Snyder, Oklahoma tornado

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Track of the 1905 Snyder, Oklahoma tornado

The 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.

1 Meteorological synopsis
2 Snyder tornado
3 Aftermath
4 Records and similar events
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Meteorological synopsis

The tornado was caused by a strong low pressure system that developed across the Rocky Mountains, near Denver, Colorado. 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 through of low pressure developed in the vicinity of the southern low. It later moved across the Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles.^[1]^[2]

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.

[edit] Snyder tornado

Damage to the Snyder Hotel seen just days after the Tornado destroyed much of Snyder, Oklahoma

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.^{[citation needed]} 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).^{[citation needed]} 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.^[3] 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.

[edit] Aftermath

In 1905, only telephones 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.^[4]

[edit] Records and similar events

The Fujita Scale 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 surpass 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 caused 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.