May's dull beginning gave continued hope that Oklahoma's benign severe weather season would continue. With only three tornadoes during the year's first four months and a relatively quiet first nine days of May, there was substantial reason for optimism. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other ideas and the floodgates to one of the most violent months in recent memory were thrown open on the 10th. That day saw at least 31 tornadoes in the state, killing two and producing hundreds of million dollars in damage. The severe weather continued unabated virtually every day through the end of the month with innumerable reports of large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes. A hailstorm on the 16th tore a swath of damage through the state from the northwest down through Oklahoma City. Damages from this event were again thought to run into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Other high-count tornado days occurred on the 13th and the 19th. At month's end, the preliminary tornado count was nearing 60, which would place it ahead of the May 2003 count of 59 but still well behind the record of 90 tornadoes during May 1999. Climatologically speaking, the month ended as the 50th dries on a statewide basis and the 57th coolest. The climatological spring - March-May - ended as the 44th warmest and the 30th driest.

Full monthly summary available online at:
http://climate.mesonet.org/monthly_summary.html