Snyder, Oklahoma tornado
Encyclopedia
The 1905 Snyder, Oklahoma tornado was a powerful tornado
that struck the town of Snyder, Oklahoma
in Kiowa County
on May 10, 1905. The event was one of the worst natural disasters ever to hit the state of Oklahoma
. The cyclone killed, according to the National Weather Service
data, 97 people, although the real death toll was not known as several people missing were not accounted or found in the following days and weeks. It was part of a larger multiple-day tornado outbreak that hit several states across the Midwestern United States including Kansas
, Oklahoma
and Missouri
.
. Another low was also located across Wyoming on May 9. Tornadoes were formed on that day across several Plain States including Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas. The Colorado
system then moved toward the Central and Southern Plains on the next day and affected areas slightly to the east of the area affected on May 9. A new trough
of low pressure developed in the vicinity of the southern low. It later moved across the Oklahoma
and Texas Panhandle
s.
As it happened in numerous occasions, such storms produced a large moist and warm flow from the Gulf of Mexico
as well as lots of instability in the atmosphere. Being in May, low pressure systems produced large contrasts of temperatures which add more ingredients for the development of powerful thunderstorms with possible damaging tornadoes such as it was the case on May 10, 1905.
Prior to the Snyder tornado, a first tornado developed at 6:45 PM CDT near Carmel in Greer County
, which is about one hour northwest of Wichita Falls, Texas
. This tornado killed at least 10 people. Numerous homes, farmsteads and a school house sustained heavy damage or were destroyed. The tornado lifted near Lock (in Jackson County
). A second and more destructive tornado touched down just after 8:00 PM CDT near the Kiowa/Greer County line and merged with the remnants of the first cyclone. It also proceeded northeast across the Red River Valley and Otter Creek region. At around 8:45 PM CDT (after dark), it struck the town of Snyder killing 97. Along structures in the western and northern part of the town was completely demolished with some homes being swept away. One hundred homes were leveled and 150 badly damaged. The tornado lifted shortly after 9:00 PM CDT northeast of Snyder. Another tornado from a different supercell
which previously killed two in Elk City
in Beckham County
killed three more in Quinlan, Oklahoma about two hours northeast of Snyder.
s and telegraphs existed which made recovery efforts difficult especially since both ways of communications were knocked out by the tornado. People had to walk to surrounding regions in order to get help and assistance. It the coming days, several neighboring towns across southern and central Oklahoma assisted in the recovery efforts with doctors being assigned and many supplies shipped by trains towards the devastated region.
was not established at that time, but due to the heavy damage, the tornado was considered an F5. The tornado is one of the deadliest in the state of Oklahoma in recorded history. At the time, the event occurred, it was the second deadliest category 5 tornado ever being surpassed by the New Richmond, Wisconsin tornado
in 1899 which killed 117 (and still stand as the deadliest in Wisconsin
history and 9th overall in the United States
). The Snyder tornado was the deadliest in Oklahoma history until it was surpassed by the Woodward County tornado
on April 9, 1947 which killed at least 181. It still stands today as the 2nd deadliest tornado ever in the state.
Another tornado possibly considered as an F5 was recorded in the immediate area on May 1, 1954, still before the implantation of the Fujita scale. The tornado which originated from North Texas
did not cause any fatalities in the Snyder area.
Other similar outbreaks which had the same meteorological dynamics included the 1955 Great Plains tornado outbreak
which killed 102 including 80 in Udall, Kansas
, the Red River Valley Tornado Outbreak
in 1979 which killed at least 54 including 42 in Wichita Falls, the Andover, Kansas Tornado Outbreak
in 1991 which killed 21 including 4 in Wichita
, and 13 in Andover, Kansas
, the 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak in 1999 which killed 48 in and around Oklahoma City
, Wichita and southern Tennessee
and recently the Greensburg, Kansas outbreak
in May 2007 which killed 14 including 10 in Greensburg, Kansas
which was struck by the first EF5 under the new Enhanced Fujita Scale that started on February 1, 2007.
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
that struck the town of Snyder, Oklahoma
Snyder, Oklahoma
Snyder is a city in Kiowa County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,394 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Snyder is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, Snyder has a total area of , all of it land....
in Kiowa County
Kiowa County, Oklahoma
Kiowa County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 10,227. Its county seat is Hobart.-Geography:According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of . is land and is water....
on May 10, 1905. The event was one of the worst natural disasters ever to hit the state of Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
. The cyclone killed, according to the National Weather Service
National Weather Service
The National Weather Service , once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States government...
data, 97 people, although the real death toll was not known as several people missing were not accounted or found in the following days and weeks. It was part of a larger multiple-day tornado outbreak that hit several states across the Midwestern United States including Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
and Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
.
Meteorological synopsis
The tornado was caused by a strong low pressure system that developed across the Rocky Mountains, near Denver, ColoradoDenver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
. Another low was also located across Wyoming on May 9. Tornadoes were formed on that day across several Plain States including Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas. The Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
system then moved toward the Central and Southern Plains on the next day and affected areas slightly to the east of the area affected on May 9. A new trough
Trough (meteorology)
A trough is an elongated region of relatively low atmospheric pressure, often associated with fronts.Unlike fronts, there is not a universal symbol for a trough on a weather chart. The weather charts in some countries or regions mark troughs by a line. In the United States, a trough may be marked...
of low pressure developed in the vicinity of the southern low. It later moved across the Oklahoma
Oklahoma Panhandle
The Oklahoma Panhandle is the extreme western region of the state of Oklahoma, comprising Cimarron County, Texas County, and Beaver County. Its name comes from the similarity of shape to the handle of a cooking pan....
and Texas Panhandle
Texas Panhandle
The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a rectangular area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east...
s.
As it happened in numerous occasions, such storms produced a large moist and warm flow from the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
as well as lots of instability in the atmosphere. Being in May, low pressure systems produced large contrasts of temperatures which add more ingredients for the development of powerful thunderstorms with possible damaging tornadoes such as it was the case on May 10, 1905.
Snyder tornado
Greer County, Oklahoma
Greer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 6,061. Its county seat is Mangum. From 1860 to 1896, the state of Texas claimed an area known as Greer County, Texas, which included present-day Greer County along with neighboring...
, which is about one hour northwest of Wichita Falls, Texas
Wichita Falls, Texas
Wichita Falls is a city in and the county seat of Wichita County, Texas, United States, United States. Wichita Falls is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay and Wichita counties. According to the U.S. Census estimate of 2010,...
. This tornado killed at least 10 people. Numerous homes, farmsteads and a school house sustained heavy damage or were destroyed. The tornado lifted near Lock (in Jackson County
Jackson County, Oklahoma
Jackson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 28,439. Its county seat is Altus.-Geography:According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water....
). A second and more destructive tornado touched down just after 8:00 PM CDT near the Kiowa/Greer County line and merged with the remnants of the first cyclone. It also proceeded northeast across the Red River Valley and Otter Creek region. At around 8:45 PM CDT (after dark), it struck the town of Snyder killing 97. Along structures in the western and northern part of the town was completely demolished with some homes being swept away. One hundred homes were leveled and 150 badly damaged. The tornado lifted shortly after 9:00 PM CDT northeast of Snyder. Another tornado from a different supercell
Supercell
A supercell is a thunderstorm that is characterized by the presence of a mesocyclone: a deep, continuously-rotating updraft. For this reason, these storms are sometimes referred to as rotating thunderstorms...
which previously killed two in Elk City
Elk City, Oklahoma
Elk City is a city in Beckham County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 11,693 at the 2010 census. Elk City is located on Interstate 40 and Historic U.S. Route 66 in Western Oklahoma, approximately west of Oklahoma City and east of Amarillo....
in Beckham County
Beckham County, Oklahoma
Beckham County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 19,799. Its county seat is Sayre.Founded upon statehood in 1907, Beckham County was named for J. C. W...
killed three more in Quinlan, Oklahoma about two hours northeast of Snyder.
Aftermath
In 1905, only telephoneTelephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
s and telegraphs existed which made recovery efforts difficult especially since both ways of communications were knocked out by the tornado. People had to walk to surrounding regions in order to get help and assistance. It the coming days, several neighboring towns across southern and central Oklahoma assisted in the recovery efforts with doctors being assigned and many supplies shipped by trains towards the devastated region.
Records and similar events
The Fujita ScaleFujita scale
The Fujita scale , or Fujita-Pearson scale, is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation...
was not established at that time, but due to the heavy damage, the tornado was considered an F5. The tornado is one of the deadliest in the state of Oklahoma in recorded history. At the time, the event occurred, it was the second deadliest category 5 tornado ever being surpassed by the New Richmond, Wisconsin tornado
New Richmond Tornado
The 1899 New Richmond Tornado was an unprecedented disaster in the northern Great Plains. It nearly destroyed the village of New Richmond, Wisconsin on June 12, 1899, killing 117 and injuring 125 people...
in 1899 which killed 117 (and still stand as the deadliest in Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
history and 9th overall in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
). The Snyder tornado was the deadliest in Oklahoma history until it was surpassed by the Woodward County tornado
Glazier-Higgins-Woodward Tornadoes
The 1947 Glazier–Higgins–Woodward tornadoes was a system of related tornadoes that swept through Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas on April 9, 1947. Most of the damage and all the deaths are still blamed on one large F5 tornado, known as the Glazier-Higgins-Woodward Tornado, that traveled nearly 125...
on April 9, 1947 which killed at least 181. It still stands today as the 2nd deadliest tornado ever in the state.
Another tornado possibly considered as an F5 was recorded in the immediate area on May 1, 1954, still before the implantation of the Fujita scale. The tornado which originated from North Texas
North Texas
North Texas is a distinct cultural and geographic area forming the central-northeastern section of the U.S. state of Texas. North Texas is generally considered to include the area south of Oklahoma, east of Abilene, and north of Waco...
did not cause any fatalities in the Snyder area.
Other similar outbreaks which had the same meteorological dynamics included the 1955 Great Plains tornado outbreak
1955 Great Plains tornado outbreak
The 1955 Great Plains tornado outbreak was a deadly tornado outbreak that struck the southern and central U.S Plain States on May 25–26, 1955. It produced at least 46 tornadoes across 7 states including 2 F5 tornadoes in Blackwell, Oklahoma and Udall, Kansas. The outbreak killed 102 from 3...
which killed 102 including 80 in Udall, Kansas
Udall, Kansas
Udall is a city in Cowley County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 746.-History:Founded in 1881 by J.M. Napier and P.W. Smith. Udall was named after English author Cornelius Udall....
, the Red River Valley Tornado Outbreak
Red River Valley Tornado Outbreak
The 1979 Red River Valley tornado outbreak was a tornado event that occurred on April 10, 1979 near the Red River Valley. It's most noted for the F4 tornado that hit Wichita Falls, Texas and is commonly referred to as "Terrible Tuesday" by many meteorologists...
in 1979 which killed at least 54 including 42 in Wichita Falls, the Andover, Kansas Tornado Outbreak
Andover, Kansas Tornado Outbreak
The 1991 Andover, Kansas tornado outbreak was a violent outbreak of 55 tornadoes which took place on April 26, 1991, killing 24 people and injuring hundreds more. The Andover outbreak was featured in two different documentaries: the first one was Enemy Wind, a documentary produced by The Weather...
in 1991 which killed 21 including 4 in Wichita
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
, and 13 in Andover, Kansas
Andover, Kansas
Andover is a city in Butler and Sedgwick counties in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 11,791. Located almost entirely in Butler County, it is part of the Wichita Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, the 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak in 1999 which killed 48 in and around Oklahoma City
Oklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
, Wichita and southern Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
and recently the Greensburg, Kansas outbreak
May 2007 Tornado Outbreak
The May 2007 Tornado Outbreak was an extended tornado outbreak that started on May 4, 2007, affecting portions of the Central United States. The most destructive tornado in the outbreak occurred on the evening of May 4 in western Kansas, where about 95% of the city of Greensburg in Kiowa County was...
in May 2007 which killed 14 including 10 in Greensburg, Kansas
Greensburg, Kansas
Greensburg is a city in and the county seat of Kiowa County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 777. Greensburg is also home to the world's largest hand-dug well....
which was struck by the first EF5 under the new Enhanced Fujita Scale that started on February 1, 2007.
See also
- List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
- List of F5 tornadoes
- Snyder, OklahomaSnyder, OklahomaSnyder is a city in Kiowa County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,394 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Snyder is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, Snyder has a total area of , all of it land....