EF1 tornado in Kay County, Oklahoma

While the tornado that formed west of Ponca City was passing to the south of Kaw Lake, observers witnessed a second tornado develop near the southwest portion of Kaw Lake. The witnesses watched the tornado develop on a hill just northwest of McFadden Cove, and then move southeast across Hideaway Marina causing damage to boat shelters and docks at the marina. The tornado continued southeast as a waterspout over the southwestern portion of Kaw Lake, then moved into Osage County just east of the dam. See the Storm Data report from the NWS office in Tulsa for details of this tornado in Osage County.

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.