EF3 Tornado — Butler, Kansas

2022-04-29 · near Andover, Butler, Kansas

Event narrative

A highly visible tornado tracked across portions of Andover, Kansas, during the early evening hours of April 29th, 2022. The tornado went through a highly populated portion of town, including 2 different subdivisions. Also a health club took a direct hit, but no injuries occurred due to actions taken by the health club. Only 1 direct injury occurred from the tornado, with 3 indirect injuries occurred during search and rescue operations. Total damaged house or destroyed structures in Andover and rural Butler County were 205. Of the damaged properties, approximately 180 were residences and the rest were businesses or city buildings. Damage estimates were around $37 million.

Wider weather episode

A powerful low pressure system approached Kansas on Friday April 29th allowing a sharp dryline to track generally along Interstate 135. Storms first developed across central and northeast Kansas near the warm front, but as the early evening hours continued, a couple of storms fired just east of Wichita. One of these storms produced a strong tornado across the east side of Andover, causing extensive damage. This tornado was eventually rated an EF-3. A total of 6 more tornadoes were produced by other storms across portions of central Kansas all the while, blowing dust was proving to be a major hindrance behind the frontal boundary.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.6530, -97.1530)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1016769. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.