Oklahoma, 1980

Tornadoes and Hail in Oklahoma, May 20, 1980

May 20, 1980 · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

3 hail, 2 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
5

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

Event by event

3 hail, 2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Beaver

When
May 20, 4:25 PM CST
Where
Beaver County
Rating
F0
Path width
33 yd
Coordinates
36.850, -100.050

Hail, Ellis

When
May 20, 6:03 PM CST
Where
Ellis County
Measured
0.75 in hail
Coordinates
36.300, -99.780

Hail, Custer

When
May 20, 8:00 PM CST
Where
Custer County
Measured
1 in hail
Coordinates
35.750, -98.750

Hail, Caddo

When
May 20, 9:00 PM CST
Where
Caddo County
Measured
0.75 in hail
Coordinates
35.100, -98.600

Tornado, Washita

When
May 20, 9:30 PM CST
Where
Washita County
Rating
F0
Path width
33 yd
Coordinates
35.180, -98.700

What these are

Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Oklahoma in 1980Every state in 1980This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Oklahoma, 1980

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 10107156, 10107157, 10107158, 10107159, 10107160.