Thunderstorm Wind in Cherokee County, Oklahoma

Strong thunderstorm wind blew down a tree onto a house.

Thunderstorms developed over north central and northwestern Oklahoma during the early evening of the 17th, near an outflow boundary from earlier thunderstorms, and north of a developing warm front that stretched across the area. The atmosphere ahead of the thunderstorms over eastern Oklahoma had become very unstable. The strong instability combined with strong wind fields and strong wind shear associated with an intense upper level disturbance moving through the region, resulted in a few supercells that evolved into a severe squall line that moved through the area during the mid to late evening of the 17th, and early morning of the 18th. Widespread damaging wind, multiple tornadoes, and large hail up to golf ball size occurred across northeastern Oklahoma as the storms moved through the area.