Tornado Season Breakdowns Near Oklahoma City: Where to Go When Your Car Quits

If your car dies in Oklahoma City under a tornado watch, call for help right away and pick out a solid building you could walk to. Under a tornado warning, leave the car and get inside the closest well-built building. Don't count on a public shelter, because the City of OKC doesn't have any. Don't hide under an overpass, either. Call for your tow once the warning ends.

When do tornadoes hit the Oklahoma City area?

The weather service office in Norman keeps a record of every tornado in what it calls the "immediate OKC area." That's about 600 square miles. It takes in Oklahoma City plus Moore, Midwest City, Del City, Yukon, Mustang, Bethany and more. The list now holds 194 tornadoes.

• May is the top month. April and June come close behind. About two thirds of OKC tornadoes struck in those three months.
• Afternoon into evening is the top time. They formed most often between 3 and 8 PM, daylight time. That's the drive home on I-35, I-40 and I-44.
• Fall counts too. The list has 18 October tornadoes, more than March. Only December and January have never had one.

Rush hour in May is the classic setup. But some recent fall tornadoes came in the dark or at the morning commute:

• October 9, 2018. On a weekday morning, a tornado touched down near I-40 between Air Depot Boulevard and Town Center Drive. In a Midwest City shopping area, it shoved three parked cars about 50 yards into posts.
• November 3, 2024. After midnight, an EF3 tornado damaged dozens of homes west of Sooner Road, between SE 89th Street and I-240.

Watch, warning or emergency: what does each one mean for a stalled car?

The National Weather Service uses three tornado alerts. Each one calls for a different move when your car won't go.

• Tornado watch. Tornadoes are possible in and near the area. A watch often covers many counties at once. You still have time to call for help and make a plan.
• Tornado warning. A tornado has been spotted or shows on radar. The weather service says anyone in a vehicle should move to the closest solid shelter.
• Tornado emergency. This is the top alert. A violent tornado is on the ground. Get to the safest place you can reach, right now.

Under a watch, a dead battery in a Bricktown lot is still just a dead battery. Under a warning or an emergency, the car stops mattering.

Where do you go if OKC has no public shelters?

The City of Oklahoma City says it doesn't have public tornado shelters. It gives two reasons. A car is one of the most dangerous places to be in a tornado. And crowds of people driving to shelters at once could jam the roads.

The city also says hospitals and many other public buildings are not public storm shelters. Don't build your plan around one.

Instead, the city says to get inside the closest well-built building. Then:

• Go to the innermost room, hallway or closet on the lowest floor.
• Put as many walls as you can between you and the outside.
• Stay away from windows and doors.
• Wear sturdy shoes, in case you have to walk out through debris.

The moment your car quits, spot that building and a way to walk there clear of traffic.

Why not wait it out under an overpass?

Oklahoma learned this the hard way. On May 3, 1999, tornadoes crossed interstates in central Oklahoma at 7 places. At 3 of them, an overpass sat right in the tornado's path. At all 3, someone died. Two of those bridges were Shields Boulevard over I-35 in Moore and 16th Street over I-44 in Newcastle.

The Norman weather service office explained why. Wind is weakest near the ground, and it's usually stronger up under a bridge. Hiding there makes you "a stationary target for flying debris."

There was a second problem. At the Shields Boulevard bridge, drivers stopped to hide underneath. Some parked there 10 to 15 minutes before the tornado arrived. They filled the shoulder, then the right lane, then every lane. The jam grew to about a quarter mile. The cars behind had nowhere to go.

If your car stalls near a bridge, don't climb up under it. And if your car still runs, never stop in a lane to hide.

What did May 31, 2013 teach OKC drivers?

That evening, the El Reno tornado slowed as it neared I-40. The weather service says it killed eight people, all in vehicles. Some were trying to escape it. Two died along I-40 while waiting for the storm to pass.

The same storms then dumped heavy rain on the metro. Flash flooding killed 13 people in Oklahoma County, 12 of them in Oklahoma City. The weather service calls it the deadliest event ever for the city.

The lessons? The City of OKC says never try to outrun a tornado by car. If yours is sputtering, don't nurse it along ahead of a storm. And the danger isn't over when the wind dies down. The weather service says 12 inches of rushing water can carry away most cars. Two feet can carry away SUVs and trucks. If water covers the road, turn around.

Your car quits under a tornado warning. What now?

Say your car dies on I-240 at 5:30 on a May evening, and a warning hits your phone. Go in this order.

1. Call 911 if anyone is hurt or your car is stuck in a live lane. Sentinel is not an emergency service.
2. Head for the closest well-built building if you can reach it on foot without walking into traffic.
3. No building in reach? The weather service gives two choices. Get down low in the car and cover your head. Or leave the car for a ditch or low spot.
4. Only use a ditch if it's dry. Heavy rain often rides with these storms. If water is moving in it, stay in the car and cover your head.
5. Stay down after the sirens stop. OKC sirens have no all clear. Wait until your phone or radio says the warning is over.

What do the OKC sirens tell you from the side of the road?

Oklahoma City has 182 outdoor warning sirens. When the weather service draws a warning box on the map, the city sounds the sirens in the sectors inside it. They also sound where there's been a credible report of a tornado.

A few city rules matter when you're stuck outside:

• Saturday at noon is a test. The city skips it when severe weather is a threat. So a siren on a stormy Saturday is not a test.
• Silence is not an all clear. When the sirens stop, the threat may not be over. They sound again as new threats show up.
• Storms can drown them out. The city says wind and rain in a noisy storm can keep you from hearing one.

The city says sirens should be just one of at least three ways you get weather news. In a stalled car, your phone is your main alarm. Keep it charged, and keep emergency alerts on.

What should you do under a tornado watch?

A watch gives you time. Use it.

• Call for help now. Don't wait to see if storms form. A wrecker that's already on the way beats one you call later.
• Get off the interstate if the car still rolls. A lot next to a solid building beats the I-35 shoulder.
• Pick your building. Find the closest one with solid walls. Plan a walking path that keeps you clear of traffic.
• Tell someone your plan. Text a family member where you are and which building you'd go to.

Which tow do you need after the storm passes?

Call once the warning is over and the storm has moved off. Tell the dispatcher what the storm left behind. Downed lines, hail damage, broken glass and standing water all change the job. If a power line is down near the car, stay well clear of it and call 911.

Then match the problem to the help:

• Slid off onto soaked grass. If the car is close to the pavement, a winch-out can pull it back on.
• Dead after the wait. If the battery gave out while you sheltered, a jump start may be all it takes.
• Hit by hail, debris or water. If cracked glass blocks your view, or the car sat in water, don't try to start it. Get a car tow to a shop.

How does Sentinel help once it's clear?

Sentinel Towing is a towing and roadside network. We don't own trucks. A vetted local partner tow company does the job. Before anyone is sent, we text you a locked price. If your driver finds the job is different, we text a new price first, and you decide. Then we check on you by text until the truck arrives. That's our Stay-With-You Promise. For the rest of the metro, see our Oklahoma City towing page.

Stuck right now? Call 1-888-TOW-1213, or request help online.

OKC Storm Season Breakdown Questions

Rules change, so check the official source before you rely on it. Sources: NWS Norman tornado list, NWS Norman on overpasses, NWS Norman, May 31, 2013, NWS tornado alerts, NWS tornado safety, NWS Turn Around Don't Drown, OKC sheltering, OKC tornado prep, OKC sirens.