Shelf cloud near Geronimo, OK May 8, 2026

Severe Storms
Southwest Oklahoma

May 8, 2026 Region / State Hail confirmed Supercells 391 miles driven
© 2026 Bob Conzemius / TornadoBob.com
Chase route
Track
Waypoint
Point of interest
Forecast setup

The Setup

After a cold front crashed into the Gulf, a modest moisture is returning to the southern Plains underneath northwesterly mid-tropospheric flow. This is not the ideal setup for tornadoes, but the shear is sufficient for supercells, and we could get one or two of them today. Otherwise, a line of storms is expected to develop along another cold front moving southeastward through Oklahoma. Our plan is to get north of Oklahoma City somewhere, depending on where conditions look best for supercells.

We started the day in McAlester and went to breakfast at 9:45 AM. We headed northwest after that.

The Bonus Storm

No storms were forecast to develop to the south of the cold front, but a storm developed south of the Wichita Mountains. We went for this storm, and it was a beautiful storm for about 30 minutes. We chased this storm near Frederick, OK for a while before it started to weaken and dissipated.

Supercell
A small supercell.
Base getting larger
Base is getting larger.
Base more round
The base is becoming rounder.
Description of photo 1
Storm becomes more LP before dissipating.
Dissipation
Underside of our storm (top) along with our next target (on the horizon).

The Outflow-dominant storm

We quickly found a target to our north. The originally forecast line of storms was coming southward through Oklahoma, and we had an easy opportunity to meet it near Lawton. We drove back north to near Geronimo and stopped to watch it come south at us over the next 30 minutes or so. This all happened at sunset.

Sunset
Sunset near Geronimo, OK.
Sunset
Sunset near Geronimo, OK.
Description of photo 1
Full look at the storm as it approaches.
Dissipation
Looking a bit more east at the approaching storm.
Shelf cloud north
Shelf cloud looking north-northeast.
Shelf cloud east
Shelf cloud looking east.
Shelf cloud west
Shelf cloud looking west.

Wrap-up

Nice day with a bonus storm. Bill was ahead of me on the bonus storm. I was not planning on going that way (although I was driving, not looking at data quite so much).

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