On the afternoon of the 16th, storms formed near the triple point in the panhandles and moved southeastward through the night across Oklahoma, eventually forming into a line.
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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 episode as NWS OUN wrote it up.
On the afternoon of the 16th, storms formed near the triple point in the panhandles and moved southeastward through the night across Oklahoma, eventually forming into a line.
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 16, 1:42 PM CST, 6 hours 54 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Norman OK 242 PM CDT MON MAY 16 2016 .DISCUSSION... Main focus was on the next few days, especially tonight into the morning. A few storms have already developed in parts of SE CO and NE NM. Additional storms are expected to develop in this area and parts of the Panhandles late this afternoon and evening. This activity will likely merge into a thunderstorm complex that will move into parts of west central and southwest OK this evening. Additional storms will likely develop near a frontal boundary in northern OK. This activity could also develop into a thunderstorm complex moving S/SE across the area tonight. Some of the short term models show these two areas eventually merging into one big line overnight but others show them remaining somewhat separate. Either way one or more areas of showers/storms will move across much of the fa overnight into Tuesday morning. The highest potential for strong to severe storms will be with the storms coming out of the Panhandles into west central/southwest OK. This is further south than previous forecast. Damaging straight-line winds and large hail will be the main concerns with any severe storms. A cold front will also move across the region tonight into Tuesday morning. This front is expected to be in Texas by Tuesday afternoon but additional showers and storms could develop and affect southern parts of the fa Tuesday afternoon/evening. A few of these storms may become strong to severe. If, how much, and how far north showers/storms affect the fa will likely depend on what happens tonight and how far south the front moves Tuesday. Rain chances will continue for at least parts of the area through Friday but the next best chance for rain will be Wednesday afternoon into Thursday when an upper trough approaches and begins to move across the Central/Southern Plains. This system is expected to move east of the area Friday. Models show an upper ridge affecting the region as the next trough moves into the western U.S. This ridge will lead to a brief dry period before rain chances return late this weekend as the mentioned trough approaches the region. models disagree on timing of this system with the latest run of the ECMWF being slower which could have an impact on the rain chances. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Oklahoma City OK 57 66 51 65 / 90 40 30 10 Hobart OK 58 64 51 65 / 80 20 30 20 Wichita Falls TX 62 73 53 68 / 50 40 50 20 Gage OK 51 59 46 63 / 80 20 20 20 Ponca City OK 53 62 48 66 / 90 30 20 10 Durant OK 64 75 57 69 / 50 50 50 20 && .OUN Watches/Warnings/Advisories... OK...None. TX...None. && 03/25
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK 1240 PM CDT MON MAY 16 2016 OKZ004>048-050>052-TXZ083>090-170545- 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- 1240 PM CDT MON MAY 16 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHERN... WESTERN...CENTRAL...AND SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA...AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... .THUNDERSTORMS... THERE IS A RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS MUCH OF OKLAHOMA AND THE ADJACENT PARTS OF NORTHERN TEXAS. LOCATION... THERE IS AN ENHANCED RISK IN WESTERN AND NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA... GENERALLY WEST OF A LINE FROM NEAR CHEROKEE...TO WATONGA...TO HOBART. A SLIGHT RISK SURROUNDS THE ENHANCED RISK... COVERING AN AREA GENERALLY WEST OF A LINE EXTENDING FROM NEAR PONCA CITY...TO CHANDLER...TO WAURIKA...AND NORTH OF A LINE FROM WICHITA FALLS TO CHILDRESS TEXAS. TIMING... THE MOST LIKELY TIME FOR SEVERE STORMS WILL BE EARLY THIS EVENING THROUGH LATE TONIGHT...LIKELY BEGINNING IN FAR WESTERN AND NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA AFTER 6 PM. IMPACTS... LARGE HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF TENNIS BALLS AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS OVER 70 MPH ARE THE PRIMARY CONCERNS. THERE IS ALSO A LOW POTENTIAL FOR TORNADOES... PRIMARILY ACROSS WESTERN OKLAHOMA. DISCUSSION... A WARM FRONT WILL STALL ACROSS NORTHERN OK THIS AFTERNOON WHILE A DRYLINE MOVES INTO THE TX PANHANDLE. LATER THIS EVENING...A COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE SOUTH INTO NORTHWESTERN AND NORTHERN OK. STORMS WILL INITIALLY DEVELOP NEAR A TRIPLE POINT LATE THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS THE WESTERN OK PANHANDLE...AND PERHAPS NEAR THE DRYLINE OVER THE TX PANHANDLE...AND THEN MOVE SE INTO WESTERN AND NORTHWESTERN OK JUST BEFORE SUNSET. ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT WILL BE POSSIBLE ALONG THE COLD FRONT ACROSS NORTHERN OK THIS EVENING. ONE OR TWO STORMS MAY REMAIN DISCRETE AS THEY MOVE INTO WESTERN OKLAHOMA TONIGHT AND COULD POSE A TORNADO THREAT...IN ADDITION TO VERY LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...BEFORE MIDNIGHT. OVERNIGHT...STORMS MAY DEVELOP INTO ONE OR TWO COMPLEXES AS THEY MOVE SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE REGION. DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE THROUGH THE EARLY MORNING HOURS WITHIN THESE COMPLEXES...ALTHOUGH THE TORNADO THREAT WILL DIMINISH GREATLY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY... .THUNDERSTORMS... THERE IS A MARGINAL RISK OF A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TUESDAY AFTERNOON ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS. THE REMAINING COMPLEX OF THUNDERSTORMS FROM MONDAY NIGHT WILL LIKELY BE PERSISTING ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA INTO NORTHEASTERN TEXAS TUESDAY MORNING. INTO THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING... REMNANT BOUNDARIES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS COMPLEX MAY BECOME THE FOCUS FOR NEW THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IN THE LATE AFTERNOON AS MODEST INSTABILITY AND SHEAR MAINTAIN ALONG THE RED RIVER VALLEY. SEVERE HAIL AND WINDS ARE THE PRIMARY CONCERNS... WITH A VERY LOW PROBABILITY OF A TORNADO. WITH THE REGION REMAINING UNDER AN ACTIVE PATTERN...SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM CHANCES WILL CONTINUE ALMOST DAILY FROM WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. GET GRAPHICS AND MORE DETAILS AT WEATHER.GOV/NORMAN...AND FOLLOW OUR WEATHER FORECAST OFFICE ON TWITTER AND FACEBOOK.
The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 170 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:38 UTC.
10 hail, 10 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A tornado moved from the Texas panhandle into northwestern Roger Mills County about 5 miles west-northwest of Durham. Two large trees were snapped just inside Oklahoma.
Six to eight inch diameter tree branches broken.
Several power lines were downed.
Small tree limbs around 2 inches in diameter downed by winds.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oklahoma in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Oklahoma, 2016Warnings in Oklahoma, May 2016
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: 635810, 628496, 628497, 628498, 628499, 630363, 628500, 628505, 628506, 628502, 628507, 628508, 628503, 628504, 628511, 628512, 628510, 628513, 630364, 630365, 630366.