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May
May is considered to be the stormiest month of the year in Oklahoma.
Storms during the month commonly produce torrential rainfall, frequent
lightning, and numerous tornadoes. The average number of reported
tornados for the month of May is 18.5. This number, however, can
range greatly, from the 61 tornadoes of 1960, the state’s
record, to only 2 confirmed tornadoes in 1988. May is also the
wettest month for the state. The monthly average statewide precipitation
is 4.94 inches, about half of some of the maximum recorded totals. |
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Daily
Facts |
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May
1, 1993 |
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Over 5 inches
of rain fell on Drumright overnight with resulting flash flooding causing
extensive damage to the downtown area. |
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May
3, 1999 |
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Oklahoma suffered
a devastating tornado outbreak on May 3-4. Seventy tornadoes killed
at least 44 people in central Oklahoma and Southern Kansas. This outbreak
is Oklahoma’s deadliest tornado event since the 1947 Woodward
tornado. One tornado produced F5 damage in the Bridge Creek community
and across northern Moore and F4 damage in southern Oklahoma City,
extending into Del City and Midwest City. A mobile Doppler radar operated
by researchers from the University of Oklahoma and the National Severe
Storms Laboratory recorded a maximum wind of 318 miles-per-hour in
the funnel, but above the level of surface winds.
Storms that struck Dover and Mulhall gained F4 status and also produced
fatalities. Additional F3 damage was reported near Apache, between
Chickasha and Verden, from Sparks to Stroud, and near Omega and near
Short on the morning of the 4th. Tornadoes were reported in 29 counties
from late afternoon on the 3rd through mid-day on the 4th. |
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May
3, 1995 |
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Softball-sized
hail was reported near Lone Grove and tennis ball-sized hail fell near
Friendship and south of Comanche. |
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May
4, 1991 |
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Strong winds from
thunderstorms produced wind gusts as high as 85 miles per hour. The
high winds caused damage at Chelsea. |
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May
4-5, 2001 |
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Six apparent
tornadoes were reported on the evening of the 4th and early morning
of the 5th. Small tornadoes were reported in Grady County near Chickasha
and Amber, in Comanche County near Geronimo and Pumpkin Center, in
Grandfield (Tillman), and near Cordell (Washita). Woodward (Woodward)
reported 5.26 inches of rain. Camargo and Leedey (both in Dewey County)
reported 4.78 and 4.58 inches of rain, respectively. Street flooding
was reported in Elk City (Beckham). |
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May
5-6, 2002 |
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A storm system
moved across northern portions of the state on the evening of May 5th
and the morning of May 6th. A tornado destroyed a mobile home near
Seiling (Dewey) and another was reported in southwestern Ellis County
on the 5th. |
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May
6, 2001 |
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Tornadoes were spotted near Noble (Cleveland), Woodford and Ardmore (both Carter),
and in Marshall County. Wind damage was reported in Ada (Pontotoc), street flooding
afflicted Norman (Cleveland), and two-and-three-quarter inch hail fell in Bryan
County. |
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May
6, 1994 |
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Thunderstorms
produced softball-sized hail in Okfuskee and Pawnee counties. Locally
heavy rain caused flooding in northern Nowata County. Lenapah reported
5 inches of precipitation and Wann received 3.4 inches of rain in 90
minutes. |
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May
8, 1989 |
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A Delaware County
tornado traveled approximately 4 miles on the ground, uprooting trees,
destroying or damaging several homes and farm buildings. |
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May
8-9, 2003 |
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A series of tornadoes
struck Oklahoma City and the surrounding areas on successive days,
including an F4 which struck portions of Moore. Damages for the outbreak
include: 432 single family dwellings destroyed, 2889 damaged; 5 public
buildings with major damage; and more than 100 businesses damaged.
Monetarily, damages may exceed $750 million. The injured from these
storms total 144, with one fatality attributed to the F3 tornado that
struck Oklahoma City on the 9th. |
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May
9, 1996 |
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Strong winds fanned
grass fires in Woods and Woodward counties while isolated thunderstorms
in the same area produced baseball-sized hail but little precipitation. |
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May
10, 1992 |
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Thunderstorms
producing heavy precipitation flooded Tecumseh during the night with
6 inches of rain. |
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May
11, 1999 |
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Oklahoma Mesonet
maximum wind reports included 91 miles-per-hour at Mangum and 85 miles-per-hour
at May Ranch. These winds were associated with severe thunderstorms. |
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May
11, 1996 |
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Idabel reported
a torrential rainfall of 5.35 inches in 24 hours. |
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May
12, 2002 |
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Storms on May 12th brought heavy rains to portions of east-central Oklahoma.
Rainfall totals over two inches were reported at Heavener (2.50 inches; Leflore),
Wister Mesonet (2.23 inches; Leflore), Spavinaw (2.10 inches; Mayes) and Bengal
(2.09 inches; Latimer). Numerous other sites reported more than an inch of rain.
Lightning or high winds toppled a historic church steeple in McAlester (Pittsburg). |
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May
13, 1996 |
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Isolated areas
of Pittsburg county reported as much as 7.60 inches of rain that closed
many roads and caused street flooding in Hartshorne. |
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May
14, 1998 |
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Winds, not associated
with any thunderstorm, at the Goodwell Mesonet site gusted to 65 miles
per hour. |
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May
14, 1996 |
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Thunderstorms
produced baseball-sized hail at Bixby and a small tornado near Blair. |
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May
15, 1991 |
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A tornado spawned
from a storm near Laverne eventually grew to a width of nearly 1/2
mile. Three people were injured when the tornado struck a trailer home
south of Laverne. |
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May
15, 1990 |
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A devastating
tornado in Stillwater destroyed 27 homes and caused $5 million in damage.
Another tornado in Rogers County damaged 10 homes, but caused only
8 minor injuries. Tornadoes were also reported in Kingfisher, Creek,
Mays, and Tulsa Counties. Widespread severe storms produced softball-sized
hail near Canton Lake, tennis ball-sized hail in Hydro, and smaller
hail in the Muskogee, Eufaula, and Wilburton areas. |
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May
17-21, 2001 |
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On the 17th and
the morning of the 18th, wide-spread incidents of hail and high winds
were reported, including 73 miles per hour at both the Hobart (Kiowa)
and Medicine Park (Comanche) Mesonet sites. Lightning ignited an oil
field fire near Byng (Pontotoc). The Red Rock Mesonet site (Noble)
recorded 5.24 inches of rain on the 18th. Tornadoes were reported near
Reydon (Roger Mills), Erick (Beckham) and Altus (Jackson) on the 19th,
accompanied by hail and high winds elsewhere. A tornado that struck
Stigler (Haskell) on the 20th was one of 10 tornadoes reported in the
state on that date. Other tornadoes were reported near Wetumka (Hughes),
Dustin (Hughes), between Hanna and Stidham in McIntosh County, near
Enterprise (Haskell), Pawhuska (Osage), Pryor (Mayes), Tupelo (Coal),
Centrahoma (Coal) and near Spiro (LeFlore). Two-and-three-quarter inch
hail was reported in Pontotoc and Atoka counties. Mesonet stations
at Stigler (Haskell) and Goodwell (Texas) recorded peak winds of 92
and 75 miles per hour, respectively. Daisy (Atoka) and Spiro (LeFlore)
each reported 5.26 inches of rain on the 21st. |
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May
19, 1990 |
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Several hail-producing
severe thunderstorms struck northeastern and central Oklahoma. Three-inch
hail pounded central Oklahoma causing an estimated $70 million of property
damage. |
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May
21, 1987 |
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Yukon reported
2 inches of hail on the ground with some stones as big as tennis balls. |
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May
22, 1996 |
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A system of thunderstorms
in southwestern Oklahoma collapsed on the evening of the 22nd. This
collapse led to a dry outflow that produced winds estimated as great
as 105 miles per hour and led to a rare “heatburst” that
drove night time temperatures in many areas up into the upper 90s and
gave Chickasha an “overnight high” of 102 degrees. Extensive
wind damage was reported in Lawton and the effects were felt from Hollis
in the southwest to Norman. |
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May
22, 1989 |
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Thunderstorms
in Ponca City produced hail accumulations of 6 inches. |
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May
23, 2000 |
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Altus Mesonet
recorded a high temperature of 112 degrees, an all-time state record
for May. |
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May
24, 1998 |
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Very strong thunderstorms
ripped across north central Oklahoma, producing baseball-sized hail
and 4.57 inches of rain at Medford. A series of tornadoes touched down
between Amorita and Tonkawa. The storms produced an F3 tornado in and
around Salt Fork and Lamont. The Newkirk Mesonet site recorded a peak
wind of 73 miles per hour. |
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May
25, 2000 |
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Thunderstorms
produced softball-sized hail west of Brinkman and the Oklahoma Mesonet
recorded winds greater than 80 miles per hour at Goodwell and Velma. |
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May
26, 1991 |
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A severe thunderstorm
near Woodward produced three tornadoes and softball-sized hail. The
storms were also accompanied by frequent lightening. |
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May
27, 2001 |
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Mesonet wind
reports included: 93 miles per hour at Ardmore (Carter), 86 miles per
hour at Camargo (Dewey), 85 miles per hour at Washington (McClain),
83 miles per hour at Putnam (Dewey), 81 miles per hour at Kingfisher
(Kingfisher), and 80 miles per hour at Beaver (Beaver). Downed power
lines created electrical outages in the Oklahoma City metropolitan
area, affecting more than 60,000 homes and businesses. One tornado
was reported in Alfalfa County. |
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May
29, 2003 |
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Temperatures soared into the triple digits as Oklahoma City reached 100 degrees
for the first time since August 2001. Altus and Grandfield were 107 and 106 degrees,
respectively. |
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May
29, 2001 |
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Tornadoes were reported near Braman (Kay), Kiowa (Pittsburg) and Yanush (Latimer).
Two weather-related deaths were reported: an elderly women died from a fall suffered
when she slipped on the stairs of her storm cellar and a passenger on a motorcycle
was struck and killed by a falling branch. Several areas around Grand Lake suffered
power loss. Flooding was reported in Muskogee, Okmulgee, Wagoner and Tulsa counties.
Hectorville Mesonet site (Okmulgee) reported 5.40 inches of rain. |
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May
30, 2001 |
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Conventional observing stations reporting daily rainfall totals in excess of
five inches included: Perkins (Payne), 5.96 inches; Haskell (Muskogee), 5.94
inches; Cushing (Payne), 5.23 inches; and Oktaha (Muskogee), 5.09 inches. |
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May
31, 2001 |
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Clayton (Pushmataha)
reported 5.15 inches of rainfall.Thanks to Howard Johnson, Associate
State Climatologist for Service (Retired) and Gary McManus, Climatologist,
for the daily facts! |
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Thanks to Howard
Johnson, Associate State Climatologist for Service (Retired) and Gary
McManus, Climatologist, for the daily facts! |
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