May 1–2, 2008 tornado outbreak

Tornado outbreak of May 1–2, 2008

Tornado damage in Damascus, Arkansas on May 2, 2008
Type	Tornado outbreak
Duration	May 1–2, 2008
Tornadoes confirmed	62 confirmed
Max rating1	EF3 tornado
Duration of tornado outbreak2	30 hours
Damage	$81.4 million
Casualties	6 deaths (+ 1 non-tornadic), 45 injuries
Areas affected	Central and Southern United States
1Most severe tornado damage; see Enhanced Fujita scale 2Time from first tornado to last tornado

¹Most severe tornado damage; see Enhanced Fujita scale

The Tornado outbreak of May 1–2, 2008 was a tornado outbreak that took place across the Southern and Central United States on May 1 and May 2, 2008. The outbreak was responsible for at least seven fatalities (six from tornadoes) and 23 injuries in Arkansas. There were at least 29 tornado reports from Iowa to Oklahoma on May 1 and 67 more in Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana and Texas on May 2. At least 63 tornadoes were confirmed by weather authorities.

On May 1, 2008, a large low pressure system developed over Nebraska, with a long warm front stretching east towards the Great Lakes. A cold front and dry line were situated across Oklahoma and Kansas during the late afternoon. The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) issued a moderate risk of severe weather for eastern Kansas and a small part of Missouri, which included Kansas City. On May 2 another moderate risk of severe weather was issued by the SPC from Central Illinois to northern Louisiana. The risk area was later revised southward to only include eastern Arkansas, western Tennessee, and northwestern Mississippi. Most of the severe weather shifted into Arkansas where dewpoints were near 70 °F (21 °C) with CAPE values over 2000 j/kg (in some places up to 3000 j/kg) and helicity values (potential for rotating winds) were exceeding 200 m2/s2.