From April 27–29, 1912, a major

tornado outbreak A tornado outbreak is the occurrence of multiple tornadoes spawned by the same Synoptic scale meteorology, synoptic scale weather system. The number of tornadoes required to qualify as an outbreak typically are at least six to ten, with at least ...

generated at least six violent tornadoes in

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, with near-constant activity until early the next day. At least 15 cities were affected, 40 people died, and 120 others were injured. Tornado researcher Thomas P. Grazulis considered this outbreak to be among the worst on record in the state of Oklahoma, as measured by fatalities and violent tornadoes. At least five strong tornadoes affected Washita County, Oklahoma, during this outbreak.

Background

Limited weather data was collected and recorded at that time in Oklahoma. Antedating upper atmospheric measurements, most data collection was of human observations, along with temperature, pressure, wind speed and direction, and rainfall. A

cold front A cold front is the leading edge of a cooler mass of air at ground level that replaces a warmer mass of air and lies within a pronounced surface Trough (meteorology), trough of Low-pressure area, low pressure. It often forms behind an extratropica ...

moved south through Oklahoma into Texas on April 26, before stalling as a stationary front draped across

Central Texas Central Texas is a region in the U.S. state of Texas roughly bordered on the west by San Saba, to the southeast by Bryan- College Station, the south by San Marcos and to the north by Hillsboro. Central Texas overlaps with and includes part ...

, oriented from northeast to southwest. Early on April 27, it pushed back northward against a

warm front Warm, WARM, or Warmth may refer to: * A somewhat high temperature; heat * Kindness Music Albums * ''Warm'' (Herb Alpert album), 1969 * ''Warm'' (Jeff Tweedy album), 2018 * ''Warm'' (Johnny Mathis album), 1958, and the title song * ''Warm'' ( ...

to the east, due to a vigorous upper-atmospheric

trough Trough may refer to: In science * Trough (geology), a long depression less steep than a trench * Trough (meteorology), an elongated region of low atmospheric pressure * Trough (physics), the lowest point on a wave * Trough level (medicine), the l ...

approaching from the west. The warm front was noted to have moved from the southeast on April 27 to the northeast on April 28; this movement of warm air against the cold front, in proximity to a

low-pressure area In meteorology, a low-pressure area (LPA), low area or low is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. It is the opposite of a high-pressure area. Low-pressure areas are commonly associated with incle ...

over western Oklahoma, provided sufficient atmospheric lift, thereby fuelling the storms that provided the tornado activity.

Confirmed tornadoes

April 27 event

April 28 event

April 29 event

Notes

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:1912-04-27 Oklahoma tornado outbreak 20th-century tornadoes Tornado, Oklahoma, 04-27 Tornadoes in Oklahoma F4, EF4 and IF4 tornadoes Tornado, 04-27 Tornado, 04-27 Oklahoma Tornado Outbreak