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EF2 tornado in Franklin County, Kansas

Tornado April 13, 2026 · Franklin County, Kansas

EF2

Rating

6.5 mi

Path length

100 yd

Path width

Injuries

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 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 storm survey revealed a tornado formed a few miles west of Ottawa and proceeded to move ESE through the southern parts of the city of Ottawa. The tornado turned to the ENE as it exited to the city and moved across interstate 35 doing more damage to structures before it ended near the Marais des Cygness River. The tornado produced EF2 damage with estimated winds of 120-125 mph throughout the southern parts of the city of Ottawa and to other structures to the ENE of the city before it ended. There were 3 non serious injuries reported at a home near the end point of the tornado.

The wider storm

Supercell thunderstorms developed along and east of a dryline across east central Kansas late afternoon on April 13th. The storms produced very large hail to the size of baseballs and also a strong tornado in Franklin County and a brief weak tornado in Osage County. 3 injuries were reported due to the Franklin County tornado none serious.

Began near Ottawa (38.6000, -95.3200).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EFU Osage County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1318032. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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