June 5, 2008 Severe Weather Event

An unseasonably strong storm system moved into Oklahoma today, producing very strong winds from the surface upwards into the atmosphere. This is typically called speed shear as the winds increase with height. Along with the increase in wind speed with height the winds turned from southerly at the surface to westerly several thousand feet up. This is called directional shear. These components combined with June heat and moisture to produce a widespread damaging wind event. The western half of Oklahoma was most impact by these winds.