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EF2 tornado in Wabaunsee County, Kansas

Tornado March 13, 2024 · Wabaunsee County, Kansas

EF2
Rating
8.1 mi
Path length
300 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 300 yards (0.17 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

NWS damage survey along with multiple video accounts show a tornado formed just east of Alta Vista then tracked over mainly rural areas of Wabaunsee County to the northeast producing damage along an 8.5 mile long track. The tornado was most intense just northeast of Alta Vista and southeast of Volland where EF2 damage was found to hardwood trees where widespread healthy tree trunks were snapped on the west side of the circulation. The survey crew could not access further east closer to the center point or eastern flank of the tornado circulation damage path however it is estimated that this was around 300 yards wide at its widest point. Maximum winds estimated to around 115 mph based upon damage to hardwood trees.

The wider storm

Supercell thunderstorms formed along a warm front on the evening of March 13th. The supercells produced numerous reports of large hail some as large as baseballs and softballs. The supercells also produced at least 2 strong tornadoes. One tracked across mainly rural areas in Wabaunsee County and another formed just to the northwest of the city of Rossville, Kansas. No injuries were reported from the storms.

Began near Alta Vista (38.8700, -96.4500).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1156448. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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