Tornado Touchdown in Oklahoma, USA, May 2013

During the early evening of May 31, 2013, the widest tornado in recorded history occurred over rural areas of Central Oklahoma. Part of a larger weather system that produced dozens of tornadoes over the preceding days, the tornado initially touched down at 6:03 p.m. CDT (2303 UTC) about 8.3 miles (13.4 km) west-southwest of El Reno. The storm rapidly grew in size and became more violent. Remaining over mostly open terrain, the tornado did not impact many structures; however, measurements from mobile Doppler weather radars revealed extreme winds in excess of 296 mph (476 km/h) within the tornado. As it crossed Highway 81, it had grown to a record-breaking width of 2.6 miles (4.2 km). Turning northeastward, the tornado soon weakened. After crossing Interstate 40, the tornado dissipated around 6:43 p.m. CDT (2343 UTC), after tracking for 16.2 miles (26.1 km), avoiding affecting more densely populated areas near and within the Oklahoma City metropolitan area.

Taken on 2013-05-31
Source Daniel Rodriguez/Flickr
License Attribution Creative Commons

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