Hail, Wichita
- When
- May 20, 1:20 PM CST
- Where
- Wichita County, 0.9 mi SW of (Sps)sheppard Afb
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
- Coordinates
- 33.980, -98.500
Hail in Texas, May 20, 2013
A dryline extended from northeast to southwest through far western north Texas. To its east, supercells developed during the late afternoon hours, resulting in large hail.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 4
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.
What happened
The episode as NWS OUN wrote it up.
A dryline extended from northeast to southwest through far western north Texas. To its east, supercells developed during the late afternoon hours, resulting in large hail.
What forecasters said that day
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 20, 12:52 PM CST, 28 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 20, 12:52 PM CST, 28 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK 152 PM CDT MON MAY 20 2013 .DISCUSSION... ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS MUCH OF OKLAHOMA AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS... RAPID THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED OVER THE NEXT HOUR OR TWO ALONG THE DRYLINE AND STATIONARY BOUNDARY. THIS WILL MAINLY BE ALONG I44 FROM OKC SOUTHWARD...AND ALONG AND EAST OF I35 NORTH OF OKC. RETURNS ALREADY BEING OBSERVED EAST OF LAWTON. MOST RECENT MESOANALYSIS AND 18Z SOUNDING SUGGEST VERY LARGE HAIL AND THE POSSIBILITY OF TORNADOES ESPECIALLY JUST SOUTH/SW OF METRO NE OF TRIPLE POINT. STORMS SHOULD REMAIN DISCRETE UNTIL LATER TONIGHT...PERHAPS MERGING ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL/EAST CENTRAL OK PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINFALL...HAIL...AND THE THREAT OF DAMAGING WINDS ACROSS SE OK. ANOTHER ROUND OF ELEVATED CONVECTION MAY BE POSSIBLE VERY LATE TONIGHT THROUGH EARLY TOMORROW MORNING AS SHORTWAVE TROUGH IMPACTS THE AREA. COOLER TEMPS ARE EXPECTED TOMORROW WITH THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUING PERHAPS THROUGH THE DAY ACROSS SE OK. A BREAK IN RAIN/THUNDERSTORM CHANCES WILL OCCUR WED...BUT WILL RETURN THURS THROUGH SATURDAY AS SUBTLE SHORTWAVE TROUGHS ROUNDING THE RIDGE AXIS IMPACT THE REGION AND ANOTHER WEAK COLD FRONT ENTERS THE AREA. EXPECT NEAR AVG TEMPS THROUGH THE EXTENDED. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... OKLAHOMA CITY OK 64 76 60 84 / 50 30 10 10 HOBART OK 61 82 58 88 / 20 20 10 10 WICHITA FALLS TX 68 82 62 89 / 30 20 10 10 GAGE OK 54 81 53 85 / 20 10 0 10 PONCA CITY OK 59 78 55 80 / 40 20 10 10 DURANT OK 70 78 65 85 / 60 60 40 10 && .OUN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OK...NONE. TX...NONE. && 30/03
Hazardous weather outlook, May 20, 11:30 AM CST, 1 hour 50 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...OUTLOOK UNCHANGED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
1230 PM CDT MON MAY 20 2013
OKZ004>048-050>052-TXZ083>090-211000-
HARPER-WOODS-ALFALFA-GRANT-KAY-ELLIS-WOODWARD-MAJOR-GARFIELD-NOBLE-
ROGER MILLS-DEWEY-CUSTER-BLAINE-KINGFISHER-LOGAN-PAYNE-BECKHAM-
WASHITA-CADDO-CANADIAN-OKLAHOMA-LINCOLN-GRADY-MCCLAIN-CLEVELAND-
POTTAWATOMIE-SEMINOLE-HUGHES-HARMON-GREER-KIOWA-JACKSON-TILLMAN-
COMANCHE-STEPHENS-GARVIN-MURRAY-PONTOTOC-COAL-COTTON-JEFFERSON-
CARTER-JOHNSTON-ATOKA-LOVE-MARSHALL-BRYAN-HARDEMAN-FOARD-WILBARGER-
WICHITA-KNOX-BAYLOR-ARCHER-CLAY-
1230 PM CDT MON MAY 20 2013
THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK COVERS NORTHERN...WESTERN...
CENTRAL...AND SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA...AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS.
.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT...
THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...
THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH TONIGHT
ACROSS PORTIONS OF OKLAHOMA AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS. A FEW TORNADOES
ARE EXPECTED.
LOCATION...
THE MODERATE RISK AREA IS SOUTHEAST OF A LINE FROM WICHITA FALLS
TEXAS...TO LAWTON OKLAHOMA...TO EL RENO...TO GUTHRIE...TO
STILLWATER. A SLIGHT RISK AREA SURROUNDS THE MODERATE RISK...
AND IS EAST OF A LINE FROM MUNDAY TO VERNON IN TEXAS...AND
ALTUS...TO WEATHERFORD...TO MEDFORD IN OKLAHOMA.
TIMING...
ALTHOUGH SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE FROM 1 PM THROUGH
MIDNIGHT...THE PEAK HOURS FOR SEVERE WEATHER...INCLUDING TORNADOES...
WILL BE BETWEEN 3 PM AND 8 PM THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.
IMPACTS...
TORNADOES...POTENTIALLY STRONG WITH LONG TRACKS...ALONG WITH BASEBALL
SIZED HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE LIKELY WITH THE STRONGEST STORMS
WITHIN THE MODERATE RISK AREA. PING PONG BALL SIZED HAIL AND WINDS TO
ABOUT 60 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THE STRONGER STORMS WITHIN THE SLIGHT
RISK AREA.
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS...
STORM SPOTTER GROUPS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL ACROSS THE
RISK AREAS SHOULD PLAN FOR SEVERE WEATHER OPERATIONS FROM 1 PM UNTIL
MIDNIGHT.
DISCUSSION...
THE WEATHER SITUATION TODAY VERY MUCH RESEMBLES YESTERDAY. WARM...
UNSTABLE AIR WILL AGAIN LIE EAST OF A COLD FRONT/DRYLINE COMBINATION
THAT WILL BE OVER WESTERN AND CENTRAL OKLAHOMA...AND WESTERN NORTH
TEXAS. VERTICAL WIND PROFILES WILL AGAIN SUPPORT ROTATING UPDRAFTS
AND SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS...ESPECIALLY IN THE MODERATE RISK AREA.
A SLIGHTLY WEAKER CAPPING INVERSION IS INDICATED...WHICH SUGGESTS
A SLIGHTLY EARLIER BEGINNING OF STORM DEVELOPMENT...COMPARED TO
YESTERDAY. STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BE FAIRLY SPARSE EARLY IN THE
EVENT...THEN MERGE INTO SMALL CLUSTERS DURING THE EVENING.
LATEST HIGH RESOLUTION NUMERICAL MODEL FORECASTS COUPLED WITH TRENDS
IN OTHER WEATHER DATA SETS SUGGEST THE INTIAL THREAT WILL FOCUS IN
CENTRAL OKLAHOMA IN THE INTERSTATE 44 CORRIDOR...INCLUDING THE OKLAHOMA
CITY METRO AREA. WE EXPECT STORMS TO RAPIDLY DEVELOP AROUND 1 OR 2 PM
IN THESE AREAS AND BECOME SEVERE AS THEY MOVE EAST. THE GREATEST RISK FOR
TORNADOES WILL BE SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 40 AND EAST OF INSTERSTATE 44.
PROBABILITY TABLE...
VALID THROUGH 700 AM CDT TUESDAY MAY 21.
PROBABILITY OF THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRING IN THE
NWS NORMAN COUNTY WARNING AREA...100 PERCENT.
PROBABILITY OF SEVERE STORMS IF STORMS OCCUR...NEAR 100 PERCENT.
OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER...
HOT...DRY...AND BREEZY CONDITIONS WILL RESULT IN ELEVATED WILDFIRE
POTENTIAL IN WESTERN NORTH TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...
THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...
SEVERE STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE AGAIN ON TUESDAY...MAINLY ACROSS THE
SOUTHEAST HALF OF OKLAHOMA. ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE
EACH DAY FROM WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT
CURRENTLY EXPECTED ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY.
OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER...
NONE.
THE NEXT SCHEDULED HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED AT 5 AM
TUESDAY AND UPDATED AS NEEDED.
CMS/16In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 20, 12:34 PM CST, 46 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK 134 PM CDT MON MAY 20 2013 OKZ027-038-039-201900- GRADY OK-STEPHENS OK-COMANCHE OK- 134 PM CDT MON MAY 20 2013 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SOUTHWESTERN GRADY...NORTHWESTERN STEPHENS AND NORTHEASTERN COMANCHE COUNTIES UNTIL 200 PM CDT... AT 131 PM CDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 7 MILES WEST OF MARLOW...MOVING NORTH AT 10 MPH. HAZARDS INCLUDE... HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF NICKELS... WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH... LAT...LON 3463 9816 3485 9816 3484 9784 3457 9799 TIME...MOT...LOC 1831Z 184DEG 6KT 3468 9808
Special weather statement, May 20, 12:49 PM CST, 31 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK 149 PM CDT MON MAY 20 2013 OKZ038-039-044-201915- COTTON OK-STEPHENS OK-COMANCHE OK- 149 PM CDT MON MAY 20 2013 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR NORTHEASTERN COTTON...NORTHERN STEPHENS AND SOUTHEASTERN COMANCHE COUNTIES UNTIL 215 PM CDT... AT 147 PM CDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF EMPIRE CITY...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. HAZARDS INCLUDE... HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF NICKELS... WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH... PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... MONITOR THE WEATHER SITUATION CLOSELY AND BE ALERT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS. && LAT...LON 3453 9832 3468 9812 3468 9769 3438 9819 TIME...MOT...LOC 1847Z 234DEG 36KT 3450 9818
Local storm report, May 20, 12:59 PM CST, 21 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
159 PM CDT MON MAY 20 2013
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0156 PM HAIL 1 S RUSH SPRINGS 34.76N 97.96W
05/20/2013 E1.00 INCH GRADY OK EMERGENCY MNGR
&&
FMLocal storm report, May 20, 1:05 PM CST, 15 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
205 PM CDT MON MAY 20 2013
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0202 PM HAIL 6 W DUNCAN 34.52N 98.07W
05/20/2013 E1.00 INCH STEPHENS OK AMATEUR RADIO
&&
FMLocal storm report, May 20, 1:12 PM CST, 8 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
212 PM CDT MON MAY 20 2013
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0154 PM HAIL 6 N MARLOW 34.73N 97.96W
05/20/2013 E1.75 INCH GRADY OK PUBLIC
&&
FMSpecial weather statement, May 20, 1:20 PM CST, 0 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK 220 PM CDT MON MAY 20 2013 OKZ044-045-TXZ086-090-202000- COTTON OK-JEFFERSON OK-WICHITA TX-CLAY TX- 220 PM CDT MON MAY 20 2013 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR CENTRAL COTTON...NORTHWESTERN JEFFERSON...EASTERN WICHITA AND NORTHERN CLAY COUNTIES UNTIL 300 PM CDT... AT 215 PM CDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED NEAR SHEPPARD AFB...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 5 MPH. HAZARDS INCLUDE... HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF NICKELS... WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH... PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... MONITOR THE WEATHER SITUATION CLOSELY AND BE ALERT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS. && LAT...LON 3398 9866 3432 9840 3415 9794 3386 9850 TIME...MOT...LOC 1915Z 224DEG 6KT 3398 9852
The radar
The Altus AFB radar (KFDR), 61 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:20 UTC.
Event by event
4 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail, Wichita
- When
- May 20, 3:40 PM CST
- Where
- Wichita County, 0.57 mi W of Wichita Falls
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Reported by
- Public
- Coordinates
- 33.910, -98.500
Continued for at least 13 minutes.
Hail, Wichita
- When
- May 20, 3:53 PM CST
- Where
- Wichita County, 0.57 mi W of Wichita Falls
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Reported by
- Public
- Coordinates
- 33.910, -98.500
The hail was reported 5 miles west of Fisher road. No damage information was reported.
Hail, Clay
- When
- May 20, 5:30 PM CST
- Where
- Clay County, Henrietta
- Measured
- 1 in hail
- Reported by
- Amateur Radio
- Coordinates
- 33.820, -98.190
What these are
- 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
- Tornadoes and Hail in Oklahoma, May 20 to 21, 2013
- Tornadoes and Hail in Arkansas, May 20, 2013
- Tornadoes and Hail in Oklahoma, May 20, 2013
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Florida, May 20, 2013
- Tornado and Flash Flood in Illinois, May 20 to 21, 2013
- Flash Flood and Hail in Arkansas, May 20 to 21, 2013
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Illinois, May 20, 2013
- Flooding in North Dakota, May 20 to 28, 2013
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Iowa, May 20, 2013
- Tornadoes and Hail in Texas, May 20, 2013
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Michigan, May 20, 2013
- Flood in Alaska, May 20 to 23, 2013
More
Every storm in Texas in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, May 2013
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: 445508, 445509, 454908, 445510.