On May 1, the Storm Prediction Center issued a moderate risk of severe weather across much of Kansas, with a 10% hatched risk of tornadoes.
Multiple tornadoes were reported, including a large EF3 wedge tornado that passed near Tescott, Kansas.
This tornado destroyed a house and numerous outbuildings, tossed vehicles, and was documented by many storm chasers.
The area of the Central Plains that was affected by the outbreak had been experiencing an unusually slow start to the tornado season, particularly in both Kansas and Oklahoma, the latter of which did not have a single recorded tornado during the first four months of 2018.
A brief tornado in rural northeastern Oklahoma near the town of Buffalo, which touched down around 6:30 p.m. CDT that evening, set a record for the latest-observed first tornado in Oklahoma since state tornado records were first kept in 1950.
On May 2, the Storm Prediction Center issued another moderate risk of severe weather, again with a 10% hatched risk of tornadoes across Kansas and Oklahoma.
While low-level shear was relatively weak, elevated CAPE values, steep lapse rates, and leftover outflow boundaries were previous storms were all present in the threat area.
Due to these compensating factors, the possibility of a few significant tornadoes was noted.
However, the supercell thunderstorms that did develop were mostly outflow-dominant causing mostly weak tornadoes occurred although one EF2 tornado did touch down near Loveland, Oklahoma, causing considerable tree, power line, and outbuilding damage.
Additional weak tornadoes occurred on May 3 before the event came to an end.
A total of 51 tornadoes were confirmed as a result of this outbreak, none of which resulted in injuries or fatalities.
On May 1, the Storm Prediction Center issued a moderate risk of severe weather across much of Kansas, with a 10% hatched risk of tornadoes. Multiple tornadoes were reported, including a large EF3 wedge tornado that passed near Tescott, Kansas. This tornado destroyed a house and numerous outbuildings, tossed vehicles, and was documented by many storm chasers. The area of the Central Plains that was affected by the outbreak had been experiencing an unusually slow start to the tornado season, particularly in both Kansas and Oklahoma, the latter of which did not have a single recorded tornado during the first four months of 2018. A brief tornado in rural northeastern Oklahoma near the town of Buffalo, which touched down around 6:30 p.m. CDT that evening, set a record for the latest-observed first tornado in Oklahoma since state tornado records were first kept in 1950. On May 2, the Storm Prediction Center issued another moderate risk of severe weather, again with a 10% hatched risk of tornadoes across Kansas and Oklahoma. While low-level shear was relatively weak, elevated CAPE values, steep lapse rates, and leftover outflow boundaries were previous storms were all present in the threat area. Due to these compensating factors, the possibility of a few significant tornadoes was noted. However, the supercell thunderstorms that did develop were mostly outflow-dominant causing mostly weak tornadoes occurred although one EF2 tornado did touch down near Loveland, Oklahoma, causing considerable tree, power line, and outbuilding damage. Additional weak tornadoes occurred on May 3 before the event came to an end. A total of 51 tornadoes were confirmed as a result of this outbreak, none of which resulted in injuries or fatalities.
Tornadoes of 2018