National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

Fast Facts Related to the
May 9, 2003 Central Oklahoma Tornadoes

Resource: NWS Norman storm data report for May 2003
Resource: SPC Data Archive for Severe Weather Event of May 9, 2003
Resource: Tornadoes in the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Area Since 1890
Resource: The May 2003 Extended Tornado Outbreak by Thomas M. Hamill, Russell S. Schneider, Harold E. Brooks, Gregory S. Forbes, Howard B. Bluestein, Michael Steinberg, Daniel Meléndez, and Randall M. Dole

• Although it is very unusual for a city to be hit by tornadoes on consecutive days, it has happened at least once before the May 8-9, 2003 tornadoes in the Oklahoma City metro area. After tornadoes caused extensive damage to the Oklahoma City area on May 3, 1999, a weak tornado was observed near Lake Stanley Draper in southeast Oklahoma City on the morning of May 4, 1999.
• Oklahoma City has been struck multiple times within a seven-day period including May 12/18, 1896, March 20/25, 1948, April 28/May 4, 1960, September 29/October 2, 1986, May 3/4, 1999, and May 8/9, 2003.
• The May 9, 2003 OKC tornadoes occurred during a very active severe weather period in the United States during the first half of May 2003. More than a dozen tornadoes struck the U.S. each day from May 3-11, 2003.