A violent tornado formed at the town of Vici at 11:00 pm CST on April 14th in northwestern Dewey County and moved northeastward through the southeastern part of Vici, where it damaged 50 buildings. The twister then continued through rural parts of extreme northwestern Major County and southeastern Woodward County before tracking into Woods County. In Woods County the tornado moved along a path that was south of Waynoka, northwest of Hopeton and southeast of Alva before it struck the town of Capron at 12:15 am CST during the early morning of April 15th.

After exiting Capron, the tornado continued northeastward through extreme northwestern Alfalfa County and then dissipated near Kiowa, KS in southeastern Barber County just north of the Oklahoma-Kansas state line. The storm produced damage along a track that was at least 65 miles long and possibly 73 miles long. It is possible that this event was comprised of a family of tornadoes from a parent supercell thunderstorm instead of being a single, long-track tornado.

Many farm homes and other buildings were destroyed in the rural areas near Waynoka, Hopeton and Alva, as well as the entire business section of Capron. Damage reached F5 intensity in an area 5 miles south of Waynoka where most of the fatalities occurred and farmhouses were completely swept away. At least one death in this area occurred when the tornado struck an automobile. In a case of unfortunate timing, the tornado and a train arrived simultaneously at Capron, and several railroad cars were derailed. The new brick school building in Capron was a total loss, and the southeast part of that town sustained heavy damage.

A total of 7 persons were killed and another 19 were injured by the tornado, with 15 of the injuries occurring in Capron. The damage caused by this storm was estimated at $104,000.

A tornado touched down in Woodward and moved southeastward through the city, producing considerable damage to numerous homes and other property. The path of destruction was 250 yards wide and 3 miles long. No one was killed, but 3 people were injured. Crop loss in the vicinity of Woodward was estimated at $35,000 while other property damage totaled $65,000.

The most deadly tornado to ever strike within the borders of the state of Oklahoma occurred on Wednesday, April 9, 1947 in the city of Woodward. The Woodward tornadic supercell thunderstorm began in the Texas Panhandle during the afternoon of April 9, 1947, and produced at least six tornadoes along a 220-mile path that stretched from White Deer, TX (northeast of Amarillo) to St. Leo, KS (west of Wichita).

While it is still officially attributed to have traveled in a single long track through 3 states, work done by Tom Grazulis of the Tornado Project, and research scientist Don Burgess indicates that a separate tornado occurred near White Deer, TX, and 4 or more tornadoes occurred near the Oklahoma state line and into Kansas. In addition, the Woodward tornado may have begun closer to Pampa, TX, but there is no corroborating evidence to confirm a damage path in the area.

What is known is that the violent tornado that struck Woodward had a confirmed path that started 3 miles northwest of Canadian, TX. The tornado moved northeast, and continued on the ground continuously for about 98 miles, before ending in Woods County, Oklahoma about 10 miles west of Alva. The tornado was massive, up to 1.8 miles wide, and traveled at forward speeds of about 50 miles per hour.

The tornado first struck Glazier and Higgins in the Texas Panhandle, devastating both towns and producing at least 69 fatalities in Texas before crossing into Oklahoma. In Ellis County, Oklahoma, the tornado did not strike any towns, passing to the southeast of Shattuck, Gage, and Fargo. Even though no towns were struck, nearly 60 farms and ranches were destroyed and 8 people were killed with 42 more injured. Moving into Woodward County, one death was reported near Tangier.

The violent tornado (F5 on the Fujita Scale) unleashed its worst destruction on Woodward, striking the city without warning at 8:42 pm CST. Over 100 city blocks on the west and north sides of the city were destroyed with lesser damage in the southeast portion of the town. Confusion and fires reigned in the aftermath with over 1000 homes and businesses destroyed, at least 107 people killed in and around Woodward, and nearly 1000 additional injuries.

Normal communications between Woodward and the outside world were not restored for some time and there was great uncertainty as to victim status. In fact, the bodies of three children were never identified, and one child who survived the tornado was lost and never reunited with her family. Help for Woodward came from many places, including units from as far away as Oklahoma City and Wichita. Beyond Woodward, the tornado lost some intensity, but still destroyed 36 homes and injured 30 people in Woods County before it dissipated. The supercell thunderstorm would produce at least another 4 tornadoes near the Oklahoma State line and in southern Kansas.

In all, at least 116 lives were lost in Oklahoma on that fateful night with another 68 deaths occurring in Texas. Never before or since has a tornado been so costly to human life in the Sooner State. Another 782 people were in Oklahoma with 198 injuries occurring in Texas. Damages were estimated at $1.5 million in Texas and $8 million in Oklahoma. The tornado destroyed 507 structures and damaged 803 more in Oklahoma. A  total of 119 structures were destroyed and another 117 were damaged in Texas.

Because of the Woodward tornado and other devastating tornadoes in the late 1940's and early 1950's, and because of new technologies available after World War II, the Weather Bureau (now the National Weather Service) began a tornado watch and warning program in 1953. Since then, the warning system composed of the National Weather Service, local civil preparedness agencies, and the media has continued to mature and provide better and better information to citizens to help them protect themselves from tornadoes. Because of the strengths of the warning system, tornado death tolls in Oklahoma, and nationwide, have dropped considerably with each passing decade and, hopefully, will continue to decrease.

A tornado struck Quinlan during the evening May 24th, damaging at least four buildings in the downtown area. Two people were injured by flying glass from broken windows, and the tornado produced damages of $20,000.

A tornado picked up a mobile home and flipped it upside down about 4 miles west of Woodward. A woman was injured when she was thrown through a window of the mobile home.

The tornado developed approximately just south of Arnett (Ellis County) at 10:42 pm CST (11:42 pm CDT) on April 14, 2012 and moved northeast. Two homes were categorized as destroyed and a few other homes sustained damage. Trees and power lines were also damaged as the tornado moved toward the Woodward county border. The tornado eventually crossed the border, producing only minor damage (mainly downed trees and power poles/lines) as it moved over mainly rural portions of Woodward County, southwest of the city of Woodward.

At approximately 11:12 pm CST (12:12 am CDT on April 15, 2012), the tornado struck two mobile homes 5 miles southwest of Woodward. The damage here was determined to be EF-2 in intensity, and also resulted in 3 fatalities. The heaviest damage, rated EF-3, was reported as the tornado entered the southwest sides of Woodward around 11:18 pm CST. Several homes and businesses were heavily damaged as the tornado continued northeast. Several more mobile homes were destroyed by the tornado on the north side of Woodward, and resulted in 3 additional fatalities. The tornado finally exited the city of Woodward at approximately 11:23 pm CST, eventually dissipating approximately 4 miles north of Woodward at 11:27 pm CST.