Oklahoma continued to suffer from severe weather in May, marking an exceptionally active spring storm season. The state recorded four more storm-related fatalities in May, bringing the total to eight in 2024, along with hundreds of injuries.

At least 43 tornadoes touched down in May, following a recordbreaking 55 tornadoes in April, surpassing the previous high of 54 in 2012. With two additional tornadoes in March, the preliminary total for 2024 stands at 100, a number that may rise as National Weather Service personnel continue to assess storm damage.

The supercell thunderstorms that generated these tornadoes also brought numerous reports of hail, severe winds, and flash flooding. At times, the hail was larger than softballs, and damaging winds reached speeds of nearly 100 mph.

Overall, there was at least one severe storm report collected by Oklahoma’s local NWS offices on 22 out of 31 days in May.

Two fatalities and 33 injuries occurred on May 6 with a long-track, violent EF4 tornado that started near Hominy and plowed into Barnsdall in Osage County, with estimated wind speeds of up to 175 mph. The tornado caused considerable damage before moving northeast into Bartlesville, where it eventually dissipated.

This was the second EF4 tornado in Oklahoma in 2024, following the April 27 Marietta tornado. This marks the first instance of multiple violent EF4 or EF5 tornadoes in the state since 2013.

The other two fatalities were associated with a long-track EF3 tornado that developed northeast of Owasso in Rogers County on May 25. It moved through Claremore, destroying numerous homes and businesses, before tracking east into Mayes County. The tornado killed two and injured four more in a mobile home near Pryor. At times, the tornado reached over a mile wide, with estimated wind speeds of up to 155 mph.

According to preliminary data from the Oklahoma Mesonet, the statewide average rainfall total for May was 5.43 inches, 0.5 inches above normal, ranking as the 45th wettest May since records began in 1895.