EF2 tornado in Stafford County, Kansas

Tornado April 14, 2012 · Stafford County, Kansas

EF2

Rating

92.6 mi

Whole path

800 yd

Path width

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Kiowa County → Kiowa County → Edwards County → Stafford County → Stafford County → Rice County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 800 yards (0.45 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 tornado moved out of Edwards county at 901 PM CDT and as it did it began to shift a little east passing just east of Macksville. In Stafford county there was considerable damage to pivot sprinklers, trees and outbuildings.

The wider storm

A vigorous upper level system combined with copious moisture and an advancing warm front to produce widespread thunderstorms, some producing tornadoes.

Began near Macksville Smith Arp (37.8720, -99.0224).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF1 Pawnee County EF1 Rush County EF1 Clark County EF1 Ford County EF1 Edwards County EF1 Comanche County EF1 Stafford County EF1 Stafford County EF1 Stafford County EF1 Pawnee County EF0 Pratt County EF0 Pratt County EF0 Rush County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 393341. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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