Oklahoma+Tornado+Outbreak+(1999)

=**Oklahoma Tornado Outbreak 1999 By Diana Petrassi**=



The 1999 Oklahoma outbreak happened on May 3rd and lasted until may 6th.On the morning of May Third, low __cloud__ cover began to spread over the dryline, and high cirrus clouds spread over the region during the afternoon hours, resulting in some sunshine in some areas that caused atmospheric destabilization. The sun and heating, combined with abundant low-level moisture, made for a very unstable air mass.


 * Air temperatures ranged from the mid to upper 60's and dew point temperatures ranged in the low to mid 60's.
 * Tornadoes were happening in 5 different states, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, and Tennessee. The max rated tornado was an __F5__! There were __50__ fatalities due to the __72__ hour outbreak, and the aftermath included __$1.9__ billion in damage.


 * Total Number of Tornadoes**
 * **__Confirmed__ ****Total ** || **__Confirmed__ ****F0 ** || **__Confirmed__ ****F1 ** || **__Confirmed__ ****F2 ** || **__Confirmed__ ****F3 ** || **__Confirmed__ ****F4 ** || **ConfirmedF5 ** ||
 * **141 ** || **70 ** || **37 ** || **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 24px;">18 ** || **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 24px;">11 ** || **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 24px;">4 ** || **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 24px;">1 ** ||







//CASUALTIES://
 * 36 people died in this tornado
 * Over 8,000 homes were badly damaged or destroyed
 * the tornado caused $1.1 billion in damage, making it the single most costly tornado in U.S. history
 * This was also the deadliest tornado since the April 10, 1979 Wichita Falls, Teaxas Tornado which killed __42__ people
 * However, EARLY WARNING saved many lives.

Three of the deaths reported in the tornado were from people who took shelter underneath overpasses in the the path of the Moore-Bridge Creek F5 tornado. The deaths occurred at the 16th Street overpass (just east of Bridge Creek), at the Shields Boulevard overpass over Interstate 35 in Moore, and the overpass at mile marker 176.5 in rural northwestern Payne County..

//WARNINGS:// Warnings were issued well in advance of the tornado's arrival, and Oklahoma City broadcast media interrupted programming to follow the storms on radar and by helicopter. The death toll would likely have been higher if people had not had advance warning.Following the storm, three of the local television stations in Oklahoma City:channel 4, channel 5, channel 9 had coverage on the tornadoes through May 4. The three stations' chief meteorologists received commendations from then-governor Frank for their __constant__ coverage of the outbreak.

//FUJITA SCALE:// Fujita scale measures damage rather than windspeed, since the scale was developed prior to the introduction of Doppler __weather radar__. Windspeed estimates associated with the different categories represent the speeds scientists believe are required to produce that damage rather than the windspeed in that particular storm. The damage caused by an F5-designated tornado leaves very little room for a higher category.
 * The tornado was the last official F5 to hit the United States with the old Fujita scale rating.
 * The next category 5 tornado occurred on May 4, 2007 in Greensburg, Kansas during the May 2007 Tornado outbreak and killed 11 people.
 * Since February 1, 2007 the Nationa Weather Service has used the enhanced the Fujita Scale to __rate__ tornadoes, and the Greensburg tornado was recorded as the first EF5 tornado. This tornado, however, is not the last category 5 tornado to be rated on the Fujita scale, as Canada still uses the Fujita scale, and a tornado that occurred in Manitoba in June 2007 was rated an F5.



//A tornado near [|Anadarko, Oklahoma], on May 3, 1999//

This tornado's wind speed (an F5 on the Fujita Scale) led to a debate on weather the scale should be pushed up to a category F6 for this particular storm, due to the winds occuring over 300 mph.but the debate was soon over after considering the fact that the Fujita scale measures damage NOT windspeed, since the scale was developed prior to the introduction of Doppler radar (detects location and speed of objects unlike traditional radar that ONLY detects location of objects). (Windspeed and the damage go together in this case, the higher the winds, the higher amount of damage.)





media type="youtube" key="-iSOtI9lK6g" height="315" width="560"
 * Doppler Reflectivity:** A __National Weather Service__ NEXRAD radar image of central Oklahoma at 7:00 pm on May 3rd shows four tornadic supercell thunderstorms occurring simultaneously.

Works Cited INFORMATION:
 * "F5 Oklahoma Tornado May 3rd, 1999 | Violent Tornado Outbreak | Severe Weather Event | Violent Storms in Oklahoma, OK - NewsOK.com." //NewsOK: Oklahoma News, Sports, Weather, Business, Entertainment & Oklahoma City Photos & Video OKC//. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 June 2012. <http://newsok.com/may3/ten-years-ago>.
 * "May 3, 1999 Oklahoma/Kansas Tornado Outbreak." //NOAA's National Severe Storms Laboratory//. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 June 2012. <http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/news/may3rd/outbreak.html>.
 * "The Great Plains Tornado Outbreak of May 3-4, 1999." //National Weather Service Southern Region homepage//. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 June 2012. <http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/?n=events-19990503>.
 * "1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 June 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Oklahoma_tornado_outbreak

PICTURES/VIDEO:
 * " Google Image Result for http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/Dszpics1.jpg/300px-Dszpics1.jpg." //Google//. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 June 2012. <http://www.google.com/imgres?q=oklahoma+tornado+outbreak&hl=en&sa=X&rlz=1R2ADRA_enUS461&biw=1152&bih=638&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=TFxnd3Lr4-S7JM:&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Oklahoma_tornado_outbreak&docid=Lin-VMGPEdABIM&imgurl=http://upl>.//
 * " Google Image Result for http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/Tornadic_classic_supercell_radar.gif/220px-Tornadic_classic_supercell_radar.gif." Google//. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 June 2012. <http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/Tornadic_classic_supercell_radar.gif/220px-Tornadic_classic_supercell_radar.gif&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Oklahoma_tornado_outbreak&h=207&w=220&>.
 * " Google Image Result for http://www.srh.noaa.gov/images/oun/wxevents/19990503/tornadoemergency.png." //Google//. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 June 2012. [].
 * " May 3,1999 Oklahoma F5 Tornado - YouTube ." //YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.// . N.p., n.d. Web. 4 June 2012. [].
 * " Google Image Result for http://www.srh.noaa.gov/images/oun/wxevents/19990503/maps/bigmapfeatures.gif." //Google//. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 June 2012. <http://www.google.com/imgres?q=weather+map+of+the+1999+oklahoma+tornado+outbreak&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&rlz=1R2ADRA_enUS461&biw=1152&bih=638&tbm=isch&tbnid=aI0bE2GBrXC-bM:&imgrefurl=http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/%3Fn%3Devents-19990503-maps&docid=zFIh4gn-P7za8M&img>.//
 * "weather map of the 1999 oklahoma tornado outbreak - Google Search."Google//. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 June 2012. <http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rlz=1R2ADRA_enUS461&q=weather+map+of+the+1999+oklahoma+tornado+outbreak&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1152&bih=638&wrapid=tlif133885854710910&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=RlzNT_nbEOeB6gHq74WVA>.