Largest Tornado Ever Recorded

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The tornado that struck El Reno Oklahoma on May 31st has now been classified as an EF-5. A DOW (Doppler On Wheels) truck recorded a wind speed of 296 MPH and the tornado was 2.6 miles wide making this the largest tornado ever recorded in modern history. The path of the tornado was 16 miles long and it was on the ground for 40 minutes. The tornado grew from 1 mile wide to 2.6 miles wide in 30 seconds.

(National Weather Service)

The previous widest tornado record was the F4-rated (on the 0-5 scale) Wilber – Hallam, Nebraska twister that touched down on May 22, 2004.  It had a maximum width of 2.5 miles.

The Weather Channel’s Greg Forbes provides some additional, incredible detail about the tornado’s winds on his Facebook page:

Published by Obsidian Expeditions

Based in Jackson, WYO, Obsidian Expeditions provides privately guided road-based tours of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. We are an authorized permittee of the National Park Service.