A volatile atmosphere was in place across the Southern Plains during the afternoon and evening hours of Monday, May 9th. Instability became moderate to high ahead of an upper level disturbance that moved out of the Intermountain West and into the Plains.
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 episode as NWS SHV wrote it up.
A volatile atmosphere was in place across the Southern Plains during the afternoon and evening hours of Monday, May 9th. Instability became moderate to high ahead of an upper level disturbance that moved out of the Intermountain West and into the Plains. Deep layer shear was significant enough that storm mode was supercells which developed along a pre-frontal trough axis across portions of Central Oklahoma and North Central Texas. Low level shear was significant enough such that once these storms became supercells, they produced tornadoes...some extreme with long tracks across portions of Oklahoma. These storms propagated eastward through the evening and moved into McCurtain County, Oklahoma and the adjacent counties in Northeast Texas, as well as portions of Southwest Arkansas. By the time the storms moved into these areas, they mostly produced straight line wind damage but a couple short lived tornadoes did develop across the region as well as some large hail. The damage was extreme, consisting of numerous trees snapped and/or uprooted with some of these having fallen on homes and automobiles. There was also some wind damage to structures as well. Some flash flooding was also reported over Northeast Texas where storms trained across the same general area.
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 Shreveport, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 9, 6:30 PM CST, 33 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA 730 PM CDT MON MAY 9 2016 .DISCUSSION... UPDATE FOR TOR WATCH 157. SUPERCELLS MOVING EWD ALONG EITHER SIDE OF THE RED RIVER JUST W OF OUR AREA EXPECTED TO POSE THE MOST IMMEDIATE THREAT...BUT ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT IS INDICATED FURTHER S AND E AS THE UPPER SHORTWAVE KICKS NEWD OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS. HAVE ALSO MADE A FEW ADJUSTMENTS TO THE POPS TO MAKE THEM MORE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE CURRENT AND EXPECTED RADAR PICTURE. HAVE ALSO MADE SOME ADJUSTMENTS TO THE SKY GRIDS. WILL EVALUATE AND UPDATE MORE THOROUGHLY IF NEEDED AT THE REGULAR TIME. /12/ && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 624 PM CDT MON MAY 9 2016/ AVIATION... A DRYLINE SHIFTING EAST ACROSS EAST TEXAS TO SUPPORT VCTS CONDITIONS ACROSS TXK/TYR/SHV/GGG/LFK TERMINALS THROUGH 10/06Z. MVFR/IFR CEILINGS POSSIBLE AFTER 10/03Z...CONTINUING THROUGH 10/14Z ACROSS AREA TERMINALS DUE TO INCREASED LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE. OTHERWISE...SOUTH WINDS 10 KNOTS THIS EVENING TO INCREASE TO 15 KNOTS WITH HIGHER GUSTS BY DAYBREAK THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST PERIOD. SKIES TO IMPROVE TO VFR AFTER 10/18Z. /05/ && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... SHV 70 87 70 84 / 40 20 10 20 MLU 69 86 68 85 / 40 20 10 20 DEQ 66 84 66 82 / 70 20 10 30 TXK 68 86 68 84 / 70 20 10 30 ELD 68 85 66 83 / 60 20 10 20 TYR 70 87 70 84 / 20 10 10 30 GGG 70 87 68 83 / 30 20 10 30 LFK 71 87 70 86 / 20 10 10 30 && .SHV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AR...NONE. LA...NONE. OK...NONE. TX...NONE. && 12
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA 348 PM CDT MON MAY 9 2016 ARZ050-051-059>061-070>073-LAZ001>006-010>014-017>022-OKZ077- TXZ096-097-108>112-124>126-136>138-149>153-165>167-102100- SEVIER-HOWARD-LITTLE RIVER-HEMPSTEAD-NEVADA-MILLER-LAFAYETTE- COLUMBIA-UNION-CADDO-BOSSIER-WEBSTER-CLAIBORNE-LINCOLN-DE SOTO- RED RIVER-BIENVILLE-JACKSON-OUACHITA-SABINE-NATCHITOCHES-WINN- GRANT-CALDWELL-LA SALLE-MCCURTAIN-BOWIE-FRANKLIN-TITUS-CAMP- MORRIS-CASS-WOOD-UPSHUR-MARION-SMITH-GREGG-HARRISON-CHEROKEE-RUSK- PANOLA-NACOGDOCHES-SHELBY-ANGELINA-SAN AUGUSTINE- 348 PM CDT MON MAY 9 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL ARKANSAS...SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS...NORTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA... NORTHWEST LOUISIANA...SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA...EAST TEXAS AND NORTHEAST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT... THUNDERSTORMS WILL INCREASE IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY LATER THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT AS AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH ADVANCES EAST ONTO THE PLAINS AND MID SOUTH REGION. STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND THROUGH EARLY EVENING. THREATS INCLUDE LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND ISOLATED TORNADOES WITH ANY STORMS THAT DO BECOME SEVERE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY... SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO RETURN TO THE REGION BY THURSDAY AS A SERIES OF DISTURBANCES MOVE ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PLAINS. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL...AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS...AND STORM SPOTTERS MAY BE REQUIRED.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
735 PM CDT MON MAY 9 2016
OKZ077-100130-
MCCURTAIN OK-
735 PM CDT MON MAY 9 2016
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR NORTHERN MCCURTAIN COUNTY UNTIL
830 PM CDT...
AT 733 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 14
MILES SOUTHEAST OF CLOUDY...OR 27 MILES NORTHEAST OF HUGO...MOVING
EAST AT 35 MPH. STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ALSO MOVING ACROSS NORTHERN
PORTIONS OF MCCURTAIN COUNTY.
HALF INCH HAIL AND WINDS IN EXCESS OF 40 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH
THIS STORM.
LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
WRIGHT CITY...VALLIANT...RUFE...SLIM...PICKENS...BETHEL...SHERWOOD...
SMITHVILLE...RINGOLD...MOUNT HERMAN...PLUNKETVILLE...BATTIEST...HOCHATOWN...
WATSON AND GLOVER.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
THIS STORM MAY INTENSIFY...SO BE CERTAIN TO MONITOR LOCAL RADIO AND
TV STATIONS...AS WELL AS LOCAL CABLE TV OUTLETS...FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
&&
A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 200 AM CDT FOR SOUTHEASTERN
OKLAHOMA.
LAT...LON 3451 9447 3417 9448 3398 9516 3424 9515
3425 9505 3451 9505
TIME...MOT...LOC 0033Z 258DEG 65KT 3417 9507
VIIThe Shreveport radar (KSHV), 185 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:01 UTC.
24 thunderstorm wind, 12 hail, 3 flash flood, 2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Several hardwood trees were uprooted on County Road 2239, facing east.
Multiple large trees and power lines were downed along Highway 37 north of Clarksville, all of which were facing east.
Multiple trees were blown down in the northeast part of Red River County.
Quarter size hail fell in Clarksville.
An EF-1 tornado with estimated winds between 85-95 mph touched down along Farm to Market Road 2735 just east of Highway 259 before lifting along County Road 3313. Although the primary damage was snapped and uprooted trees, one home had minor siding loss and one outbuilding was damaged.
Ten minutes of continuous hen egg to golf ball size hail was reported in the Bagwell community.
An EF-1 tornado with estimated winds between 85-95 mph touched down along County Road 3303, snapping and uprooting several trees.
A swath of sporadic wind damage extended from west of Clarksville along County Road 1245 and County Road 1286 eastward into the southern portions of the city of Clarksville. Most of the damage consisted of snapped and uprooted trees. A few isolated instances of shingle loss and minor roof damage was found within the city limits of Clarksville.
Golfball size hail fell in Clarksville.
Two feet of water was reported over several roads in Detroit.
A tree down and power was out in the city of Detroit.
Flooding over sidewalks on Main Street in Downtown Clarksville.
Golf ball size hail fell at the intersection of Highway 259 and Highway 82 near Dekalb.
Half dollar size hail fell in Annona.
Farm to Market Road 3281 was flooded and closed northeast of Detroit.
Nickel size hail fell in Dekalb.
Winds were estimated to be near 60 mph in Dekalb.
Nickel size hail fell along Interstate 30 just west of Hooks.
Widespread tree damage occurred just east northeast of Hooks. Several trees were uprooted, all of which pointed to the south southeast. One tree landed on a corner of a house.
Several trees were snapped or uprooted on Garden Road. One tree fell on a pergola and outdoor garden.
Widespread tree damage occurred along Garden Road in Hooks. Several trees were uprooted here, one tree fell on a home, and another fell on a vehicle.
A single wide home with an additional roof structure built over the home had this portion of the roof tossed approximately 100 feet and destroyed.
Numerous large trees were snapped and uprooted along Oak Forest Lane and Elmwood Drive north of Farm to Market Road 991.
Multiple wooden power poles were snapped, with power lines down across the road.
A roof was torn off of a home in Hooks.
Spotters estimated 80 mph winds about 4 miles west of Nash.
Nickel size hail fell in the Leary community.
Power lines down in the Pleasant Grove community.
Half dollar size hail fell east of Leary.
Several trees were blown down in the Red Lick community.
Widespread wind damage started approximately one mile east northeast of Hooks and continued almost to Leary. Several trees were snapped and uprooted. A number of homes lost shingles, with one mobile home losing an entire roof structure suspended over the home. Several outbuildings were damaged or destroyed. The damage path continued east towards Texarkana, with some of the most concentrated damage occurring along Farm to Market Road 2148, County Road 2213, North Kings Highway, and along Interstate 30 between Leary and Nash. Numerous very large hardwood trees were snapped and uprooted. One very large tree fell onto a house causing major damage to the structure. The front face of a paint store was blown away when the winds hit two pillars of the facade which extended several feet above the roof and was completely exposed to the high winds.
Nickel size hail fell along Interstate 30 near Leary.
An 18 Wheeler was blown onto its side between mile marker 217 and 218 on Interstate 30 just east of Leary. Large limbs were also blown onto Interstate 30.
A 70 mph wind gust was estimated at the intersection of Highway 59 and Kings Highway southwest of Texarkana.
Tree down across Highway 82 and Farm to Market Road 2253 about one-quarter of a mile from the Leary exit.
Trees down near Interstate 30 between Nash and Leary.
Trees down on Farm to Market Road 991.
Golf ball size hail fell at the intersection of Farm to Market Road 3098 and County Road 1109.
Quarter size hail fell on Farm to Market Road 991.
An estimated 60 MPH wind gust occurred at the intersection of County Road 1214 and Highway 67.
Trees down blocking roadways on the Texas side of Texarkana. Trees down on 2 homes. Power lines were also down on Kings Highway north of Interstate 30.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Texas, 2016Warnings in Texas, 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: 627177, 627174, 627175, 627176, 627173, 627172, 627171, 627170, 627169, 627168, 627167, 627166, 627165, 627164, 627163, 627155, 627157, 627151, 627153, 627154, 627150, 627148, 627149, 627146, 627147, 627145, 627178, 627144, 627141, 627142, 627143, 627139, 627140, 627138, 627137, 627136, 627132, 627133, 627134, 627131, and more.