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Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Wichita KS
700 AM CDT Fri May 31 2024

...ON THIS DATE IN WEATHER HISTORY...

In 1985, many areas of the Lower Great Lakes were ripped
apart by an outbreak of 41 tornadoes from Northeast Ohio
to extreme southern Ontario, Canada.  Eight were violent,
one of which was an F5.  Three are especially noteworthy.
One was a violent F4 with a track 69 miles long and
averaged 1.5 miles wide as it roared through Central
Pennsylvania.  At one point, the vortex reached 2.2 MILES
WIDE.  As it tore through a state forest, it obliterated
around 90,000 trees.  It was very fortunate that no towns
were hit.  An F5 tornado, with a track 47 miles long and
around one half mile wide, tore through extreme Northeast
Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania.  It killed 18 and
injured around 310.  Although Northeast Ohio bore the
brunt of the tornado`s wrath where it tracked 33 miles
and caused around $65 million damage, it nearly wiped
Wheatland Pennsylvania off the map.  It is the only F5
tornado to have struck the Keystone State.  In Canada,
one F4 tornado raced 67 miles and was around 1 mile wide.
It passed about 25 miles northwest of Toronto and killed
4 people.  In all, 76 people were killed and around 890
injured during this outbreak.

&&

In 2015, a nasty May ended across the Southern Plains as
severe thunderstorms producing hail that reached
grapefruit-sized, destructive winds that reached close to
100 mph, numerous tornadoes, and torrential rains invaded
these areas repeatedly.  Most of Southern Oklahoma was
overwhelmed by rainfalls from 15 to 25 inches that May,
as well as much of North Texas.  Durant was inundated by
24.42 inches which nearly doubled the May record of 12.57
inches set in 1982.  Marietta`s May total of 23.44 inches
was just over double the record of 11.56 inches set in
1950, while monthly totals across Oklahoma City ranged
from 19.48 to 23.10 inches in Norman.  No doubt, with
such phenomenal rainfall, numerous rivers rose to the
occasion with record stages reached at several locations.
The most dramatic rises occurred in Central Texas on the
23rd and 24th where the Blanco River had soared to a
record 40.21 feet at Wimberley, located 40 miles
southwest of Austin, when the gauge was lost.  A 31-foot
rise occurred in 2 1/2 HOURS.  The flash flooding in
Wimberley was no doubt catastrophic.  Around 300 houses
were damaged or destroyed and despite a widespread rescue
effort, several people drowned.  The Norman Oklahoma
Forecast Office issued 3 Flash Flood Emergencies.  Parts
of I-35 had to be barricaded.  Initial reports were that
108 tornadoes struck Texas and Oklahoma.  The most
significant was the massive vortex that struck Van Texas,
located about 50 miles east of Dallas where 2 were
killed, dozens injured, and around 30 percent of the town
demolished on the evening of May 10th.Several houses
vanished.  In 1941, thunderstorms swamped Burlington
Kansas with 12.59 inches of rain.  This had established a
24-hour Kansas State rainfall record until June 22, 1967
when 13.53 inches swamped a volunteer weather station 3
miles west southwest of Woodruff, which is located in
Phillips County.

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