F3 Tornado — Osage, Oklahoma

2003-05-08 · near Fairfax, Osage, Oklahoma

Event narrative

A F3 tornado touched down northwest of Fairfax and traveled northeast across rural areas of Osage county before dissipating just west of Bowring. The one community it did effect was Little Chief.Oil tanks southwest of Little Chief were taken off their foundation and rolled a quarter of a mile. In Little Chief a RV was destroyed and there was considerable tree damage. In a field not far from Little Chief seven cattle were killed. Along Highway 60 to the northeast of Little Chief a house and garage were completely swept from their foundation. At the same location a barn was destroyed and three horses were killed. Further to the northeast as the tornado entered the Tall Grass Prairie Preserve, it produced additional significant tree damage. Throughout the path of the tornado up to 30 power poles were blown down causing power outages across a significant part of Osage county. The F3 damage was classified at two locations: the first was near where the cattle were killed--this was the only location that showed the scouring of grasses along the path; the second location was in the western sections of the Tall Grass Prairie Reserve where an Oak Forest was heavily damaged. Although the one house was swept off its foundation, it was clear that this house's anchoring failed prematurely. On this property there were several examples, especially with vegetation, that hinted that this stretch of the tornado track was probably less than F3 intensity.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.5833, -96.7167)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5357926. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.