Thunderstorm Wind — Pawnee, Oklahoma

1998-10-04 · near Pawnee, Pawnee, Oklahoma

Event narrative

Strong winds (known as a rear flank downdraft) associated with a nearby F1 tornado blew the roof off of the high school auditorium, causing over $1 million in damage to the high school. Debris was scattered throughout the high school campus. An adjacent metal-style bus garage was also damaged. Many trees and power lines were downed or snapped by the winds throughout Pawnee. Specifically, several big oak trees were blown down at the Pawnee Agency, including one blown onto the pre-school. Near the Pawnee Municipal Hospital, large trees along Boulder Street were blown down, one falling onto a mobile unit. Tree damage was also reported in the Lusk Addition. A trailer home just northwest of Pawnee was scattered about by the storm, and a nearby cattle trailer was overturned. Damage from the wind and the tornado combined are nearly $2 million. For more information on the nearby tornado, see the separate preceding Tornado entry.

Wider weather episode

Summary of tornado/severe events for October 4 PM - October 5 1998:Oklahoma's worst-ever October tornado outbreak took place on the evening of October 4. At least 22 tornadoes occurred throughout Oklahoma, of which seven were in northeast Oklahoma. This outbreak of severe weather resulted as a powerful upper level storm system moved across the central plains and surface low pressure developed over southwest Oklahoma. Warm humid air quickly invaded the area on the morning of October 4 and then collided with a cold front moving southward by evening. The threat from these storms ran the full range of possibilities from destructive tornadoes to damaging winds to very large hail up to the size of baseballs.Numerous storms occurred on the evening of October 4, mainly north of Interstate 40. The two most significant storms both moved eastward out of central Oklahoma. One produced an F1 tornado that passed through Pawnee. The other produced a 27-mile track F2 tornado that started in Okfuskee County and ended in Okmulgee County. This second storm later went on to produce considerable hail and wind damage in the city of Okmulgee. Many other thunderstorms developed during the evening in central Oklahoma, fanned by upper level winds in excess of 100 knots. These storms moved into northeast Oklahoma, causing additional severe weather late in the evening that gradually spread eastward to the Arkansas state line. After midnight, the storms congealed and became a slow-moving line of thunderstorms that sat over nearly the same area of northeast Oklahoma through the overnight hours. The severe threat gradually diminished through the night, and flooding became the main problem. For more information on the flooding, see the separate event entry for the flooding. By late on the afternoon of October 5, the slow-moving line had moved into southeast Oklahoma and flared up during the heat of the afternoon, causing a few additional severe weather reports in the form of strong winds.

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Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5667714. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.