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EF1 tornado in Marshall County, Kansas

Tornado May 18, 2026 · Marshall County, Kansas

EF1
Rating
12.2 mi
Path length
100 yd
Path width
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

Storm survey revealed a longer track tornado that moved from just northeast of Blue Rapids northeast through a wind farm to near Winifred. The majority of damage was to hardwood trees with grain bins also destroyed just ENE of Winifred. Storm chaser footage also showed the end of the tornado was likely east northeast of highway 99 shortly after 6pm CDT.

The wider storm

Supercell thunderstorms developed ahead of a dryline and near a warm front during the afternoon and evening hours of May 18. The storms produced 7 documented tornadoes and eventually evolved into a line of storms that produced damaging winds of 60-80 mph across northeast and east central Kansas. Some areas also received 2-5 inches of rain just two to three hours causing flash flooding in several areas including the city of Manhattan.

Began near Bestwall (39.6800, -96.6300).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF1 Nemaha CountyEF1 Jackson CountyEF1 Morris CountyEFU Cloud CountyEFU Washington CountyEFU Clay County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1325603. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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