03 Sep What Wind Speed Can a Business Sign Withstand in Oklahoma?

Tulsa County has recorded 101 tornadoes since 1950, and the June 2023 windstorm that tore through Broken Arrow and Tulsa, Oklahoma knocked out power to roughly 350,000 customers at its peak. Anyone who owns a pole sign here has a practical reason to ask what wind speed can a business sign withstand in Oklahoma. The answer has two parts. A properly engineered and permitted sign is designed for the building code’s straight-line design gust, which for a business in the Broken Arrow area works out to roughly 107 to 115 mph depending on which edition of the engineering standard the engineer uses. No code-compliant sign is designed for a tornado. Understanding the difference is what lets you buy the right sign and stop worrying about the wrong things.

The Design Wind Speed Your Sign Is Engineered For

Every freestanding sign that goes through a Tulsa or Broken Arrow permit is designed to a wind load, and that wind load starts with a design wind speed from the ASCE 7 standard referenced by the International Building Code. Oklahoma’s statewide commercial code is the 2018 IBC, which references ASCE 7-16. Under ASCE 7-16, a Risk Category II structure, the category that covers ordinary businesses, in Broken Arrow carries an ultimate design gust of about 107 mph. Under the previous edition, ASCE 7-10, the same site was 115 mph, and under the older nominal method it was 90 mph. Those are not different levels of safety; they are different ways of expressing the same target, and the newer “ultimate” numbers pair with different safety factors than the old 90 mph figure did.

The number is a 3-second gust measured at 33 feet in open terrain. It is not a sustained wind, and it is not the peak gust a storm might produce. Engineers use it, along with the sign’s height, area, and shape, to calculate the force on the sign face and then size the pole, the base plate, and the concrete footing to resist it with a margin. The American Society of Civil Engineers offers a free online Hazard Tool that returns the exact design speed for any address, which is what the engineer of record will pull for your site.

What Wind Speed Can a Business Sign Withstand in Oklahoma Compared to Real Storms

The useful question is how the design gust stacks up against the weather that actually hits northeastern Oklahoma. The table below puts the numbers side by side, and each figure is restated in the paragraph after it.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration puts the damaging wind threshold above 50 to 60 mph, which is where loose faces, unsecured banners, and worn hardware start to fail, and it notes that strong straight-line winds can reach about 100 mph, which is within the design envelope of an engineered sign in good condition. The code design gust for Broken Arrow under ASCE 7-16 is about 107 mph ultimate, the current Oklahoma 2018 IBC basis for a Risk Category II sign, while the ASCE 7-10 value of 115 mph ultimate is the previous edition figure still seen on older engineered drawings. The older nominal design speed of 90 mph is the same target expressed with older safety factors. Oklahoma’s amendment to the building code sets a storm shelter design speed of 250 mph, which applies to shelters, not signs, and shows what tornado-rated design actually costs.

NOAA also points out that wind damage accounts for about half of all severe weather reports and is more common than tornado damage. That is the weather a sign is built for, and it is the weather that will test it most often.

Planning a pole or monument sign? Contact Acura Neon in Broken Arrow for a quote that includes engineered drawings and the city permit.

Why Tornadoes Are a Different Question

Oklahoma averages 59.4 tornadoes a year according to the National Weather Service, and 2024 set a record with 152. The NWS county tables show 101 tornadoes in Tulsa County, 64 in Wagoner County, and 116 in Osage County between 1950 and 2025, numbers you can check in the tornado statistics published by the Norman forecast office. An EF2 tornado produces winds of 111 to 135 mph, which already exceeds the design gust, and an EF3 runs 136 to 165 mph.

Building codes do not pretend otherwise. The newest edition of the wind standard, ASCE 7-22, added tornado load provisions for the first time, but they apply only to Risk Category III and IV structures like hospitals and emergency facilities in tornado-prone regions, not to ordinary businesses or their signs. FEMA’s summary of the ASCE 7-22 changes explains the new chapter and confirms that the ordinary wind maps changed very little. A sign in the direct path of a strong tornado is going to be damaged. What good engineering buys you is a sign that survives the far more frequent 70, 80, and 90 mph thunderstorm gusts and that fails in a predictable way, at the face or the panel rather than at the footing, if a tornado does hit.

The Father’s Day storm of June 17 and 18, 2023 is the local benchmark. The Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management’s report on the June 2023 windstorm recorded roughly 350,000 outages at peak across 20 counties including Tulsa, Rogers, Creek, and Osage. A storm like that is the test an engineered, permitted, and maintained sign is built to pass, and it is the storm that finds rusted base plates, undersized footings, and faces that were never re-secured.

What Decides Whether Your Sign Survives

Wind speed is only one variable in the load calculation. The sign’s exposed area, its height above grade, the shape of the cabinet, and the quality of the footing all matter as much. A 10 foot by 20 foot solid sign at a 120 mph design gust sees roughly 8,170 pounds of wind force under the ASCE 7 method for solid freestanding signs, and all of that force ends up in the pole and the concrete. Undersized footings are the most common failure point on older signs across the Tulsa area, and they are invisible until the sign leans.

Both cities require the engineering to be on paper. The City of Tulsa’s permit forms require plans and specifications, a plot plan showing easements and right-of-way, the setback from the street centerline, and the height above grade, and only a licensed tradesperson may apply for the trade permits involved. Broken Arrow routes sign permits through its Citizen Self Service portal with the same expectation of drawings. A sign company that skips the permit is skipping the engineering review that makes the wind rating real.

Maintenance decides the rest. A sign engineered for 107 mph in 2005 is not a 107 mph sign in 2026 if the anchor bolts have corroded, the face retainers have loosened, or a previous tenant added a larger panel without recalculating the load. Annual inspection of fasteners, base plates, and retainers is cheap compared to a face in the parking lot.

Why Choose Acura Neon for Wind-Rated Exterior Signs in Broken Arrow

Wind survival is decided at the footing, and Acura Neon designs, fabricates, and installs exterior signs in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma with the engineering treated as part of the product rather than an add-on. Our design team has an engineering background and evaluates the architectural context and municipal regulations for every exterior sign, which means the pole, base plate, and footing are sized for the design gust at your specific site and the drawings are ready for the Tulsa or Broken Arrow permit reviewer. Fabrication in our 70,000 square foot facility lets us control the welds, the retainers, and the cabinet construction that decide whether a sign face stays put in an 80 mph gust. Our field services team handles the installation logistics and safety protocols on site, and because service is one of our core functions, the same company that set the sign can inspect and re-secure it after a storm season. Learn more about our exterior signs, or read our guide on who fixes a sign damaged in a storm.

Conclusion

A business sign in Oklahoma is engineered to the building code’s straight-line design gust, which is about 107 mph under the current ASCE 7-16 standard for the Broken Arrow area and 115 mph under the previous edition. That envelope covers the thunderstorm winds that cause most wind damage in the state, and it depends on engineered drawings, a city permit, a properly sized footing, and ongoing maintenance to stay true. Tornadoes exceed that envelope and are not what a sign is designed for. Business owners in Tulsa and Broken Arrow should ask their sign company for the design wind speed on the drawings and confirm that the permit was pulled.

Want to know what your current sign is rated for? Contact Acura Neon for an inspection or a new engineered sign.

Frequently Asked Questions

What wind speed are commercial signs designed for in Oklahoma?

Commercial signs in Oklahoma are engineered to the design wind speed in the ASCE 7 standard referenced by the state’s 2018 International Building Code. For an ordinary business in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow area, that is roughly 107 mph under ASCE 7-16, or 115 mph under the previous ASCE 7-10 edition.

What is the design wind speed for Tulsa and Broken Arrow under the building code?

For a Risk Category II structure, which includes most businesses, the ultimate design gust in the Broken Arrow area is about 107 mph under ASCE 7-16 and 115 mph under ASCE 7-10. The older nominal figure was 90 mph.

Can a pylon or pole sign survive a tornado?

Not reliably. Signs are designed for the code’s straight-line gust, and even an EF2 tornado produces winds of 111 to 135 mph, above the design value. Tornado load provisions in the newest ASCE 7-22 standard apply only to critical facilities, not ordinary businesses.

Do I need engineered drawings for a sign permit in Tulsa or Broken Arrow?

Yes. The City of Tulsa requires plans and specifications, a plot plan, setback, and height information with a sign permit application, and only licensed tradespeople may apply for the trade permits involved. Broken Arrow processes sign permits through its online portal with the same expectation of drawings.

What is the difference between ultimate and nominal wind speed?

Ultimate wind speeds, used in ASCE 7-10 and later, are higher numbers such as 107 or 115 mph that pair with a load factor of 1.0. Nominal or allowable stress design speeds, such as the older 90 mph, were lower numbers that pair with a larger safety factor.