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EF4 tornado in Linn County, Kansas

Tornado February 28, 2007 · Linn County, Kansas

EF4

Rating

28.0 mi

Whole path

800 yd

Path width

$400K

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Anderson County → Linn County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 800 yards (0.45 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF4 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF4 is devastating damage: well-built houses levelled, consistent with estimated gusts of 166–200 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

EF4 tornado crossed from Anderson county into Linn county in Kansas at 7:30 PM CST, 4 miles northwest of Blue Mound. The tornado moved east-northeast over mainly rural areas of the county. A home, several farm buildings, and garage were completely destroyed. Other buildings received minor to moderate damage. There were no injuries or deaths with this tornado. The tornado also downed trees and power lines. The tornado lifted 6 miles north-northeast of Pleasanton at 8:10 PM CST.

The wider storm

A strong storm system lifted northeast into the region from Oklahoma, during the late afternoon and early evening hours on February 28th. The dynamics from this storm system provided the lift for rapid thunderstorm development along and north of a warm front by the early evening hours. There were numerous reports of hail with the storms, as well as some flash flooding.

The most significant severe thunderstorm produced a tornado in Anderson county Kansas, which then tracked east into Linn county Kansas. The EF4 tornado took a nearly 24 mile continuous path, where it caused damage to mainly rural areas. Just north of Blue Mound a single residence, garage, and several farm buildings were completely destroyed. The tornado was historic, since it was the first time anywhere in the country that a tornado was rated as high as EF4, since switching to the new Enhanced Fujita scale February 1st, 2007.

Began near Blue Mound (38.1209, -95.0720).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 15503. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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