May Didn’t Live up to Reputation for Most Severe Weather in Oklahoma

 

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May is typically the month with the most severe thunderstorms of the year but it didn’t work out that way this year, according to Gary McManus, State Climatologist with the Oklahoma Mesonet.

But he reports that there was severe weather somewhere in the state on 16 out of the 31 days in the month. Most of it occurred in the midst of a 24-day stretch from May 8 through May 31st with the National Weather Service giving a preliminary count of 19 tornadoes for the month. That’s four short of the average. But McManus said an investigation of several weak tornadoes on the final day of the month could add to the number. At least three weak and short-lived tornadoes were photographed Tuesday near Minco and Pocassett in Grady County. The preliminary count for the year stands at 49.

“Known as the state’s most active severe weather month, May tried to live up to that moniker with several extended periods of threatening weather,” wrote McManus in his Wednesday report. “Although it didn’t quite match some of the more ferocious Mays since the beginning of the decade.”

However, May 9 was the most violent day with 12 tornadoes reported and that includes one tornado that left two dead near the small communities of Katie and Connerville. Despite the number of tornadoes, May was also drier than normal. Data from the Mesonet estimated a statewide average of 4.12 inches or 0.70 inches below normal. It also made it the 51st driest May since authorities began keeping records in 1895.

And so far, the state has yet to record a triple-digit high temperature. But it did hit 99 degrees May 10 in Altus. The month’s last freeze was in Boise City on May 2 when the temperature dropped to 31.