2026 Akçamezra tornado

Tornado summary

The tornado touched down in fields southeast of Ayyasha, initially taking a highly deviant path, the vortex dipped southwestward before turning north, where western outskirts of Ayyasha experienced IF2 intensity, resulting in bent or snapped power poles. Veering east, it uprooted poles along a dirt road next to farmland before impacting the northern parts of town, uprooting poles along a dirt road, collapsing a free-standing wall, and uprooting/debranching trees. Stabilizing on a northeastward path, it quickly intensified to IF3 strength in pistachio orchards northeast of Ayyasha, where multiple mature trees sustained severe damage, up to minor debarking and complete debranching. Weakening to IF2.5 intensity, the tornado struck the western part of Silsileh, where masonry structures received roof damage or minor structural damage, solar panels were detached, and trees were damaged. As it crossed the border into Turkey, the tornado’s scar over fields became more pronounced. The town of Çangallı was impacted at IF2.5 strength as masonry buildings sustained some structural damage, roofs were damaged or destroyed, power lines were downed, and a power transmission tower collapsed. Pistachio trees in the area also sustained heavy damage.

Continuing northeastward, the tornado barely missed the town of İnkılap as it curved west in an attempted occlusion. However, this occlusion failed and the tornado made a loop before violently restrengthening. The tornado reached its maximum width NW of Üçdamlar before the vortex contracted, reducing the width of the circulation while concentrating its power. Over the next 1.5 km, the tornado shrunk from almost 800 meters wide to just 200 meters wide as it impacted a pistachio orchard complex west of Çaybeyi at IF4 intensity. The tornado completely swept three farm buildings off their foundations, with one being lifted and tossed 100 meters before being obliterated upon impact. Debris from the buildings was finely ground, which when paired with ground scouring in the area caused a sandblasting effect on nearby pistachio trees as they were impacted by small debris particles at extreme wind speeds, causing extraordinary damage. Multiple trees were denuded with some being entirely debarked, and some trees were ripped out of the ground and thrown short distances. Another cluster of buildings was impacted as the tornado tracked north-northeast.

The tornado then impacted Akçamezra, where the tornado had shrunk further to an average width of 100 m. Across the town, many masonry buildings were damaged or destroyed, utility poles were bent or collapsed, vehicles/trailers were overturned/thrown, and trees were damaged. A narrow core of IF3+ damage was present on the southeast side: three masonry structures were heavily damaged, particularly one house with half-meter-thick masonry walls which sustained ~60% wall collapse; a car was thrown 15-20 m into a grass plot near this house; nearby trees were lightly debarked; a utility pole was ripped apart and thrown; and a masonry home was completely destroyed. After exiting Akçamezra, the tornado tracked through a rural area with limited damage indicators and poor satellite imagery coverage, though some areas of crop damage and debris deposits from presumed roof damage to rural buildings were identified. As the tornado neared the heavily trafficked Gaziantep Airport Road, multiple eyewitnesses recorded it. A farm along the road was struck, with a strong metal-frame outbuilding being fully destroyed at ≥IF2.5 strength, and nearby pistachio trees were slightly debarked at IF3 strength. As the tornado crossed the road, a van occupied by two men was thrown into an adjacent field, injuring them. The tornado tracked across this field as it was shrinking and weakening, eventually impacting a farm where minor IF1 damage was done to roofs and trees. An eyewitness filmed the tornado roping out over fields E of Karadibek, where the last known damage was done to flattened crops.

The European Severe Weather Database (ESWD) conducted comprehensive damage surveys in two separate rounds: the first covering the Akçamezra and Kayacık areas between 4 and 6 May, and the second focusing on Çaybeyi on 17 May. These assessments utilized ground and drone surveys, eyewitness documentation, and satellite imagery. On 22 September, with the help from the European Severe Storm Laboratory (ESSL) and the European Severe Weather Database (ESWD), the original IF3 rating was upgraded to an IF4, with estimated winds speed at 380 km/h (240 mph). The upgrade was based from several areas of extreme debarking and denuding of several mature pistachio trees. Ground scouring was also noted.

Tornado outbreak

The Akçamezra IF4 tornado was the most significant event of a major and widespread tornado outbreak that affected Turkey, northern Syria, and Cyprus on 3 May, producing a total of 14 confirmed tornadoes. Alongside the violent main event, other tornadoes in the outbreak include an IF2 tornado that struck Kadıköy that injured eight people, collapsed transmission towers, and destroyed several farm buildings; an IF2 tornado that struck Subaşı in Mardin, knocking down power poles and overturning a construction container, causing four injuries; tornadoes in Gaziantep that caused three more injuries; and an IF2.5 tornado that severely damaged homes after striking the village of Malta, located in southeastern Turkey. In addition, non-tornadic winds in Şanlıurfa caused one fatality. Minor damage occurred to 39 schools, with classes cancelled the next day in the aforementioned schools as a result.

3 May event

Non-tornadic events

Alongside with the 14 tornadoes, A convective system generated widespread non-tornadic extreme weather across Southern Turkey, Syria, and Cyprus on 3 May 2026. Severe straight-line winds and record-breaking hail caused additional casualties and significant structural damage.

High winds

Extreme straight-line wind gusts were recorded as the system moved across the Eastern Mediterranean. In Gaziantep Province, Turkey, non-tornadic wind gusts reached 180 km/h (110 mph), making it the highest non-tornadic windspeed ever recorded in Turkish meteorological history. These wind gusts caused moderate to severe structural damage, uprooting trees, blowing off roofs, and collapsing power lines across several provinces in southern Turkey and northern Syria.

Large hail

A supercell thunderstorms produced widespread damaging hail throughout the region. The most extreme hail event occurred in Tabqa, Syria, where hailstones reached up to 7 centimetres (2.8 in) in diameter. This event is tied with the national record for the largest hailstone ever recorded in Syria.

Non-tornadic casualties and impact

Non-tornadic weather events resulted in 3 fatalities and 46 injuries across the affected areas:

• In Turkey, straight-line winds caused additional structural damage and heavy agricultural losses, particularly damaging pistachio orchards and farmsteads in Gaziantep and Şanlıurfa provinces.
• In northern and western Syria, as well as parts of Cyprus, powerful thunderstorm wind gusts and localized flash flooding damaged residential infrastructure and caused widespread power outages.

Response and aftermath

Large-scale response and recovery operation was opened up by local authorities, including the Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality, and local municipal services, including the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD). The AFAD dispatched around 5,100 personnel and around 2,000 vehicles to affected areas to assist with recovery efforts and emergencies.

Officials began conducting damage assessments shortly after the event. Teams from the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization and Climate Change inspected the structural damage, while the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MoAF) deployed 21 teams comprising 60 personnel to evaluate the extent of agricultural damage in the Barak Plain. The Provincial Director of Agriculture and Forestry, İbrahim Sağlam, stated that agricultural lands across 90 villages in the Araban, Nizip, Oğuzeli, and Karkamış districts were severely impacted by severe weather. Assessments revealed that local pistachio farms sustained the most severe damage, whereas damage to crops was not as severe as they predicted. The tornadoes also destroyed the roofs of barns in five villages within the Oğuzeli district.