Tornado Outbreak Of June 13, 1998
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On June 13, 1998, a
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 ...
occurred across much of the United States. The day saw 45
tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...
es touchdown primarily across
Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
,
Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...
, and
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 ...
. The outbreak saw the
Storm Prediction Center The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) is a US government agency that is part of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), operating under the control of the National Weather Service (NWS), which in turn is part of the National Oceani ...
outline two Moderate Risk areas in parts of
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
,
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
, and
South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...
, and in parts of Kansas and Nebraska. Additionally, two far more expansive Slight Risk areas were delineated across much of the Central and
Eastern United States The Eastern United States, often abbreviated as simply the East, is a macroregion of the United States located to the east of the Mississippi River. It includes 17–26 states and Washington, D.C., the national capital. As of 2011, the Eastern ...
. By 06:00  UTC June 14, tornadoes had struck parts of six states, including downtown
Sabetha, Kansas Sabetha is a city in Brown County, Kansas, Brown and Nemaha County, Kansas, Nemaha counties in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,545. History The town's settlement b ...
and parts of North Oklahoma City and the vicinity.


Meteorological synopsis

In advance of the coming tornado outbreak, during the morning of June 13, the
Storm Prediction Center The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) is a US government agency that is part of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), operating under the control of the National Weather Service (NWS), which in turn is part of the National Oceani ...
(SPC) issued a Moderate Risk for parts of
Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
and
Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...
. It also issued a Slight Risk roughly encompassing an area from south of
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and western
Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...
northward and westward to western
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 ...
,
Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...
, and western
Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...
, and northern
North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...
. To the east, the SPC issued a Moderate Risk from far-southeastern
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
to central
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
to central
South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...
to the Atlantic Ocean. A Slight Risk was issued from southern
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
to near
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to northern
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
to western
Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
then southward to eastern
Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
to southern
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to the northeastern
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
coast. In the
eastern United States The Eastern United States, often abbreviated as simply the East, is a macroregion of the United States located to the east of the Mississippi River. It includes 17–26 states and Washington, D.C., the national capital. As of 2011, the Eastern ...
, the SPC warned of the threat of bow echoes producing damaging winds. An unstable
air mass In meteorology, an air mass is a volume of air defined by its temperature and humidity. Air masses cover many hundreds or thousands of square miles, and adapt to the characteristics of the surface below them. They are classified according to ...
was present across a significant amount of the
Southeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, ...
, and warm air at the 850- millibar level indicated "elevated mixed layer air". From southeastern Virginia into the mid-South, surface-level dew points were in the 70s °F (21–26 °C). Parallel winds from low-to-mid levels combined with BRN shears predicted to around 30 indicated that bow echoes would be the primary threat. The most intense activity was expected to be confined to an area south and just north of a jet spanning from South Carolina to far-southeastern Virginia. Ahead of a mesoscale vorticity center entering western Georgia, the possibility of a second area of intense activity was noted for the southeastern part of the state coupled with far-northern parts of Florida. In the Plains, a more tornado-oriented threat was expected to develop. A "moderately" strong upper
shortwave Shortwave radio is radio transmission using radio frequencies in the shortwave bands (SW). There is no official definition of the band range, but it always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (app ...
was expected to move northeastward toward the central plains later in the day. A highly-unstable air mass south of a front over
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
/Oklahoma was forecast to spread northward into Kansas and Nebraska along with the north-moving warm front. The
wind shear Wind shear (; also written windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical ...
profile along and just northeast of the front, particularly in the Moderate Risk area, presented a favorable environment for
supercell A supercell is a thunderstorm characterized by the presence of a mesocyclone, a deep, persistently rotating updraft. Due to this, these storms are sometimes referred to as rotating thunderstorms. Of the four classifications of thunderstorms (su ...
s along with tornadoes. SPC forecasters noted the chance of more isolated severe storms along the dryline/
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 ...
into western Oklahoma by the late afternoon. Additional isolated activity was possible along the western edge of the moisture axis extending from western Nebraska into the Dakotas and along the warm front in Arkansas once it began moving northward.


Kansas

When a severe thunderstorm that formed in Phillips County moved eastward into Smith County, it produced Kansas' first tornado of the day. The short-lived tornado's maximum damage was assessed as F0. Shortly after the end of the tornado's two-minute life, its parent thunderstorm left Kansas and entered Nebraska. Later in the day, an F2 tornado that was the costliest tornado of the day struck the town of Sabetha in Nemaha County. The tornado, which touched down half a mile west of the Sabetha City Hall, caused serious damage to two blocks of the town, with 18 buildings in the downtown area being damaged, five (including the city hall building) to near "the point of loss". The tornado lifted about half a mile east of City Hall. Damage to the city hall building amounted to $2 million, and additional damage to homes and vehicles away from downtown occurred due to tornado-toppled trees and branches away from the tornado's center along with strong straight-line winds.


Nebraska

The first tornado to touch down in the state formed about west of Sidney. The tornado dissipated only two minutes later, causing no damage. Another tornado would not touch down in the state until the later in the afternoon, when severe thunderstorms initiated across south-central Nebraska in great part due to the presence of a strong jet stream and a north-bound warm front. The first tornado spawned by these particular storms touched down in Gosper County southwest of Elwood. Although the tornado initially headed eastward, it turned left, heading due north. The tornado severely damaged a farmhouse and destroyed nearby outbuildings before later taking on a path straight down U.S. Highway 283. A semi-truck driver and a family of three, finding no path of escape, abandoned their vehicles to take cover in a ditch. While they survived with minor injuries despite the tornado passing almost directly overhead, their vehicles were not so fortunate, and the truck's cargo, composed of ice cream, was completely ruined. This storm went on to produce another tornado which caused no damage and was short-lived. In Lincoln County, a tornado touched down about five miles south-southwest of
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before coming into contact with Maranatha Bible Camp. Damage at the camp included about 160 blown-down trees, damaged vehicles, and a destroyed shed. The tornado then went on to topple two billboards after crossing
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. Two houses were damaged and a camper destroyed along the remainder of the tornadoes eight-minute-long track. Peak damage was assessed as F1. A severe thunderstorm that developed just south of the Kansas/Nebraska border later went on to drop a short-lived F0 tornado about one mile east of
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. The tornado initially moved to the southeast, hitting a farm and adjacent outbuildings along its path. While the people at the farm were all uninjured, a minimum of 25 irrigation pivots were destroyed. Multiple other tornadoes occurred during the outbreak that went on to cause little or no damage, and by the end of the day, no tornado-related injuries or fatalities had been reported in the state.


Oklahoma

In the afternoon and evening of June 13, four supercells which had formed near the dryline over Western Oklahoma entered the central part of the state, two of which produced tornadoes, and two of which only produced strong winds and hail. The first of the two tornado-producing storms produced two tornadoes; the former, which touched down near Longdale, injured a child and caused tree damage, ultimately causing F0 damage. The latter tornado, which was ultimately rated F1, caused roof, window, siding, and porch damage to three houses. It also took off the roof of a barn, destroyed an outbuilding, caused fence damage, and took off the hood of a pickup truck. The second tornadic supercell produced seven tornadoes. The first two tornadoes touched down near El Reno and caused no damage, earning ratings of F0. The third tornado touched down near
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but, as with the other two, caused no damage and was rated F0. A fourth tornado touched down over Lake Hefner in
Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...
, eventually causing damage to boats in a dry dock at the Oklahoma City Boat Club. Damage to club facilities and nearby boats was estimated at $250,000. The tornado went on to destroy a storage shed and cause minor roof damage to homes east of Lake Hefner Parkway before it dissipated, having caused only F1 damage. The fifth tornado (rated F1) materialized near NW 84th Street and Walker, going on to displace much of a house's roof decking and uproot street signs. The tornado also damaged vehicles and caused roof damage to houses on 84th, 85th, 86th, 87th, and 88th Streets. The tornado destroyed the western half of a church in this area after it knocked down its walls on three sides and threw part of its roof at a house which resultantly suffered major damage. The sixth tornado, which was anticyclonic, affected the Northwest Oklahoma City/ Nichols Hills area. It caused "considerable" damage to a strip mall, unroofed numerous houses, shattered windows, and damaged signs and powerlines. One building saw an exterior wall collapse. An RV was thrown into a house, a car flipped, trees were knocked down, and pieces of shingles and roof decking were blown away. The tornado's ultimate rating of F2 was based on damage limited to a small area, and most damage was actually consistent with that of an F1 tornado. The seventh tornado produced by the second tornadic storm (rated F2), which affected Northeast Oklahoma City in the Frontier City area, was also the most destructive. The tornado touched down near the Hefner Road/Bryant Avenue intersection before going on to cause major structural damage to numerous businesses. At Frontier City, the tornado damaged vehicles in the parking lot and caused the exterior of a concrete-block building to partly collapse while simultaneously taking its roof off. Inflow into the tornado caused additional damage to nearby areas, and seventeen injuries occurred at the park. East of Interstate 35, a Texaco suffered significant damage, and the tornado lifted and rolled empty semi-truck trailers in the parking lot. A nearby portable building was completely blown away. In the Nottingham and Quail Ridge Run subdivisions, extensive damage was caused to homes' windows, roofs, and garage doors. Some of these homes suffered a significant degree of roof failure despite having still-standing exterior walls. Anchoring between the roofs of these homes and their walls was missing, and it is possible that the intensity of the tornado was near the F3 range in these areas. The tornado caused $1 million worth of damage in North Oklahoma City throughout its track. Overall, the outbreak caused a single injury in Longdale, Blaine County, in addition to 21 relatively minor injuries in Oklahoma County, largely at Frontier City. No fatalities occurred due to any of the tornadoes. After the event ended, Oklahoma Gas & Electric said that 25,000 to 30,000 had lost power. Part of the North Oklahoma City area was closed to nonresidents, and the Red Cross set up an emergency shelter at a church in the vicinity to help those in need.


List of tornadoes


See also

* 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak


Notes


References


External links


NSSL SWAT Case Study - 13 June 98 Oklahoma City Dryline Supercell Tornadoes
{{DEFAULTSORT:1998-06-13 Tornado Outbreak Tornado 06-13 Tornado 06-13 Tornado 06-13 Tornado 06-13 Tornado 06-13 Tornado 06-13 Tornado, 13 Tornadoes in Arkansas Tornadoes in Kansas Tornadoes in Nebraska Tornadoes in North Carolina Tornadoes in Oklahoma Tornadoes in Wyoming 06-13