A tornado touches down near El Reno, Oklahoma, on Friday, 31 May 2013, causing damage to structures and injuring travelers on Interstate 40. I-40 has been closed after severe weather rolled through the area. Photo: Chris Machian / The Omaha World-Herald / AP

By Chris Cordt
4 June 2013 EL RENO, Oklahoma – The National Weather Service is calling the May 31st El Reno tornado the widest tornado on record at 2.6 miles wide. That breaks the previous record of 2.5 miles held by the F-4 tornado that struck Wilber-Hallam, Nebraska on 22 May 2004. The NWS has upgraded the El Reno tornado to an EF5 rating with wind of 296 miles per hour. The upgrade was based on information from a Doppler On Wheels (DOW). EF5 is the highest possible rating for tornadoes on the Enhanced Fujita scale.

NWS calls deadly El Reno tornado widest tornado on record, upgrades to EF5