EF3 Tornado — Lyon, Kansas

2011-05-21 · near Reading, Lyon, Kansas

Event narrative

Another tornado developed 3 miles southwest of Reading. This tornado proceeded to hit the town of Reading producing EF3 damage in the city. The tornado continued on a path that took it into Osage County Kansas where it produced additional damage before lifting approximately 4 miles south of Osage City. A single story home in Reading was swept off its foundation. There were several two story homes with significant damage to the second story or completely removed. A well anchored mobile home was lofted and thrown 50 yards into a tree. Vehicles were rolled and large chemical tank was thrown 100 yards. Winds estimated at 140 mph.

Wider weather episode

Supercell thunderstorms developed in advance of a cold front and dryline during the late afternoon of Saturday May 21st. Several of the supercell thunderstorms produced tornadoes including at least 2 brief touchdowns in Topeka. The strongest tornado was rated an EF3 and hit the town of Reading Kansas. In all there were 8 tornadoes across Northeast Kansas that evening. There was one fatality which occurred in the town of Reading where a man was killed when his mobile home was destroyed. There were 5 injuries that required treatment in Reading. The supercells also produced huge hailstones with some reported to be the size of softballs and numerous reports of baseball size hail in and around Topeka.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.5053, -96.0036)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 295476. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.