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EF0 tornado in Cloud County, Kansas

Tornado February 28, 2012 · Cloud County, Kansas

EF0
Rating
1.8 mi
Path length
75 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 75 yards (0.04 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF0 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF0 is light damage: shingles and siding peeled, gutters torn, branches broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 65–85 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

The first batch of storms formed across central Kansas and as they moved to the northeast gathered strength. One of the storms produced a brief and weak tornado in far western Cloud County. No significant damage or injuries occurred from this tornado.

The wider storm

On the evening of Tuesday, February 28 2012, a very strong upper level storm system caused widespread thunderstorms to form across most of central and eastern Kansas. The storms initiated approximately 4:00 PM and increased in coverage and intensity throughout the night. Since atmospheric instability was not extremely high there were few reports of severe hail; however, many structures across the area were damaged due to strong, straight-line thunderstorm winds.

The most significant event from the evening of February 28 was a strong tornado that impacted Harveyville, Kansas at approximately 9:03 pm CST. The town sustained significant damage to some structures, including an apartment complex and a church. On Wednesday, February 29 a National Weather Service survey crew traveled to Harveyville to assess the damage. The tornado caused at least 12 injuries and one fatality. The survey crew gave a preliminary assessment of EF-2 damage, indicating wind speeds of 111 - 135 mph.

Three other tornadoes occurred across the area that night, but no injuries and only marginal damage to outbuildings and structures occurred from these other tornadoes.

Began near Jamestown (39.6189, -97.9322).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF2 Wabaunsee County 1 deadEF1 Franklin CountyEF0 Republic County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 359095. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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