Tornado Central

Severe Outbreak Spawed Over 165 Tornadoes, Including Barnsdall, Oklahoma EF4

At a Glance

A severe weather outbreak from May 6-10, 2024, hammered the Plains, Midwest and South.
Almost 1,600 reports of severe weather were received by the National Weather Service.
Over 165 tornadoes were confirmed in the outbreak, including 15 stronger twisters.
The outbreak also produced huge hail, flooding and high winds.

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A multi-day severe weather outbreak tore through the Plains, Midwest and South in early May 2024 spawning destructive tornadoes, massive hail, high winds and flooding rain from the Plains to the Midwest and South.

The tornado toll: A total of 166 tornadoes were either confirmed by the National Weather Service or sighted by storm spotters in the five-day period from May 6 through 10. Twenty three states from South Dakota to the northern Florida had at least one tornado.

Almost 1,600 reports of severe weather were received by NWS offices during the outbreak.

Almost 1,600 reports of severe weather were received by the National Weather Service in the May 6-10, 2024 outbreak.
(Data: NOAA/NWS/SPC)

The strongest tornado: A supercell thunderstorm spawned an EF4 tornado which then tore a 39-mile long path through northeastern Oklahoma on the night of May 6.

About 30 to 40 homes were heavily damaged on the south and east sides of Barnsdall, about 30 miles north-northwest of Tulsa. One person was killed in the tornado in Barnsdall before tornado tracked into Bartlesville damaging numerous homes and businesses.

The tornado's peak winds were estimated between 165 and 175 mph. Barnsdall had 44 minutes of lead time between the first tornado warning issued by the National Weather Service office in Tulsa and when the tornado hit. One person was killed by this long-track, violent tornado.

Before (top) and after (bottom) pictures of a Barnsdall, Oklahoma, home destroyed by the May 6, 2024, EF4 tornado.
(NWS-Tulsa)

The other EF3 tornadoes: A deadly EF3 tornado roared through parts of middle Tennessee's Maury and Marshall Counties east of Columbia on May 8. One person was killed and 12 injured as the tornado carved a 12-mile long path with peak winds estimated at 140 mph.

In northern Alabama, one EF3 tornado touched down along the Tennessee River in Limestone County ripped the roof and collapsed all the walls of one home in Brigadoon. Another EF3 tornado tracked just south of Henagar, Alabama, injuring 7 and destroying homes and other buildings.

Other strong tornadoes: Eleven other tornadoes were rated EF2.

That included a May 7 twister in Portage, Michigan, that collapsed a roof of a warehouse near Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport.

Another EF2 tornado damaged homes near Hot Springs, Arkansas, just after midnight on May 8. That same evening, another EF2 tornado touched down on the east side of Huntsville, Alabama, and continued into eastern Madison County.

Then on the morning of May 10, a squall line of severe thunderstorms blasted the Florida Panhandle. Two EF2 tornadoes were confirmed along the squall line's leading edge in Tallahassee. Over 400 power poles were broken in the city, more than happened there during Hurricanes Hermine, Irma and Michael combined.

Huge hail, too: There were also 100 reports of hail at least the size of eggs during the outbreak, some of which damaged vehicles and homes.

The largest hail was almost a state record. On May 9, a Johnson City, Texas, resident recovered a hailstone at just over 6 inches diameter. That was just shy of the 6.42-inch diameter official state record set just three years prior near Hondo, Texas.

Prolific two-plus-week rash: NOAA's Storm Prediction Center said the period from April 25 through May 10, 2024 was the most tornadoes in any 16-day block in about five years.

Meteorologists Jonathan Belles, Chris Dolce, Jonathan Erdman and Madeline Scheinost contributed to this report.