May 1981 tornado outbreak

May 1981 tornado outbreak

Path of the Binger, Oklahoma Tornado on May 22, 1981
Type	Tornado outbreak
Duration	May 22–23, 1981
Tornadoes confirmed	43 confirmed
Max rating1	F4 tornado
Duration of tornado outbreak2	~26 hours
Damage	$32.8 million (1981 USD)
Casualties	12 injuries
Areas affected	Central United States
1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale 2Time from first tornado to last tornado

¹Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale

The May 1981 Tornado Outbreak was a tornado outbreak that occurred on May 22 in western and Central Oklahoma and on May 23 from eastern and central Oklahoma to central Iowa. 43 tornadoes were reported during the two-day outbreak, of which 14 were recorded as strong or violent (F2 or greater on the Fujita Scale). The outbreak claimed no fatalities and there were only 12 injuries from a tornado that touched down near Clinton, Oklahoma causing significant damage. The tornado outbreak overall left $32.8 million (1981 USD) in damage.

On the morning of May 22, 1981, winds moving in from the south brought moist air across Texas and into western Oklahoma and dry line formed across the Texas panhandle. In addition, the interaction between a layer of warm air aloft and the return flow of moist air led to widespread low clouds across the state of Oklahoma. Later that day, the low clouds broke as predicted by forecasters as the dry line moved east into western Oklahoma. However, the clearing was limited to a relatively narrow zone ahead of the dry line. Despite this, daytime heating allowed thunderstorms to form by mid-afternoon.

The first tornado formed northwest of Cordell, Oklahoma at 4:17 pm (CDT). The tornado damaged a mobile home and several barns as it moved northeast over a six-mile path. The tornado was photographed 5 times by a storm chaser team during a project conducted by the National Severe Storms Laboratory and Mississippi State University. The tornado turned out to be a significant F2. Luckily, no one was hurt. Many storm chasers sometimes nicknamed the tornado the "Wizard of Oz" tornado because of its unusual ropey shape. In fact, the tornado had no curve at the top as it was nearing its decaying stage.