EF4 tornado in Ellsworth County, Kansas

Tornado April 14, 2012 · Ellsworth County, Kansas

EF4

Rating

50.3 mi

Whole path

400 yd

Path width

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Rice County → Ellsworth County → McPherson County → Saline County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 400 yards (0.23 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

Tornado scoured and dug out a section gravel road about 4 to 5 inches deep. Home was swept off foundation and destroyed with small stair case remaining in center. Debris from home was tossed into adjacent tree line to the northeast. Numerous trees around the house were snapped and shredded. Some trees were also debarked from the intense wind speeds. Car was flipped and tossed upside down. This tornado moved into McPherson County.

The wider storm

A significant severe weather outbreak with several damaging long track tornadoes occurred. The strongest tornado moved through portions of central Kansas and produced EF-4 damage at one home stead. Two other tornadoes touched down producing EF-3 damage in south central Kansas.

Began near Kanapolis Res (38.5230, -98.0080).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 366383. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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