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EF1 tornado in Rooks County, Kansas

Tornado May 23, 2008 · Rooks County, Kansas

EF1
Rating
6.2 mi
Path length
100 yd
Path width
$100K
Damage as recorded
$200K
Crop damage
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 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

A brief touchdown was observed by local law enforcement. They were able to see a few flashes as power poles were snapped by the tornado.

The wider storm

Large upper level trough over the western U.S. continued to eject energy out over the Central Plains, with a surface low remaining anchored over eastern Colorado with a stationary boundary draped east through the region. Storms once again initially developed during the late afternoon near the dry line over western Kansas and drifted east; with the increase of the low level jet helping storms which had developed along the stationary front continue on well into the late evening hours. In north-central Kansas, storms produced hail mainly one inch in diameter. Baseball sized hail was reported south of Zurick in southern Rooks County. A couple of brief tornadoes sat down in Rooks County. One tornado occurred just to the north of the Ellis/Rooks County line. This tornado snapped several power poles, damaged trees and an outbuilding. The second tornado started near Plainville and lifted just north of Codell. Several power poles were downed as well as trees damaged. It was another night of efficient storms in regard to rainfall, dropping several inches over portions of north-central Kansas, causing additional problems.

Began near Plainville Arpk (39.2000, -99.2600).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF1 Rooks County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 106210. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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