Have you ever wondered what the record-breaking EF5 tornado was in 2013? Probably not, but in my opinion, this is the most interesting and devastating storm on record. The El Reno tornado was one of the most dangerous storms ever in the storm chasing community.

First off, the conditions on May 31st for a supercell were amazing. With moisture coming in from the south and dry air high in the atmosphere, it was the perfect recipe for a disaster, and storm chasers from around the world took notice. When the first storm started forming southwest of El Reno, Oklahoma (just west of Oklahoma City). Storm chasers became extremely interested and when the storm started rotating making it a supercell, even more storm chasers started heading towards the storm. But when a storm starts to rotate there is a chance at having a tornado, not a guarantee.

At 6:02 p.m a tornado touched down near the town of El Reno. Right after the tornado touched down some of the storm chasers realized it was a multi-vortex tornado, meaning the tornado had mini tornadoes inside of it and circling it, making the tornado even more dangerous. Also, instead of the tornado going northeast as a normal Oklahoma tornado would do, this twister went directly south, into the storm chasers and the tornado was going 40 mph, making it harder to escape. Later this would be known as the widest tornado in US history.

As I stated before, this tornado was the widest in US history, 2.5 miles wide! With the combination of having 302 mph winds this tornado also has the second highest wind speed for a tornado. The funnel itself was not 2.5 miles wide but the circulation was that wide, with wind speeds outside the funnel over 100 mph! The tornado was on the ground for a long 40 minutes, most twisters are only on the ground for at most 10 minutes with at most half the size and half the strength.

The sheer size and strength of this tornado is fascinating, yet humbling. But I do send my condolences to the Samaras family (as well to the rest of the families) for the tragic death of the icon Tim Samaras as he died in his vehicle trying to flee the tornado, (one of the 8 deaths). Hopefully, history doesn’t repeat itself and a storm like this will never happen again. But you could go check out my story how to survive a tornado on the sound.