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1999-05-03: Moore/OKC - May 3 outbreak

I remember that day well, and I was in Ohio and had never chased. I watched the event go down on my computer and on TWC when TWC actually covered the weather. Certainly a day I'll never forget either despite the fact I was 1000 miles away.
 
I was supposed to chase the from 4/30 to like 5/5 that year down in the plains. Sadly had to call off the trip due to the death of my grandfather. We booked the Super 8 in Moore, on I 35. I believe it was just South of the damage path of the F5. In Brian Stertz video of him going North on 35 he passes by the hotel we would have stayed, maybe a mile or two south of the damage path. It is impossible to guess where we would have been or what storm we would have intercepted, but looking back it is amazing to think what could have been. Instead, I too, watched the events on TWC in amazement. May 3rd has been an obsession of mine. I have tried to collect every web page, video, account I could find of this day just because it is such a facinating event to study.
 
Ah, what a day

May 3, 1999 was one of my top ten in my chase career and to think that I almost didn't chase it. There was dense cirrus overcast that morning and a broad slight risk area as there was no well defined focal point. A double dryline was being held back in west Texas due to an upper trough in the Rockies. That short wave appeared to be out-of-phase with the time of maximum heating. However, holes formed in the cirrus and an in-phase short wave appeared on later model runs. SPC upgraded to a MOD RISK at 1630 then HIGH RISK at 2000. I left my house at 2:45 pm and drove up to Wichita Falls. A storm formed west of Lawton and I chased it up I-44 to Moore, OK. A detailed account of this event has just been posted on my Facebook page.
 
I lived in Wichita, KS at the time and set off mid-afternoon. All I had to do was drive south on the Turnpike. I reached a supercell in Sumner County, a county south of Wichita, by late afternoon. Some of the front flank was over my driving path so I took some small hail and had to deal with some rain. Then I reached the clear inflow. Before all of the tragedy of the day it was quite a thrill to see a large tornado there. I should have just stayed on the shoulder of the Turnpike and observed, but got greedy wanted to be on side roads. By the time I reached the next available exit I was a bit out of position and the tornado seemed rain wrapped. While catching up on my way back I heard things take a sour turn on the radio as it went into populated areas of Haysville and Wichita. At that point I did not care to catch up anyway. Then I learned about OKC and Moore. Talk about a bittersweet day. The tornado chase was excellent until two cities were hit. Next morning the Wichita Eagle newspaper had a moving picture in the op-ed section showing OKC and Wichita shaking hands in unity.

Picture is the tornado in Sumner County, well before reaching Haysville up in Sedgwick County.
 

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IMO, the only weather event in US history, or internationally, that owns a date. In other words, when you say May 3rd, everyone knows exactly what weather event you're talking about. There's no other weather event in history that owns a date exclusively. Many weather events have notorious titles and their respective dates are well known. However, none of them have exclusive rights over a date like this particular event.
 
Randall Marable said:
IMO, the only weather event in US history, or internationally, that owns a date. In other words, when you say May 3rd, everyone knows exactly what weather event you're talking about. There's no other weather event in history that owns a date exclusively. Many weather events have notorious titles and their respective dates are well known. However, none of them have exclusive rights over a date like this particular event.
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I think if you asked any average citizen outside of Oklahoma or the storm chasing community about May 3, 1999, most of them wouldn't have a clue what happened that day.. April 26, 1991 and April 3-4, 1974 would probably be better candidates for "owning a date."
 
mikedeason said:
I think if you asked any average citizen outside of Oklahoma or the storm chasing community about May 3, 1999, most of them wouldn't have a clue what happened that day.. April 26, 1991 and April 3-4, 1974 would probably be better candidates for "owning a date."
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Actually I tend to agree with the "May 3" owning the date thing. It's the only date in history I've ever heard where the year isn't needed to distinguish itself. There has never been an event that could match this one for pure intensity, number of tornadoes, geographical concentration into one area, and of course, newsworthiness and historical value. Plus it happened the bullseye of tornado alley.
 
I agree that May 3rd is the most famous tornado event date. Like Shane mentioned, the media coverage and the intensity of the outbreak, not to mention a major suburb of a large city was devestated. makes this event really stand alone.
 
Well, I can understand you guys feeling that way since ya'll were very close to the event. And I certainly rate it high as being one of the most significant weather events in our country's history, but somewhere after the 1974 Outbreak, The 1900 Galveston Hurricane and even Katrina.

As I said, contrary to the original poster's assertion that "when you say May 3rd, everyone knows exactly what weather event you're talking about", outside of those close to the event and weather enthusiasts, May 3rd probably doesn't ring a bell with the average Joe.
 
I agree with Randal Marable that May 3, 1999 is explanitory in itself. I lived through that historic event and I see why other posters see other dates in history of "Great tornado outbreaks" equally as historic.
For me this one was close to home as I have lived here all my life except for a brief 4 year period in the military. Most tornadoes in my 53 year life that effected someone I knew in Moore, OK. was a singular case, but the May3, 1999 tornado had 8 families on the list. What was weird was they not only sustained damage, but lost virtually everything they owned. One was my neice that lived at NE 14th & Santa Fe in Moore. She still had walls standing, but across the street to her north was all level of existing homes for a 3 block area.
All have recovered their lives and are greatfull for that.
I remember being 3 miles north from ground zero in a storm shelter and the ground was shaking like a small earthquake. Baseball size hail pounding the ground and the distant roar of Moore being torn apart. The smell of natural gas and a hot attic was all around. Hot attic being a fresh lumber/ insulation type of smell to the atmosphere.
I've been looking for a video that shows a horizontal vortex from that tornado. It occured just east of it's I-35 crossing just south of 27th street in Moore. In many video's we see a white ball of light going around the rotation of the storm. I forget what that is called, but it does exist.
Kent
http://www.kfor.com/weather/mayfury/
 
I remember May 3 as well. I was watching the storms unfold on TWC (back in the good old days), thinking I had never seen such a monster before. IIRC, they were simulcasting Gary's coverage. What got my attention more than the tornado was the words "If you are not below ground, you will not survive." That gave me the chills.

I think I agree with Mike. I don't really think if you said "What is significant about May 3?" to the general public outside of the Plains that most people would know (same with any of the big days). If they weren't directly affected, or know someone who was affected, they'd have no clue.
 
There is very good coverage of the May 3 Oklahoma tornadoes at: http://newsok.com/may3

I'm glad Jeff House posted on the Haysville, KS tornado that day. He was a meteorologist at WeatherData in 1999. Three of our employees' homes were damaged in that storm. All were working at the time and continued to do their work until their shifts ended as we were challenged just like the NWS.

I often call Haysville the 'forgotten event' of that day. It was an F4 with 6 fatalities. Today's Wichita Eagle has no coverage of the 10th anniversary of Haysville..the front page story is the second anniversary of Greensburg.

I have been disappointed at the lack of research on Haysville's tornado. It was an F-4 from a 'left mover' (compared to the Oklahoma storms) without a hook echo and from a non-standard supercell if, indeed, it was a supercell. I believe a significant research opportunity was lost.

That said, the meteorological profession did a magnificent job in both Oklahoma and Kansas that day. We saved scores of lives.

To elaborate on that point a bit, the Haysville tornado occurred after dark. The ICT WSR-88D was down for maintenance. There was no hook. So, the storm might have struck without warning. Prior to NEXRAD, a tornado like this would have killed well into the double, if not low triple, digits given the population density of Haysville and south Wichita.

But, because of the efforts of NSSL and the research community; the NWS, DoD and FAA; and the private sector weather community to build the displays; we had the NEXRAD network. So, NWS meteorologists in Wichita were able to use the Vance DoD -88D to observe the rotational signature in the internal part of the storm and issue a highly effective warning. The local media did a terrific job and lives were saved.

As we commemorate May 3 in Oklahoma and Kansas along with the more recent Greensburg event, we should take a moment to pat ourselves on the back for the differences we have made in so many lives.

Mike
 
mikedeason said:
Well, I can understand you guys feeling that way since ya'll were very close to the event. And I certainly rate it high as being one of the most significant weather events in our country's history, but somewhere after the 1974 Outbreak, The 1900 Galveston Hurricane and even Katrina.

As I said, contrary to the original poster's assertion that "when you say May 3rd, everyone knows exactly what weather event you're talking about", outside of those close to the event and weather enthusiasts, May 3rd probably doesn't ring a bell with the average Joe.
Click to expand...

Although hardly universally true, I've been surprised time and again to find that random people I meet outside meteorology/the Plains while traveling are familiar with May 3rd. They often refer to it as "that May tornado" (or something similar, usually forgetting the exact date) and remark on how news channels were broadcasting the event live, even though they were living on the East/West Coast at the time. My suspicion, though, would be that May 3rd has been fading from the public consciousness for some time, and that Greensburg has since taken its place as the tornado outbreak the average person outside Oklahoma is most likely to recognize.
 
For anyone interested, tonight Shane Adams will share his RAW video of his chase on May 3, 1999. You can view the video starting at 8pm CDT by clicking HERE. There will be an ongoing chat about the event, coinciding with Shane's video presentation at SpotterChat.
The video will last approx 1.5 hrs and will be completely unedited. See you at 8pm!
 
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