May 16th was advertised as a great potential day. The dryline in the Texas panhandle would be the focus for supercell development. It did not disappoint! Mid afternoon brought several supercells to the area, with one in particular near McLean.  Strong shear, deep moisture, great instability and lift would set the stage for several tornadoes to form this day. Most tornadoes occurred over open countryside, however one strong EF3 tornado did strike the Elk City, Oklahoma area causing significant damage. We witnessed the McLean tornado from it’s birth to death, then followed the Elk City storm from the TX/OK border to Elk City, where we chose to let it go.  The tornado was completely rain wrapped and not visible.  Storm structure was also fantastic this day, and the hail was huge, up to softball sized. Great first day for Tour 4!

2017, funnel, hail, lightning, May, May 2017, Oklahoma, storm, Texas, thunderstorm, tornado, twister