F3 Tornado — Cherokee, Oklahoma

1999-06-01 · near Hulbert, Cherokee, Oklahoma

Event narrative

A strong tornado, rated an F3, touched down in far western Cherokee County, possibly as a waterspout on Fort Gibson Lake. The tornado moved south onshore and through the rural Amber Hills housing area, crossing OK Hwy 51, and lifting after tracking through much of the Sequoyah State Park.In the Amber Hills and Hammer Hill Road areas, a total of 68 homes sustained some form of damage. Of that, 17 single family dwellings and 13 mobile homes were destroyed. Eight single family dwellings sustained major damage and 11 others had minor damage. One mobile home sustained minor damage. Fourteen other single family dwellings and four other mobile homes were affected. In one of the destroyed mobile homes, an elderly man and woman were inside. The woman was killed immediately, and the man was seriously injured, dying one week later in a hospital of tornado-related complications. This becomes eastern Oklahoma's first killer tornado since the April 1994 Catoosa tornado.Across OK Hwy 51 in Sequoyah State Park, between 400 and 500 trees were lost to the tornado. The carport at the park manager's residence was destroyed, and an RV was turned on its side. Fortunately, most Memorial Day campers had cleared out, therefore there were no injuries in the park.

Wider weather episode

Summary of events for the afternoon and evening of June 1 1999:A cold front moving in from the northwest moved into an extremely unstable air mass on the afternoon of June 1. Along the front, an isolated supercell thunderstorm developed around the Pryor/Locust Grove area and then moved in a slow and unusual south-southwest direction. This storm produced very large hail in addition to several strong tornadoes. This storm also produced eastern Oklahoma's first killer tornado in at least half of a decade.

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Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5700776. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.