Summary

Oklahomans had only two weeks to digest the news of the sinking of the RMS Titanic when weather disaster visited parts of the state on April 27-28, 1912. A tornado outbreak began during late morning hours of Saturday, April 27th and continued through the afternoon and evening hours. Multiple strong to violent tornadoes raked parts of southwestern, west central, central and eastern Oklahoma. Areas in or near the towns of Martha, Blair, Warren, Lugert, Rocky, Sentinel, Foss, Butler, Elk City, Cordell, Corn, Colony, Hinton, Calumet, and Sallisaw were struck by tornadoes. A concentrated area in southwestern and west central Oklahoma was particularly hard hit. A few weak to strong tornadoes also occurred during the early morning hours of Sunday, April 28th before the outbreak ended in Oklahoma. About 40 people were killed and 120 people were injured by the storms.

The April 27-28, 1912 outbreak was the climax of a wild, week-long period of severe weather that occurred in Oklahoma. Strong to violent tornadoes struck portions of central and north central Oklahoma on April 20, 1912. In addition, a violent tornado hit Ponca City, OK on April 25, 1912.

To mark the 100th anniversary of this event, tornado data, approximated tornado damage paths, weather maps, and newspaper quotes have been compiled. A synopsis of the meteorological conditions that existed during mid to late April 1912 is available, and is based on the limited amount of meteorological data that are obtainable from that time. The tornado data are based on original U. S. Weather Bureau reports, as well as research done by Tom Grazulis of the Tornado Project, NOAA scientist Don Burgess, and members of the NWS Norman staff.

Weather Synopsis

by Derek Stratman, Former OU Meteorology Grad Student and NWS Norman Student Volunteer

An unusually active April weather pattern existed for Oklahoma during the week of April 20th through April 28th, 1912. During three of those days, Oklahomans witnessed multiple devastating tornadoes across the state from Jackson County, OK to Kay County, OK. Those tornadic days included April 20th, April 25th, and April 27th, which added an exclamation point to the end of a very destructive and deadly week. The April 27-28, 1912 tornado outbreak rivals the more recent May 3-4, 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak in terms of the number of strong to violent tornadoes, the amount of destruction to communities, and, sadly, the number of deaths.

So, what caused these three historic days of tornadoes? Unfortunately, surface and upper air observations were very limited in 1912. In fact, there were no radars, no soundings, no automated surface observations, and no satellites. Back then, data was limited to human observed surface variables at select locations across the United States. The weather observers measured temperature, pressure, wind speed and direction, and rainfall amounts. From this limited atmospheric data, the Weather Bureau, which was part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, created daily hand-drawn surface analysis maps. Later, during World War II, the Army Air Forces reanalyzed these Weather Bureau maps. These reanalyzed analyses will be used to ascertain the characteristics of the rest of the atmosphere so that a weather synopsis can be obtained for each of the days.

April 20th: On April 17th, cold, dry air encompassed the Central Plains with the cold front positioned well south of Texas out over the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico. In order for storms to have the chance to develop, the assumed warm, moist air south of the cold front needed to advect back north into the Southern Plains. On the morning of April 18th, a surface low pressure system centered over the Four Corners region of the Southwest United States began the task of advecting that warm, moist air back north into the Southern Plains. Warm, moist air is associated with instability, which is the energy source for thunderstorms.

By the morning of April 20th, the surface low pressure system moved east-northeastward into South Central Colorado. This indirectly implies the mid- and upper-level winds aloft (5-10 km above ground level) were directed from the west-southwest. Combined with southeasterly winds at the surface, it is evident that plenty of vertical wind (directional and speed) shear was in place for severe thunderstorms. Even though no consistent moisture measurements existed in 1912, the southeasterly surface winds across the Southern Plains hint at the continual advection of the warm, moist air out ahead of the analyzed surface cold front, which extended southward from the low pressure system across Eastern New Mexico. Although a dryline wasn't analyzed, the convergent winds ahead of the cold front in the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles indicate the potential that one existed on the morning of the 20th. Either way, the cold front and/or dryline provided the necessary lift needed for the development of thunderstorms later in the day from central South Central Kansas southward through Central Oklahoma and into North Central Texas.

The combination of shear, lift, instability, and moisture (SLIM) associated with this day lead to three separate areas (South Central Kansas, Central Oklahoma, and North Central Texas) of strong to violent tornadoes in the Southern Plains. The next two cases were rarer and differ in one major aspect-a warm front provided the necessary lift needed for thunderstorm development.

April 25th: After the passage of the cold front on April 20th, surface high pressure dominated the Central Plains through April 23th. However, on the morning of April 24th, the high pressure center moved southeastward and was centered over the Southeast. Since surface air flows clockwise around a high pressure system, the Southern Plains started to receive return flow from the Gulf of Mexico, which is a source of warm, moist air.

The morning of April 25th revealed a broad surface low pressure system situated over the Western Plains after being located west of the Continental Divide on the previous day. Also, a warm front had developed on the northern edge of the presumed moisture return across Central Oklahoma and Northeast Texas. By mid-afternoon, the warm front was most likely stretched across North Central Oklahoma and South Central Kansas. Along and just north of the warm front, the surface winds were from the east-southeast, yielding strong vertical wind shear since the winds aloft were likely from the west-southwest due to the approach of an upper level trough. Once again, all of the ingredients (SLIM) came together for tornadic supercells to develop just like on April 20th, except this time they formed across South Central and Southeastern Kansas and North Central Oklahoma.

April 27th/28th: During the night of April 25th and the morning of April 26th, a cold front pushed through Oklahoma leaving northwest winds and cooler air in its wake. However, the cold front stalled out in Central Texas forming a southwest-to-northeast oriented stationary front, and by the morning of April 27th, the stationary front pushed northward as a warm front across Southeast Oklahoma and North Texas out ahead of the upper-level trough and the next surface low pressure system. Jumping "forward in time" to the morning of April 28th, the surface low pressure system was located over Western Oklahoma with a cold front extending southeastward across South Central Oklahoma and a warm front extending eastward across Northern Oklahoma. Thus, the warm front moved from around the Red River Valley to Northern Oklahoma over the course of 24 hours. This warm front provided the lift needed for multiple rounds of tornadic thunderstorms during the day and night of April 27th.

South of the warm front, the surface winds were southeasterly, and north of the warm front, the winds were northeasterly. That surface wind field coupled with strong westerly/southwesterly upper-level flow produced the strong vertical wind shear needed for the tornado outbreak. Along and south of the warm front, moisture and instability were likely abundant, so the necessary ingredients (SLIM) undoubtedly existed for tornadic supercells across Western and Central Oklahoma on April 27th.

With such sparse data from April 1912, little can be factually said about the state of the atmosphere during these three tornado episodes, and many assumptions were made with the above weather synopsis. Additionally, smaller scale features, which could have been the main reason for where and when storms and tornadoes developed on those three days, were unresolvable 100 years ago. In fact, meteorologists, both forecasters and researchers, still struggle with this problem even with a denser observation network. Even though the exact details on those three days in April 1912 are unknown, the fact still stands that several violent tornadoes, especially on April 27th, occurred in historic fashion and will not be forgotten.

Weather Maps

April 17, 1912
U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 17, 1912. Map Credit: NOAA Central Library Data Imaging Project. Daily Weather Maps, 17 April 1912.	U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 17, 1912. Map credit: United States Government. Army Air Forces and Weather Bureau. Historical Weather Maps: Daily Synoptic Series, Northern Hemisphere Sea Level, April 1912.
April 18, 1912
U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 18, 1912. Map Credit: NOAA Central Library Data Imaging Project. Daily Weather Maps, 18 April 1912.	U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 18, 1912. Map credit: United States Government. Army Air Forces and Weather Bureau. Historical Weather Maps: Daily Synoptic Series, Northern Hemisphere Sea Level, April 1912.
April 19, 1912
U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 19, 1912. Map Credit: NOAA Central Library Data Imaging Project. Daily Weather Maps, 19 April 1912.	U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 19, 1912. Map credit: United States Government. Army Air Forces and Weather Bureau. Historical Weather Maps: Daily Synoptic Series, Northern Hemisphere Sea Level, April 1912.
April 20, 1912
U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 20, 1912. Map Credit: NOAA Central Library Data Imaging Project. Daily Weather Maps, 20 April 1912.	U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 20, 1912. Map credit: United States Government. Army Air Forces and Weather Bureau. Historical Weather Maps: Daily Synoptic Series, Northern Hemisphere Sea Level, April 1912.
April 21, 1912
U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 21, 1912. Map Credit: NOAA Central Library Data Imaging Project. Daily Weather Maps, 21 April 1912.	U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 21, 1912. Map credit: United States Government. Army Air Forces and Weather Bureau. Historical Weather Maps: Daily Synoptic Series, Northern Hemisphere Sea Level, April 1912.
April 22, 1912
U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 22, 1912. Map Credit: NOAA Central Library Data Imaging Project. Daily Weather Maps, 22 April 1912.	U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 22, 1912. Map credit: United States Government. Army Air Forces and Weather Bureau. Historical Weather Maps: Daily Synoptic Series, Northern Hemisphere Sea Level, April 1912.
April 23, 1912
U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 23, 1912. Map Credit: NOAA Central Library Data Imaging Project. Daily Weather Maps, 23 April 1912.	U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 23, 1912. Map credit: United States Government. Army Air Forces and Weather Bureau. Historical Weather Maps: Daily Synoptic Series, Northern Hemisphere Sea Level, April 1912.
April 24, 1912
U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 24, 1912. Map Credit: NOAA Central Library Data Imaging Project. Daily Weather Maps, 24 April 1912.	U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 24, 1912. Map credit: United States Government. Army Air Forces and Weather Bureau. Historical Weather Maps: Daily Synoptic Series, Northern Hemisphere Sea Level, April 1912.
April 25, 1912
U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 25, 1912. Map Credit: NOAA Central Library Data Imaging Project. Daily Weather Maps, 25 April 1912.	U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 25, 1912. Map credit: United States Government. Army Air Forces and Weather Bureau. Historical Weather Maps: Daily Synoptic Series, Northern Hemisphere Sea Level, April 1912.
April 26, 1912
U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 26, 1912. Map Credit: NOAA Central Library Data Imaging Project. Daily Weather Maps, 26 April 1912.	U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 26, 1912. Map credit: United States Government. Army Air Forces and Weather Bureau. Historical Weather Maps: Daily Synoptic Series, Northern Hemisphere Sea Level, April 1912.
April 27, 1912
U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 27, 1912. Map Credit: NOAA Central Library Data Imaging Project. Daily Weather Maps, 27 April 1912.	U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 27, 1912. Map credit: United States Government. Army Air Forces and Weather Bureau. Historical Weather Maps: Daily Synoptic Series, Northern Hemisphere Sea Level, April 1912.
April 28, 1912
U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 28, 1912. Map Credit: NOAA Central Library Data Imaging Project. Daily Weather Maps, 28 April 1912.	U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 28, 1912. Map credit: United States Government. Army Air Forces and Weather Bureau. Historical Weather Maps: Daily Synoptic Series, Northern Hemisphere Sea Level, April 1912.
April 29, 1912
U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 29, 1912. Map Credit: NOAA Central Library Data Imaging Project. Daily Weather Maps, 29 April 1912.	U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 29, 1912. Map credit: United States Government. Army Air Forces and Weather Bureau. Historical Weather Maps: Daily Synoptic Series, Northern Hemisphere Sea Level, April 1912.
April 30, 1912
U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 30, 1912. Map Credit: NOAA Central Library Data Imaging Project. Daily Weather Maps, 30 April 1912.	U.S. Weather Bureau Surface Analysis at 7:00 am CST (1300 UTC) on April 30, 1912. Map credit: United States Government. Army Air Forces and Weather Bureau. Historical Weather Maps: Daily Synoptic Series, Northern Hemisphere Sea Level, April 1912.

Tornado Data

The following tornado data are based on a combination of original records compiled by U.S. Weather Bureau officials at the former USWB office in Oklahoma City, OK, as well as more detailed research done by Tom Grazulis of the Tornado Project, and research done by NOAA scientist Don Burgess and NWS Norman staff members. The research of the event continues, and the data presented should be considered to be APPROXIMATE at this time.

Newspaper Quotes

In 1912, the main form of communication for current events was newspapers.  The style of how newspaper articles were written in 1912 differs from current times.  The newspaper writers of that time were poetically descriptive and didn't filter out all of the details.  This webpage points out some of the more interesting sections of the newspaper articles covering the tornado outbreak from April 27, 1912.

The Cordell Beacon

The following newspapers quotes come from the Cordell Beacon printed on May 2, 1912.

"In the Parman home there were seven people when storm struck, old Mrs. Parman was killed, Mrs. Jack Parman was injured so severely that she died soon afterward. Mr. Parman was seriously though not fatally hurt. The other four were bruised up, but sustained no serious hurt. The Symcox family saw the cloud approaching and sought refuge in their storm cave so entirely escaped injury. Members of the Treece family were badly bruised. The other three houses struck were unoccupied."

"Doctors, workers and sightseers hurried to the scene expecting to find fully one half of the city destroyed. The injured were taken to the home of Wilson Haynes where they were cared for. For more than half the night there was a steady stream of people going out to view the damage wrought."

"There was a miraculous escape at the home of R. B. More, three miles south. Their house is a two story rock structure, the stones being in the neighborhood of eighteen inches in thickness. There were in the house at the time the cyclone struck, twelve people, all of whom escaped with only the slightest injuries. The house was literally torn to pieces and the rocks and timbers fell about the inmates like hail. Mrs. More was in bed with a five day old baby, and although there was at least two feet of timbers and debris piled over them they were not hurt a particle."

This next set of quotes comes from an article in the Cordell Beacon titled, Stories of the Storm.

"Dave Murdock's reputation as foot racer has gone up several notches since Saturday night."

"It is told in Rocky that a cow was taken in the air and transferred from one lot to another, and without injury."

"Several new storm caves were started Monday morning and contractors tells us there are many more to follow."

"The entire side of one of the houses on the north side was found over by the track- not a vestige of the paper or canvas was left, nothing but the tacks."

"Hiram Reagan will consume a little more time in preparing his toilet before going to the storm house hereafter, even though the twister looks twice as large as it did the other night."

"The house of Mr. Mathison was on the outer edge of the whirling cloud, 'twas lifted bodily off the foundation. The lamp which was burning on the table was not overturned."

"The steel bridge on the river east of town was torn to pieces and twisted as though it were nothing but bailing wire. The loss of this bridge will not be felt a great deal as there is a bridge on the state road less than a mile away."

"One peculiarity of the storm was that of the nine people killed, all were women and children. Not a man met death though many were seriously wounded."

"F. W. Sutton who has been up and down with the rheumatism for the past two weeks, had the stiffness scared out of him Saturday night. He had gone to bed when he glanced out of the west window of his room and saw the funnel cloud hanging down.  He was in his trousers in two jumps and his steps leading to the McCauley's dugout measured four feet and two inches."

"Jake Neufeld was enjoying a first class shave when somebody hollered "cyclone." With lather on the side of his face he made a shoot for the front door, grabbing his coat and umbrella on the way. When he had gone a couple of blocks, he lightened his load by dispensing with his coat and umbrella; the exact time taken for the trip from the sop to his home in the south part of town, we have been unable to learn, but suffice it to say that he beat all former records."

The Hobart Republican

A few quotes from the Hobart Republican from May 2, 1912 reveal the amount of destruction and death that occurred across southwestern Oklahoma.

"King's house was turned over two times. Mrs. Hanly in this house was the lady injured. An unknown man living up the creek was seriously hurt and neighbors called Hobart doctors. The orchard of William Jacquart's was practically ruined. The barn of John Stewart was destroyed. Joe Terry was not hurt. His barn was blown away. Frank England of Hobart was in front of the barn in a buggy. The buggy was turned over by the wind and England blown into a hog wire fence. The buggy was damaged considerably."

"At Lugert the greatest damage was done. Eighteen families are entirely destitute, and the remaining homes of neighbors sheltered the homeless and injured Saturday and Sunday nights. All houses in Lugert were demolished but the Orient depot and Frank Lugert's store. The latter was practically ruined."

"The entire town [Rocky] was covered with wreckage. Roofs were dumped in the middle of streets and planks and boards were strewn everywhere. It would be hard to estimate the damage done but conservative heads say it will go above $50,000."

Much like current times after a horrific tornado outbreak, donations of food, supplies, and money were sent into the tornado stricken areas and were documented in some of the newspapers, including the Hobart Republican.

"Requests for aid were sent out, and at Hobart Monday the Chamber of Commerce got busy and raised $560 in money, three wagon loads of clothing, quilts, blankets, etc. Of the $560, contributed the Elk Lodge gave $100."

"A committee composed of C. G. Long, R. L. Waggoner, A. E. Fritsche, John Hyndman and J. M. Rule has charge in dispensing this assistance. $250 and two loads of clothing were sent to Lugert and the remainder will be given to the sufferers west and northwest of town. Tents from Hobart, Altus and Lone Wolf were sent to Lugert, and will house the homeless until other arrangements can be made. Those in need of assistance may call the Chamber of Commerce and the committee will attend to same. The subscription list is left open so that those who did not get in Monday may yet do so."

"The contributions in cash and goods so far will reach $1,500, and it is all used as fast as received. More can be used."

National Newspapers

The tornado outbreak of April 27, 1912 certainly caught the attention of local Oklahoma newspapers, but it also gained the attention of newspapers from large cities, such as Chicago and Boston.  The fact that a tornado outbreak in Oklahoma drew enough attention that big city newspapers decided to write about the rural Oklahoma devastation is quite impressive, especially since the RMS Titanic sank less than two weeks before and, not surprisingly, was the main topic of newspapers.

The Chicago Examiner wrote about the destruction on April 28, 1912, less than a day after the outbreak.

"OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla., April 27. – The tell of the tornado which swept Southwestern Oklahoma this afternoon will be at least nineteen dead, scores injured and property loss amounting to many thousands of dollars.

The town of Lugert suffered the most. Fifteen are dead there.  Four are reported dead at Eldorado.  Ten or a dozen towns suffered more or less storm damage. Little is known of what occurred in the rural districts.  It is known that the damage was severe.

An early report that twenty were killed and forty hurt when a Kansas City, Missouri & Ohio train was blown off the track is denied.  The train encountered the storm and was blown over, but no lives were lost.

A family of seven was injured at Yukon. One, Mrs. Jerry Brown, is thought to be dying."

Additionally, the Boston Evening Transcript also relayed the story of the tornado outbreak on April 29, 1912.

"Oklahoma City, Okla., April 29 – While there have been no additions to the list of fifty-four killed in storms which swept through sections of Oklahoma Saturday, the number of injured is much larger, and the property loss is greater than indicated in yesterday's reports.  Wire communication has not been restored to many of the gale-stricken points.

"Twenty towns were struck by the storm which swept northward Saturday afternoon from Texas through portions of southwestern and central Oklahoma.  Butler and Foss were destroyed, and forty-one dead and over a hundred injured are accounted for.  Other deaths are reported, but cannot be verified because torrential rains in the wake of the tornado made streams overflow, preventing rescue parties from exploring whole sections.  All of central Oklahoma seems to be demoralized and it may be several days before an accurate report of the loss of life and property damage is obtained."