Oklahoma is infamous for tornadoes, but the state gets its fair share of destructive severe thunderstorms, as well.
On July 29, 1960, 65 years ago this evening, severe thunderstorms raked through parts of the Sooner State, including the Oklahoma City metro area.
Winds gusted up to 99 mph near Will Rogers World Airport on the city's southwest side, where two planes and several hangars were damaged.
That wasn't the only OKC airport damaged. On the city's northwest side, eight planes and several hangars were also damaged at Wiley Post Airfield.
Fortunately, nobody was killed, though 7 were injured, including 2 children injured by flying debris, according to the National Weather Service in Norman, Oklahoma.
It's a good reminder that you don't need tornadoes to produce destructive winds. In this case, the straight-line winds were equivalent to an EF1 tornado.
Another OKC metro airport — Tinker Air Force Base — was where the nation's first successful severe weather forecast was issued in 1948.
Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.
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