Doppler on Wheels radar. Considered the strongest tornado ever recorded to have affected the metropolitan area, the tornado devastated southern portions of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, along with surrounding suburbs and towns to the south and southwest of the city during the early evening of Monday, May 3, 1999. The tornado covered 38 miles during its 85-minute existence, destroying thousands of homes, killing 36 people, and leaving US$1 billion in damage, ranking it as the fifth-costliest on record, not accounting for inflation.
  The tornado first touched down at 6:23 p.m. Central Daylight Time in Grady County, Oklahoma, roughly two miles south-southwest of Amber, Oklahoma. It quickly intensified into a violent F4, and gradually reached F5 status after traveling 6.5 miles, at which time it struck the town of Bridge Creek.
context_section_description: The thunderstorm that eventually produced the F5 tornado began developing around 3:20 p.m. CDT that afternoon over northeastern Tillman County (southwest of Faxon). Despite the lack of overall lift prevalent in the region, the storm formed out of a contrail-like horizontal area of convective clouds that developed during peak surface heating over southwestern Oklahoma, located well ahead of the dry line that was still positioned farther to the west, which provided enhanced lift and speed shear necessary to develop the supercell. Tracking northeast, the storm strengthened and entered Comanche County shortly after 4:00 p.m. CDT. By 4:15 p.m. CDT, the National Weather Service's Norman office issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Comanche County, as the initial storm continued to rapidly intensify over the southern half of the county; there, hail up to 1.75 inches (4.4 cm) in diameter fell.
  As the supercell's mesocyclonic rotation began to rapidly strengthen at the cloud base, a tornado warning was issued for the counties of Comanche, Caddo, and Grady at 4:50 p.m. CDT; one minute later, a small tornado roughly 25 yards (75 ft) in diameter − the first of 14 associated with supercell "A" (the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Norman designated lettered names for the three tornado-producing supercells in the outbreak in storm surveys) − touched down seven miles (11 km) east-northeast of Medicine Park along U.S. Route 62. Five more tornadoes developed as the storm continued northeast; a sixth one, which would be given an F3 rating, touched down a short time later and caused substantial damage in central Grady County, including some to the Chickasha Municipal Airport, where roofs were torn off of two hangars.
  At 6:23 p.m. CDT, a ninth tornado associated with supercell "A" touched down about two miles (3.2 km) south-southwest of Amber. The tornado quickly intensified in both strength and size as it crossed Oklahoma State Highway 92, attaining F4 strength about 4 miles (6.4 km) east-northeast of Amber. It quickly became a wedge tornado, varying between one-quarter and one mile (0.40 and 1.61 km) in width at various points throughout the track. Damage consistent with this rating was sustained over the following 6.5 miles (10.5 km) of the path before striking Bridge Creek. There, it attained the highest-possible rating on the Fujita Scale, F5. Damage in this area was extreme, as many homes were swept away completely, leaving only concrete slabs where the structures once stood. Damage surveyors noted that the remaining structural debris from some of the homes in this area was finely granulated into small fragments, and that trees and shrubs were completely debarked. A few of these homes were bolted to their foundations. Extensive ground scouring occurred, and vehicles were thrown hundreds of yards from where they originated, including a mangled pickup truck that was found wrapped around a telephone pole. It was in this area that a mobile Doppler weather radar recorded winds of 301 mph (484 km/h) within the tornado, the highest wind speed ever recorded on Earth. Since the record for maximum winds are reported from only non-tornadic events, however, the 253 mph (407 km/h) wind gust from Cyclone Olivia in 1996 retained the title. About one inch (25 mm) of asphalt was scoured off a road by the violent tornado. Approximately 200 houses and mobile homes were destroyed, and hundreds of other structures were damaged. The Ridgecrest Baptist Church in Bridge Creek was also destroyed in the process. About 12 people died in Bridge Creek, nine of whom were in mobile homes; all fatalities and the majority of injuries were concentrated in the Willow Lake and Southern Hills Additions and Bridge Creek Estates, consisting mostly of mobile homes. Over 39 people were injured in the area as well. Continuing northeastward, the tornado briefly weakened to F4 status before re-strengthening to F5 intensity as it neared the Grady-McClain County line, where a car was thrown roughly 0.25 mi (0.40 km) in the air, and a well-built home with anc
caption: F5 damage to a house in Bridge Creek, with severe debarking and ground scouring visible on the property.
exif: {}