page_title: Tornadoes of 2017
section_title: May 15–20
hierarchical_section_title: Tornadoes of 2017 / May / May 15–20
caption_attribution_description: English: Severe damage to a trailer park from a tornado on May 16, 2017
context_page_description: This page documents notable tornadoes and tornado outbreaks worldwide in 2017. Strong and destructive tornadoes form most frequently in the United States, Brazil, Bangladesh, and Eastern India, but they can occur almost anywhere under the right conditions. Tornadoes also develop occasionally in southern Canada during the Northern Hemisphere's summer and somewhat regularly at other times of the year across Europe, Asia, Argentina and Australia. Tornadic events are often accompanied with other forms of severe weather, including strong thunderstorms, strong winds, and hail.
  There were 1,522 reports of tornadoes in the United States in 2017, of which 1,418 were confirmed. Worldwide, 36 fatalities have been confirmed in 2017: 35 in the United States and one in Brazil. The tornado season in 2017 started exceptionally early, having the second most active January since records began in 1950, and one of the most active first quarters in recorded history. 2017 also had four high risk outlooks issued by the Storm Prediction Center, making this the most active in the sense of high risk outlooks since 2011, which had a total of five high risk outlooks issued throughout the entire year.
context_section_description: Throughout a six-day period, starting on May 15, numerous tornadoes occurred across portions of the Great Plains, Great Lakes, and Ohio Valley, some of which were strong. The most significant activity occurred on May 16, as numerous tornadoes touched down across the Great Plains states and as far north as Wisconsin. A high-end EF2 tornado struck the southern part of Elk City, Oklahoma, damaging or destroying numerous homes and businesses, tossing vehicles, and killing one person. Another strong tornado caused damage to homes in the town of Pawnee Rock, Kansas before it passed near Great Bend, debarking trees and completely destroying farm homes at high-end EF3 strength. Another EF3 tornado moved through four counties in Wisconsin, destroying a mobile home park near Chetek, snapping and uprooting countless trees, and destroying a frame home near Conrath. The Chetek/Conrath tornado was officially the longest-tracked tornado in Wisconsin state history, and killed one person while injuring 25 others. Tornado activity was not as intense on May 17, though an EF2 embedded in a squall line ripped the roof off of a house near Galva, Illinois, injuring one person. By May 18, a major outbreak of strong tornadoes was expected across the Great Plains, and a high risk of severe weather was issued by the Storm Prediction Center. However, most of the tornadoes that occurred that afternoon an evening were weak, with the strongest being three EF2s that occurred in parts of Texas and Oklahoma. One of these EF2s struck the city of Muskogee, Oklahoma, causing major damage to trees, apartment buildings, and industrial buildings. A separate EF1 tornado also impacted the western part of Muskogee, causing additional damage to homes and businesses, as well as downing many trees.  Numerous EF0 and EF1 tornadoes were observed across multiple states on May 18 and 19 before the outbreak came to an end. Overall, this outbreak sequence produced 134 tornadoes and killed 2 people.
caption: Aerial view of the Prairie Lakes Estates mobile home park near Chetek, Wisconsin, where one person was killed by an EF3 tornado on May 16.
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