Over 400 preliminary tornado reports were reported during the month of May, making the month the most active tornado month since April 2011.
A preliminary total of 412 twisters were recorded, according to the Storm Prediction Center (SPC). The final total is pending the completion of surveys by individual National Weather Service offices.
The greatest single tornado day was on May 6th, when 59 tornado reports across mostly Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas injured 12 people in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. Seven tornado-related fatalities were recorded during the month.
A consistently active weather pattern, with a trough of low pressure diverting a highly unstable airmass into the southern Great Plains, made severe weather and tornadoes a near-daily threat across much of Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, where the majority of May’s twisters formed. Six May days featured 30 or more tornado reports, or about one out of every five days during the month.
April 2011 featured the most tornadoes recorded in any single month, with 758, including the notorious April 26-28 outbreak that featured 200 tornadoes on April 27th alone.
The average tornado count (2001-11) during the month of May is 298.
May 2015 was also the wettest month on record across the contiguous United States – we’ll have more on that right here on WeatherNationTV.com.
Source: WeatherNation May 2015 Most Active Tornado Month in Over Four Years | Meteorologist Chris Bianchi