Celebrating KOCO 5's 70th Anniversary: Seven decades of bringing you the first alert
From the heat of the summer to the freeze of winter and all of the severe storms in between, Oklahomans have seen it all when it comes to weather.
From the heat of the summer to the freeze of winter and all of the severe storms in between, Oklahomans have seen it all when it comes to weather.
From the heat of the summer to the freeze of winter and all of the severe storms in between, Oklahomans have seen it all when it comes to weather.
From the heat of the summer to the freeze of winter and all of the severe storms in between, Oklahomans have seen it all when it comes to weather.
If there is one thing you can count on when it comes to severe weather in Oklahoma, it's KOCO 5. For 70 years, KOCO 5 has helped Oklahomans navigate severe storms.
About a year after we came on the air as KGEO, the city of Blackwell was hit with a devastating F-5 tornado. On May 25, 1955, 23 people died in Blackwell because of a tornado that hit the northern Oklahoma town.
Early in our station's history, like after the 1955 Blackwell F-5 tornado, damage was captured with stills and, in rare instances, some black-and-white video. What's believed to be the first tornado captured by KOCO 5 on black-and-white video was in the early 1960s, showing a tornado near Perkins.
The 1980s was quiet for tornadoes, with only 1982 to 1983 showing significant activity, including an F-5 in Choctaw County. In May 1986, a tornado tore through an Edmond neighborhood.
Also in the 1980s, KOCO 5 broke barriers with "The First Alert. The little map that you see on your television screen during severe weather was born right here at KOCO 5.
Due to technological capabilities, weather events were typically recorded and shown on television in their aftermath. In 1992, however, KOCO 5 made television history by capturing the world's first tornado in the world live on air. We called the technology "First Pix,"
And soon after that, KOCO 5 became the first in Oklahoma City to capture a tornado in the dark. Since the beginning, our technology has helped us bring you the very best pictures.
In 1995, we installed what was high-tech at the time with the First Alert Doppler Radar. That technology is what helped us bring you the first alert on May 3, 1999.
The day was one of the worst days in our state's history for severe weather. Sixty tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma, including an F-5 that headed straight toward Kelley Elementary School in Moore.
Our technology expanded in the early 2000s with how we were getting information to you in the event of a power outage. Through Weather Warn 5, we could alert you by email, pager or both.
On May 8, 2003, an F-4 tornado was on the ground for 17 miles. It hit Tinker Air Force Base and the General Motors Plant.
In February 2007, the National Weather Service made a change to how tornadoes were rated. They moved from the Fujita Scale to the Enhanced Fujita Scale, and tornadoes would have an EF rating.
Another piece of technology we used during severe weather is Sky 5, which first Launched in the 1970s.
One of the major storms it captured images of was the aftermath of storms in 2008. On May 10 of that year, there were at least 11 tornadoes across Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas. The most significant one was an EF-4 tornado that touched down in Picher. Six people lost their lives.
The deadliest Oklahoma February tornado was an EF-4 twister that hit Lone Grove in 2009. The tornado destroyed a trailer park, killed eight people and injured more than 40.
Oklahoma experienced a tornado outbreak on May 24, 2011. Sky 5 got video as multiple twisters touched down, including an EF-5 north of El Reno and near Piedmont. Nine people died, including 3-year-old Ryan and 15-month-old Cole Hamil. Their family sheltered in their home when the storm hit.
While it's not as common, we also see severe weather in the fall.
In November of 2011, an EF-4 tornado tore through Tipton. It was the first November EF-4 in the state since records began in 1950.
Then, there was May 20, 2013. An EF-5 tornado hit Moore, tearing through the area near the Warren Theatre, Moore Medical Center, Royal Park and the west side of Interstate 35. Twenty-five people, including several children, died, and two schools were destroyed.
The storm marks the last EF-5 tornado ever reported in the world. The year 2013 changed a lot for Oklahomans, including for those of us here at KOCO 5.
It furthered the need for more information, and one of the greatest assets to make that happen at KOCO 5 came in 2016 with our First Alert Storm Command. It didn't take long for Storm Command to be put to the test as a classic tornado outbreak hit on May 9.
Then, in 2017, Storm Command was out capturing storms in the northwest part of Oklahoma on Easter Sunday. And in May of that year, a damaging tornado hit Elk City.
Oklahoma had 149 tornadoes in 2019, the most on record for the state in one year.
On May 4, 2022, a long-track EF-2 left behind damage in Seminole. The multiple-vortex tornado would grow to a mile wide, hitting Seminole directly and continuing for 31 miles.
Then in February 2023, an EF-2 tornado destroyed homes and businesses in the Norman area.
And that brings us to this year, KOCO 5's 70th year as a station and still bringing you the first alert. In April alone, we saw 55 tornadoes in our state. That's the most we've seen in any April since record-keeping began.
Just between April 27-28, we had 39 of those 55 twisters. The most significant tornadoes during the outbreak were an EF-4 in Marietta and EF-3s in Sulphur and Holdenville.
This year, we also have another upgrade in technology with a new Storm Command, ready to bring you the first alert the next time severe weather strikes. As technology keeps evolving, KOCO 5 will be here for you with the First Alert.