13 hail, 9 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Norman, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 5, 4:00 PM CST, 2 hours 58 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK 500 PM CDT SUN MAY 5 2002 TSTMS FIRING IN VICINITY OF DRYLINE OVER TX/OK PANHANDLES WILL MOVE EAST INTO WESTERN PORTION OF THE FA THIS EVENING. MEANWHILE... WEAKENING BOUNDARY ACROSS NORTH TEXAS NOT SHOWING MUCH ENHANCEMENT IN THE CU FIELD AT THIS TIME... SUGGESTING DRYLINE INDUCED CONVECTION MAY BE THE PRIMARY SHOW. WILL GO HIGHEST POPS OVER THE WEST OVERNIGHT AND GENERALLY AROUND 40 PERCENT OVER CENTRAL SECTIONS. IF CURRENT TX CONVECTION EVOLVES INTO AN MCS... MAY NEED TO RAISE POPS OVER CENTRAL SECTIONS FOR LATE TONIGHT. LOOKS LIKE DRYLINE MAY CONTINUE TO BE ACTIVE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS WITH AFTERNOON AND EVENING TSTMS POSSIBLY MAINLY ACROSS THE WESTERN SECTIONS. MID LEVEL TEMPS WILL BE WARMING DURING THIS PERIOD... WHICH COULD LIMIT COVERAGE AND EASTERN EXTENT OF STORMS. IN THE LONGER TERM... ACOLD FRONT IS STILL ON TRACK TO MOVE INTO CENTRAL OKLAHOMA LATE WED AFTN AND INTO NORTH TEXAS BY THURS MORNING WHERE IT IS FCST TO BECOME STATIONARY. WILL CONTINUE WITH THE CURRENT FCST OF A CHANCE OF TSTMS ON WEDNESDAY IN MOST AREAS. WILL ALSO MAINTAIN A POSSIBILITY FOR TSTMS ON THURSDAY IN THE SOUTHERN ZONES DUE TO THE FRONT STALLING OUT JUST SOUTH OF THE CWA WHILE 850 MB WINDS ARE FORECAST TO REMAIN SOUTHERLY ABOVE THE FRONTAL INVERSION. COULD BE SOME ELEVATED STORMS EARLY FRIDAY WITH WARM ADVECTION PATTERN SPREADING ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA. BEST CHANCES FOR STORMS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY WILL BE IN THE AFTN/EVE HOURS IN THE WEST WHERE DRYLINE MAY BECOME MORE ACTIVE AHEAD OF AN UPPER TROUGH MOVING INTO THE SOUTHWEST US. STORMS POSSIBLE AGAIN MOST PLACES ON SUNDAY WITH ANOTHER FRONT MOVING INTO THE REGION. FRONT WILL COOL TEMPS A COUPLE CATEGORIES WED AND THURSDAY...BEFORE WARMING BACK UP STARTING FRIDAY. FCSTID = 32 OKC 67 85 67 86 / 40 10 10 0 HBR 66 89 66 90 / 60 20 20 20 SPS 68 88 69 89 / 50 10 10 0 GAG 61 89 63 90 / 60 30 30 20 PNC 65 85 65 87 / 40 10 10 0 DUA 69 86 70 87 / 40 10 10 0 .OUN... OK...NONE. TX...NONE.
OKZ004>048-050>052-TXZ083>090-060300-
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
350 PM CDT SUN MAY 5 2002
THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...
THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS WESTERN
OKLAHOMA AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS. OUTSIDE OF THESE AREAS...THERE IS
A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
LOCATION...
THE MODERATE RISK AREA IS ALONG AND WEST OF A LINE FROM MEDFORD IN
NORTHERN OKLAHOMA...TO OKLAHOMA CITY IN CENTRAL OKLAHOMA TO LAKE
TEXOMA IN SOUTH-CENTRAL OKLAHOMA. EAST OF THIS LINE...THERE IS A
SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
TIMING...
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO WESTERN OKLAHOMA
AROUND SUNSET. OTHER STORMS MAY DEVELOP NEAR THE RED RIVER DURING
THE EARLY EVENING. THE STORMS MAY ORGANIZE INTO A LARGE CLUSTER AND
SPREAD EAST INTO CENTRAL OKLAHOMA OVERNIGHT.
IMPACTS...
LARGE HAIL IS THE PRIMARY THREAT...HOWEVER A FEW TORNADOES MAY ALSO
DEVELOP IN WESTERN OKLAHOMA...AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS.
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS...
STORM SPOTTER GROUPS AND EMERGENCY MANAGERS ACROSS THE MODERATE
AND SLIGHT RISK AREAS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION.
DISCUSSION...
A DRYLINE OVER THE WESTERN PANHANDLE OF OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS WILL
SERVE AS A FOCUS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THUNDERSTORMS DURING THE
LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. STORMS HAD ALREADY BEGUN TO FORM
AT MID-AFTERNOON... AND ADDITIONAL STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP
AND SPREAD EAST ACROSS THE PANHANDLES. BY EVENING... SOME OF THESE
STORMS WILL REACH THE WESTERN PARTS OF OKLAHOMA AND BORDERING AREAS
OF NORTH TEXAS. WIND PROFILES ARE VERY FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT
OF SUPERCELL STORMS... WITH THE ACCOMPANYING RISKS OF LARGE HAIL...
DAMAGING WINDS... AND POSSIBLE TORNADOES. LATE THIS EVENING...
STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO GRADUALLY LOSE THEIR SUPERCELL POTENTIAL AND
MAY ORGANIZE INTO A LARGE COMPLEX... WITH THE MAIN THREATS BECOMING
HAIL AND HEAVY RAINFALL. THIS COMPLEX WOULD LIKELY AFFECT THE
REMAINDER OF THE NORMAN FORECAST AREA OVERNIGHT IF IT DOES DEVELOP.
A WARM FRONT OVER NORTHEAST TEXAS MAY HELP GENERATE A FEW STORMS
NEAR THE RED RIVER LATE THIS AFTERNOON OR EARLY EVENING. HOWEVER...
THIS FRONT APPEARS TO BE WEAKENING AND ITS INFLUENCE DOES NOT APPEAR
TO BE SUPPORTIVE OF MORE THAN A FEW STORMS. LIKE THE PANHANDLE
STORMS... CONDITIONS NEAR THE RED RIVER ALSO SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT
OF SUPERCELL STORMS... IF THE STORMS CAN DEVELOP.
THREAT TABLE...
VALID THROUGH 700 AM CDT MON MAY 6.
PROBABILITY OF THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRING IN THE
NWS NORMAN COUNTY WARNING AREA...60 PERCENT.
PROBABILITY OF SEVERE STORMS IF STORMS OCCUR...70 PERCENT.
OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER...
NO OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED THROUGH TONIGHT.
CMSThe Amarillo radar (KAMA), 177 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:00 UTC.
13 hail, 9 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
This tornado formed on the Hemphill (Texas)/Ellis (Oklahoma) County line and tracked 1 mile before dissipating. The tornado was seen by several storm chasers; however, no damage occurred.
Wind was measured by the Oklahoma mesonet.
This tornado formed approximately 5.5 miles east southeast of Seiling and moved northwestward for 1 mile before dissipating. One-half of a well-constructed, anchored mobile home was ripped off with contents of the home strewn in the yard. The other half of the home was twisted in the direction the tornado traveled. Two large locust trees were also uprooted.
Power lines were downed.
Irrigation equipment was blown over, and power poles were bent on Highway 152.
Wind was measured by the Oklahoma mesonet.
Large tree limbs were downed.
An eight inch diameter tree limb was downed.
An eight foot long tree limb was blocking a road.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oklahoma in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Oklahoma, 2002Warnings in Oklahoma, May 2002
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: 5288913, 5288697, 5288698, 5288699, 5288700, 5288701, 5288702, 5288703, 5288914, 5288704, 5288805, 5288705, 5288706, 5288707, 5288708, 5288709, 5288801, 5288804, 5288710, 5288800, 5288799, 5288802, 5288803, 5288806.