The May 3, 1999 tornado
F4Sumner and Sedgwick counties, Kansas
An F4 tornado on a 24.0-mile path that killed 6 and injured 150. It was one of 71 tornadoes recorded in the U.S. that day, 10 of them rated F3/EF3 or stronger.
Watch how it happened Part of the outbreak of May 3, 1999: 71 tornadoes in 5 statesF4 tornado · May 3, 1999
How it happened
Follow the tornado’s path, minute by minute.
The tornado
- Rating
- F4
- Fujita scale
- Path length
- 24.0 mi
- Width up to 880 yards
- Killed
- 6
- Along the whole path
- Injured
- 150
- Along the whole path
- Date and time
- Monday, May 3, 1999
- 7:13 PM CST
The National Weather Service account
Written by the local Weather Service office after its damage survey.
The same tornado that initially touched down 4 miles north of Wellington in Central Sumner County, SKYWARN reports indicate the tornado crossed the Sumner/Sedgwick County line at 1930, 1 mile west of Peck. Moving northeast at 30 kts, the tornado hit Haysville at 1935, destroying a subdivision just southwest of the South Seneca-South 87th Street intersection where the first 2 fatalities occurred in a mobile home park when a woman and her grandson were killed while running for shelter. (A 6th fatality resulted when an elderly man died from his injuries at a Wichita hospital on May 23rd.) The tornado then moved north along South Seneca Avenue, entering the Haysville Central Business District at 1938. The 3rd fatality occurred at this point when an elderly man was killed in a mobile home at South 75th Street. At the South Seneca/South 71st Street intersection, most of the businesses were heavily damaged or destroyed. Damage summary for Haysville (damaged or destroyed): 150 homes, 27 businesses, 3 churches, 1 library, 4 historic buildings and 1 lodge. The tornado entered South Wichita at 1943 when it crossed South 55th Street. The tornado then veered slightly toward the northwest. At South 47th Street it reassumed a northeast track. Crossing MacArthur Avenue, the tornado leveled the Lakeshore and Pacesetter mobile home parks located just northeast of the South Seneca/MacArthur intersection where the 4th and 5th fatalities occurred, one at each mobile home park. At 1945, the tornado crossed the East Harry Street interchange on I-135 and continued to move northeast, lifting in the College Hill District in Northeast Wichita. Along this entire track, the tornado left a path of destruction 14 miles long and 1/4 to 1/2 mile wide. Damage summary for Sedgwick County: 8,480 buildings (all types) damaged or destroyed. Of these, 2,456 were at least 50% destroyed and 1,109 totally destroyed.
NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
Counties on its path
Other notable tornadoes that day
- F5, Grady County36 killed
- F4, Kingfisher County1 killed
- F4, Logan County2 killed
Storm Prediction Center severe weather database. Path drawn as a straight line from the recorded start to end point.