EF0 tornado in Kay County, Oklahoma

An OKC television storm chaser observed this tornado develop southwest of the intersection of US-60 and SH-156 to the west of Ponca City. The tornado initially moved northeast crossing US-60, and then turned east-southeast after crossing Ranch Drive. Tree damage was noted just north and along the US-60 and US-60-Business interchange. The tornado continued east into the far southern portion of Ponca City. A power pole bent and a trees were damaged in far south Ponca City. The tornado crossed the Arkansas River into Osage County (see Storm Data from NWS Tulsa).

A severe weather episode, with widespread reports of large to very large hail and a tornado, impacted portions of northern Oklahoma during the afternoon and evening of the 17th. Numerous supercells developed along a trailing cold front, with strong wind shear and instability promoting hail sizes as large as tennis ball to just smaller than softball with multiple thunderstorms. A more organized supercell also produced a tornado on the south side of Ponca City, continuing into portions of Osage County (see NWS Tulsa writeup for more information). Additional thunderstorm activity continued into the late evening and early morning hours of the 18th, focusing along a southeastward advancing cold front. This portion of the event featured mainly occasional damaging wind gusts and small hail.