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F4 tornado in McPherson County, Kansas

Tornado June 8, 1950 · McPherson County, Kansas

Rating

17.1 mi

Whole path

700 yd

Path width

Death

Injuries

$500K

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Rice County → McPherson County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 700 yards (0.40 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F4 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F4 meant devastating damage: well-built houses levelled; the scale paired it with winds of 207–260 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

NOAA’s online database has no written narrative for tornadoes before 1996 — just the numbers above, transcribed from the original storm logs. (NOAA’s monthly Storm Data publications, which carry written accounts, begin in 1959.)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 10027597. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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