page_title: Tornadoes of 2018
section_title: May 1–3
hierarchical_section_title: Tornadoes of 2018 / May / May 1–3
caption_attribution_description: English: An overturned pickup truck that was thrown 300 yards by an EF3 tornado near Tescott, Kansas.
context_page_description: This page documents notable tornadoes and tornado outbreaks worldwide in 2018. 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 1,169 preliminary reports of tornadoes in the United States in 2018, of which at least 1,123 were confirmed. Worldwide, 17 tornado-related deaths were confirmed; 10 in the United States, four in Brazil, two in Indonesia, and one in Canada. The United States saw near-average numbers of tornadoes, but near-record low numbers of strong tornadoes. 2018 was the only year since reliable record-keeping began in the 1950s in which no officially-rated violent tornadoes occurred in the United States. 2018 also had the lowest number of tornado-related fatalities on record in the United States.
context_section_description: On May 1, the Storm Prediction Center issued a moderate risk of severe weather across much of Kansas, with a 10% hatched risk of tornadoes. Multiple tornadoes were reported, including a large EF3 wedge tornado that passed near Tescott, Kansas. This tornado destroyed a house and numerous outbuildings, tossed vehicles, and was documented by many storm chasers. The area of the Central Plains that was affected by the outbreak had been experiencing an unusually slow start to the tornado season, particularly in both Kansas and Oklahoma, the latter of which did not have a single recorded tornado during the first four months of 2018. A brief tornado in rural northeastern Oklahoma near the town of Buffalo, which touched down around 6:30 p.m. CDT that evening, set a record for the latest-observed first tornado in Oklahoma since state tornado records were first kept in 1950. On May 2, the Storm Prediction Center issued another moderate risk of severe weather, again with a 10% hatched risk of tornadoes across Kansas and Oklahoma. While low-level shear was relatively weak, elevated CAPE values, steep lapse rates, and leftover outflow boundaries were previous storms were all present in the threat area. Due to these compensating factors, the possibility of a few significant tornadoes was noted. However, the supercell thunderstorms that did develop were mostly outflow-dominant causing mostly weak tornadoes occurred although one EF2 tornado did touch down near Loveland, Oklahoma, causing considerable tree, power line, and outbuilding damage. Additional weak tornadoes occurred on May 3 before the event came to an end. A total of 51 tornadoes were confirmed as a result of this outbreak, none of which resulted in injuries or fatalities.
caption: An overturned pickup truck that was thrown 300 yards by an EF3 tornado near Tescott, Kansas.
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