TL;DR

Two tornadoes were confirmed Thursday evening—one near Elmwood, Oklahoma, and a landspout west of Los Lunas, New Mexico. Both occurred amid widespread severe weather that generated 42 hail reports and 95 wind reports across 17 states, with the most significant damage from large hail in the Oklahoma Panhandle and strong winds in Wyoming and the Ohio Valley.

What happened Thursday evening

The National Weather Service received two tornado reports on the evening of June 25, 2026, both occurring within a 12-minute window as severe thunderstorms developed across the southern Plains.

At 2118 UTC (4:18 p.m. CDT), a tornado was reported on the ground approximately five miles north of Elmwood, Oklahoma. According to the NWS office in Amarillo, the tornado was confirmed with photo and video evidence. The location was estimated based on observer position and radar analysis. The report notes it was unclear how long the tornado remained on the ground.

Twelve minutes later at 2130 UTC, a landspout tornado was reported one mile west of Los Lunas, New Mexico. Video evidence showed a debris cloud with flashing power lines, according to the Albuquerque NWS office.

Neither tornado has received an EF rating as of this writing. The National Weather Service will conduct damage surveys when warranted to determine intensity and path characteristics.

Hail and wind dominate the severe weather reports

While tornado activity remained limited, Thursday's severe weather outbreak was defined by its geographic spread and volume of hail and wind reports.

Forty-two hail reports were logged across the central United States, with the largest hailstones—estimated at two inches in diameter—falling in Boise City, Oklahoma, at 2151 UTC. The same report noted multiple windows and car windshields were broken or damaged. A second report from Boise City just two minutes earlier documented 1.5-inch hail, with the observer noting the hail had likely melted before measurement.

Other notable hail included:

  • Golf ball-sized hail (1.75 inches) in Taylorsville, Utah; Beaver, Oklahoma; Emmett, Michigan; and Lisbon, Ohio
  • Ping pong ball-sized hail (1.5 inches) in multiple Michigan communities and near Tiber Dam, Montana
  • Quarter-sized hail (1.0 inch) reported in 27 locations across nine states

Ninety-five wind reports were filed across the central United States. A measured 67 mph gust was recorded near Brandon, Mississippi, using a handheld anemometer at the intersection of Highway 18 and Highway 80. Wyoming saw multiple measured gusts between 58 and 67 mph from mesonet stations and Department of Transportation sensors as storms moved across the central part of the state.

Widespread tree damage was reported across the Ohio Valley, with the NWS office in Pittsburgh documenting multiple trees down on homes in the Lashley area of Guernsey County, Ohio. In Missouri, a large tree snapped and fell onto a garage in Ferguson.

The synoptic setup

Thursday's severe weather unfolded in a complex pattern driven by multiple mesoscale convective vortices (MCVs) moving east across the Ozarks and Ohio Valley, combined with an upper-level trough ejecting into the northern High Plains.

According to the Storm Prediction Center's Day 1 outlook, "a trio of MCVs (e.g., western KY, southwest MO, east-central OK) moving east across the general region" contributed to storm development. The SPC noted that "a residual baroclinic zone aided perhaps by differential heating along the remnant outflow" would favor renewed thunderstorm activity during the afternoon and evening hours.

Dewpoints in the lower 70s°F provided ample moisture, while "some enhancement of the background westerly flow" contributed to organized severe storm development. The SPC outlook stated that "a couple of tornadoes are possible with supercell activity as well as scattered damaging gusts with the more organized multicells and related clusters."

Farther west across the High Plains, the SPC described "a seasonably anomalous upper trough over the West" with "a lead disturbance ejecting northeastward into the northern High Plains during the Day 1 period." Pronounced lee troughing and a surface low over southeast Montana by late evening contributed to the severe weather environment across Wyoming and Montana.

Geographic scope

Severe weather reports were filed from 17 states on Thursday: Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.

The distribution reflected the dual nature of Thursday's setup—storms across the Ohio Valley and Ozarks produced primarily wind and hail, while High Plains storms generated large hail and isolated tornadoes in the southern extent of the risk area.

Michigan saw concentrated hail activity during the late afternoon, with golf ball-sized hail reported in Emmett and Capac. The NWS office in Detroit noted "many ping pong sized hail stones with some golf balls" in Emmett at 2145 UTC.

Context and outlook

Thursday's two tornadoes bring the multi-day severe weather pattern into its fifth consecutive day. Recent VORTEX blog coverage has documented tornado activity on June 21 (2 tornadoes across five states) and June 20.

The Storm Prediction Center has maintained Slight Risk outlooks for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday across portions of the central and eastern United States, indicating the active pattern will persist into the weekend. Friday's outlook highlights the Ozark Plateau into the lower Ohio Valley, as well as the northern High Plains to the Black Hills vicinity, for scattered severe thunderstorm development.

While Thursday's tornado count remained low compared to earlier in the week, the breadth of severe weather across the central United States underscores the large-scale nature of the current weather pattern.

VORTEX is a free web app at vortexintel.app that monitors severe weather nationwide. Pro ($4.99/month) places phone calls to your phone when a tornado or flash flood warning is issued for a location you care about — calls can ring through Do Not Disturb once you enable Emergency Bypass for the number, unlike most third-party app notifications.