Oklahoma Journeys

Week of April 4, 2009

Woodward Tornado, 1947

Download audio

Oklahoma is considered to be at the center of tornado alley. Most remember the May 3, 1999, tornados that devastated a large portion of central Oklahoma. While thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed, the loss of life was remarkably small. That was not the case in April 1947 when the deadliest tornado to hit Oklahoma roared through Woodward. That’s the story on Oklahoma Journeys from the Oklahoma History Center.

From the Oklahoma History Center, this is Oklahoma Journeys. I’m Michael Dean.

It was a quiet night in Woodward, the night of April 9, 1947. No one could have expected what would happen over the next couple of hours. On April 7 a pacific warm front crossed through Arizona and into New Mexico. By April 9th the front arrived near Amarillo where it collided with a strong cold front. Today we know what that brings, but in 1947, meteorology had not advanced that far. This was the days before weather radars. What happened was the wind speed in Amarillo was clocked at more than 100 miles per hour. And in short order a half dozen tornadoes formed and dropped from the sky. The first one with a base estimated at two miles wide struck Canadian, Texas. By 7pm it traveled 14 miles hitting Glazier, Texas, ripping thru 25 buildings and killing 16 people, and it was just getting wound up. The next town in its path was Higgins, Texas. There it destroyed all but three buildings and took 45 lives. This enormous twister wounds its way across the Texas Panhandle into Northwest Oklahoma, traveling for more than 100 miles. The biggest town in its path was Woodward, Oklahoma.

There were no tornado warnings like we are accustomed to today, and Wednesday, April 9, 1947, was the third day of a nationwide telephone strike. Only emergency operators were working the switchboards at the local telephone offices. A little before 8 that evening, the operator in Shattuck called the operator in Higgins, Texas, to see if she was alright. She could see a large black cloud to the southwest. Another operator chimed in that the clouds looked terrible. At 8:15 the tornado completely leveled the town of Gage, 25 miles southwest of Woodward. Sixty farm homes were destroyed and 8 more people were dead.

Now Woodward was in the tornado’s bull’s eye. People had commented that evening on how muggy it was, then the wind picked up, then it really started blowing, bending trees to the ground. Then the rain followed the wind, then hail...and then the tornado, until 1999, the only confirmed F-5 tornado to ever hit in Oklahoma.

The first reports that night were that 12 people were killed. It was worse than that. The first reports were that some houses and buildings had been demolished. It was much worse than that. The next morning, at daybreak, those who survived found themselves in the midst of a catastrophe. The two-mile wide tornado leveled 100 city blocks, leaving 185 dead, 1,000 injured.

In the weather exhibit at the Oklahoma History Center, you can see artifacts from the Woodward tornado and learn more about the predictably unpredictable weather in Oklahoma. The Oklahoma History Center is located on NE 23rd Street, just east of the state capitol in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma Journeys is a production of the Oklahoma History Center, dedicated to collecting, preserving and sharing our state’s past. I’m Michael Dean.