F1 Tornado — Mcintosh, Oklahoma

1999-06-01 · near Checotah, Mcintosh, Oklahoma

Event narrative

The F1 tornado described here was the first of two tornadoes to touch down in Checotah on the evening of June 1. Each tornado was spawned from the same parent thunderstorm. The first tornado travelled through a more densely populated area of Checotah and therefore caused more damage, even though the second tornado had a stronger intensity rating of F3 on the Fujita scale. The first tornado touched down at 646 PM CDT on the west side of Checotah near the intersection of US Hwys 69 and 266 (West Gentry Avenue). The tornado then moved southeast through town, eventually lifting near the 700 block of South Broadway Street at 649 PM CDT. Spotters described the tornado as having a rope-like appearance. Damage assessments in Checotah combined the effects of the first and second tornadoes. Overall for both tornadoes, there were a total of 75 homes that had some sort of damage. Here is the breakdown: six homes were destroyed, 21 homes sustained major damage, 48 homes sustained minor damage, three businesses sustained minor damage, and 28 head of cattle were killed. All of the business damage occurred with the first tornado. Most notably, a Wal-Mart near US Hwys 69 and 266 sustained roof and window damage, while a Pizza Hut on South Broadway Street sustained roof damage. In addition, numerous trees were blown down, with some trees falling onto vehicles and homes.

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 5700852. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.