TornadoLookup

Home / Kansas / Sumner

EF1 tornado in Sumner County, Kansas

Tornado May 10, 2010 · Sumner County, Kansas

EF1
Rating
40.7 mi
Whole path
300 yd
Path width
2
Injuries
$125K
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Grant County, Oklahoma → Kay County, Oklahoma → Sumner County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

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 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

Two semi tractor trailers were blown off of the Kansas Turnpike right at the state line as the tornado crossed the interstate. The overturned semi's temporarily closed Interstate 35 for a short time as they blocked traffic in both directions. The tornado also caused significant tree damage as it moved northeast into rural Sumner County, Kansas.

The wider storm

Severe thunderstorms developed during the afternoon and evening hours of May 10th, 2010, ahead of an approaching dry line and warm front. This dynamic environment coupled with an unstable airmass led to the development of thunderstorms to the west and south of Wichita, Kansas with tornado producing supercells moving across portions of South Central Kansas. Two supercells in particular produced significant damage across portions of Kingman, Sedgwick and Cowley counties with some of the damage classified as EF-2 damage by survey teams.

Began near Hunnewell (36.9991, -97.3452).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF2 Kingman CountyEF1 Kingman CountyEF1 Sedgwick CountyEF1 Cowley CountyEF1 Cowley CountyEF0 Kingman CountyEF0 Elk County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 220263. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.