Expires:No;;885319 NOUS43 KICT 031100 PNSICT KSZ032-033-047>053-067>072-082-083-091>096-098>100-031500- Public Information Statement National Weather Service Wichita KS 600 AM CDT Sat May 3 2025 ...ON THIS DATE IN WEATHER HISTORY... In 1999, the Southern Plains Tornado Outbreak produced an afternoon and evening of incredible devastation from North Texas, through Central and Eastern Oklahoma, to South Central Kansas. A staggering 74 tornadoes were reported that day, of which 58 occurred in Oklahoma. In Oklahoma, the most infamous, no doubt, was the immense F5 that tore through Moore, a South Oklahoma City suburb. The hideous vortex had a track 38 miles long and three fourths to 1 mile wide. The most powerful tornado on record killed 36, injured 583, and caused nearly $1.1 billion damage. It moved northeast and tracked nearly parallel to Interstate 44. When it roared into Moore, a portable Doppler measured rotational velocities that may have reached 318 mph just off the ground, the most violent winds ever recorded on Earth. This placed the tornado on the threshold of becoming the first F6 tornado in history. Obviously, the destruction was mind-boggling. The most stupefying occurred when around 10 homes, of which 4 were adjacent to each other, vanished. The most violent in Kansas was the F4 variant that barreled through Haysville and South Wichita. The tornado's track was 14 miles long and around one half mile wide. It killed 6, injured 150, and caused around $140 million damage. In all, the outbreak killed 46, injured 895, and caused $1.4 billion damage. $$ Auto