National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Severe Thunderstorms from the Midwest to Mid-Atlantic Tonight; The Heat Continues in the Southern and Eastern U.S.

Strong to severe thunderstorms capable of producing large to very large hail, damaging wind gusts and a few strong tornadoes are likely from the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic tonight. Moderate Risk (level 4 of 5) of severe thunderstorms is outlooked for the Midwest. A widespread heat wave will peak in the South and East on Friday, with many temperature records expected to be broken. Read More >

...NWS DAMAGE SURVEY FOR 05/18/2017 TORNADO EVENT...

.May TX Tornado...

RATING:                 EF-1
ESTIMATED PEAK WIND:    107 MPH
PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/:  4.36 MILES
PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/:   880 YARDS
FATALITIES:             0
INJURIES:               0

START DATE:             May 18 2017
START TIME:             838 PM CDT
START LOCATION:         3 miles southeast of May
START LAT/LON:          31.9474/-98.8673

END DATE:               May 18 2017
END TIME:               900 PM CDT
END LOCATION:           2 miles southeast of May
END_LAT/LON:            31.9508/-98.8933

SURVEY SUMMARY:

This EF1 tornado began about 3 miles southeast of May, Texas.  It moved southeast,
then northeast and then turned back to the northwest and west, making a
complete loop. The tornado uprooted and snapped branches of many large Oak Trees.
The tornado tore off a roof of a mobile home, destroyed a chicken coop, damaged
outdoor lawn furniture, ripped off sheet metal of a barn and tossed it for over
100 yards. As the tornado continued to move west across County Road 478, it became
about a half mile wide as it damaged numerous trees.  At this point, based on
radar, the twister was at its strongest.

EF SCALE: THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES TORNADOES INTO
THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES.

EF0...WEAK......65 TO 85 MPH
EF1...WEAK......86 TO 110 MPH
EF2...STRONG....111 TO 135 MPH
EF3...STRONG....136 TO 165 MPH
EF4...VIOLENT...166 TO 200 MPH
EF5...VIOLENT...>200 MPH

NOTE:
THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO
CHANGE PENDING FINAL REVIEW OF THE EVENT AND PUBLICATION IN
NWS STORM DATA.