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EF2 tornado in Shawnee County, Kansas

Tornado March 13, 2024 · Shawnee County, Kansas

EF2

Rating

4.9 mi

Path length

100 yd

Path width

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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 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 revealed that a tornado formed just WSW of Rossville and tracked to the northeast along a path that was around 4.5 miles long. The tornado did sporadic damage along the path with the worst damage to a well built home where portions of the roof were removed. This home had above average construction quality with hurricane clips used when it was built. The damage at this location was estimated at 115 to 120 mph winds which is a low end EF2. The tornado path was narrow in spots and wider at others based on drone footage and at most 100 yards. No injuries were reported.

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 Rossville (39.1300, -95.9800).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF2 Wabaunsee County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1156449. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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