Was the EF5 Tornado Drought Ended in Kansas Last Night?

As we roll through the morning here across Oklahoma, the internet is just now starting to get details out about the massive wedge tornado that tore through Plenva, Kansas last night.

The internet people across social media - Facebook, X, Reddit, etc... - are all-in on an EF5 rating with the typical conversations that happen after weather events like this. Talking about wind shear, intensity, and general size. There's also no shortage of people who know people - "I know a weather chaser who said it had to be an EF5."

Did the historically long EF5 tornado drought come to a close on May 18th, 2025?

It's impossible to say less than 24 hours later.

While the news media was quick to get nearly zero information about this storm in the overnight hours, nothing more than a headline and raw video footage, it'll be days until the preliminary damage assessment is released, months until the finalized report is released, and the internet is wrapped in an argument over the photos from Plenva, pointing out that they don't seem to indicate an EF5 "clean slab" rating.

To add fuel to the fire, taking into account the very conservative ratings of the weather authorities, there is a high likelihood this will go down as a "high-end EF4" like so many large wedge tornadoes have over the last twelve years.

All the same, the damage we've seen in previous EF5 tornadoes seems pretty spot on with the Plenva, Kansas twister. While not widespread in a densely populated area, the rubbled homes look quite similar to the destruction saw in Moore, Joplin, and Moore again.

Having a house blown away from a clean slab isn't the only metric to classify an EF5 tornado, but it's probably the most widely known. As we saw in the El Reno-Piedmont 2011 storm, homes were completely stripped from their foundations.

As information is slow to come out about the Plenva, KS storm, it'll be interesting to learn if the EF5 drought is over or not. It's still too early to tell.