Home / Kansas / Sheridan

EF2 tornado in Sheridan County, Kansas

Tornado May 23, 2008 · Sheridan County, Kansas

EF2

Rating

14.0 mi

Whole path

1,760 yd

Path width

$1.8M

Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,760 yards (1.00 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

This tornado moved into southern Sheridan county from Gove county. It initially moved NNE, then straight north on Road 120E then turned back to the NNW before dissipating near Road 50S and 100E in Sheridan county. Approximately five miles of utility poles were broken or heavily damaged from a combination of tornado and rear flank downdraft winds. In addition, several farmsteads suffered damage to the home and outbuildings. A mobile home was blown off its supports and into a nearby home which was destroyed as a result.

The wider storm

Intense supercell thunderstorms moved north across the region during the afternoon and evening hours producing 10 tornadoes, including an F4 tornado just SW of Quinter. Extremely heavy rainfall also resulted in flooding in many areas. Many of these thunderstorms occurred in the same areas as the storms the previous day.

Began near Tasco (39.1324, -100.2380).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

9 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF4 Gove County EF1 Gove County EF1 Graham County EF0 Gove County EF0 Gove County EF0 Gove County EF0 Wichita County EF0 Sheridan County EF0 Sheridan County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 103761. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.