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EF2 tornado in Norton County, Kansas

Tornado June 20, 2011 · Norton County, Kansas

EF2
Rating
11.9 mi
Whole path
600 yd
Path width
$6.0M
Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 600 yards (0.34 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

This large tornado moved from northern Graham County into Norton County, dissipating near Norton County Road E-6 and Highway 9 west of Densmore. The tornado was still producing EF2 damage in Norton County as it destroyed utility poles, grain bins and tree rows. A farmstead suffered significant damage west of Densmore. The roof was heavily damaged, vehicles and farm implements were moved, with grain bins and outbuildings damaged or destroyed.

The wider storm

A strong, slow-moving low pressure system moved across northwest Kansas during the afternoon, resulting in over a dozen tornadoes, some strong and long-lived. The strongest tornadoes occurred over Graham and Norton counties. Other reports of baseball sized hail were received.

Began near Edmond (39.5667, -99.8036).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF3 Norton CountyEF3 Norton CountyEF1 Graham CountyEF1 Graham CountyEF1 Norton CountyEF0 Gove CountyEF0 Gove CountyEF0 Graham CountyEF0 Norton CountyEF0 Sheridan CountyEF0 Decatur CountyEF0 Norton CountyEF0 Decatur County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 326546. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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