The first tornado fatalities of 2026 occurred in Oklahoma last night as a damaging tornado tracked northwest of the community of Fairview. The storm that spawned this tornado was part of a multi-day severe weather outbreak ongoing across the Central and Southern Plains into the Midwest.
The tornado near Fairview, Oklahoma, occurred shortly after 8:30 PM Thursday night. Hailstones over 2 inches in diameter fell in the Texas Panhandle, with additional reports of large hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes as storms tracked into southern Kansas overnight.
Multiple clusters of strong to severe storms are expected to develop from Omaha to Dallas Friday afternoon, organizing into one or more lines of storms that are expected to track northeast into Iowa, Missouri, and Arkansas this evening. Hailstones 2 inches or larger, 65 mph winds, and a few tornadoes will be possible with these storms. While storms should be on an overall weakening trend, severe impacts will remain possible as storms cross the Mississippi River into southern Wisconsin and Illinois Saturday morning.
A cold front will sweep through these regions Saturday, with a continued risk for severe thunderstorms along the advancing front from the Ohio Valley to Texas Saturday afternoon.
Looking further ahead, another storm system lifting into the Central U.S. early next week may bring a renewed risk for organized severe thunderstorms across the Plains and Midwest on March 10–11.