EF3 tornado in Jewell County, Kansas

This tornado affected two counties in north central Kansas, touching down north of Lebanon in Smith County and lifting north of Esbon in Jewell County. The maximum wind speed was estimated to be near 140 MPH, with a maximum path width of 1580 yards. Along its path, this tornado caused minor to major tree damage, overturned irrigation pivots, snapped power poles and damaged or destroyed grain bins and outbuildings. Four homesteads suffered damage, with the hardest hit locations approximately 3 miles northeast of Lebanon in Smith County. Two homes in this area were heavily damaged or destroyed, with one losing its entire second level. This location also completely lost grain bins, a large outbuilding and newly constructed garage. One person suffered minor injuries and was treated and released from an area hospital.

This event occurred on a Monday, which was also Memorial Day. The first and most intense thunderstorm of the day developed over northern Phillips county just after 4:30 pm CDT. This was the southern storm in a line segment of supercell storms, which exhibited multicell characteristics. This line extended northeast across the border into southern Nebraska. During the following four hours, this storm tracked east across Phillips, Smith and Jewell counties. Numerous storm chasers followed this storm. The initial storm report came from the rear flank of the storm, over Phillips county. It was here that the RFD produced winds estimated around 60 mph. As the storm moved east, two weak, brief tornadoes were spotted just northwest and northeast of Smith Center. A rain-wrapped EF-3 tornado, described as a wedge, then followed, tracking just north of Lebanon and Esbon. The tornado track was roughly 6 miles long and at its widest point, was nearly one mile wide. Even though this tornado was over rural areas, it still managed to produce damage. The worst damage was to a home that lost its roof and part of its second story.

On radar, the hook echo was short and stubby. Because of this, there was substantial rain within the mesocyclone, which made it difficult to see the tornado except in its immediate vicinity. The Tornado Intercept Vehicle endured a direct hit from the tornado, with video confirmation. As this storm continued into Jewell County, no more reports of wind damage or tornadoes were received. However, the hail dramatically increased with multiple reports of hail to the size of tennis balls. The largest hail was yet to occur. Near Montrose, hail a little large than grapefruit size was reported (5 and 1/4 inches). After 7:00 pm CDT, other multicell storms developed, mainly affecting Mitchell county. These storms only produced a single report of 1 inch hail northwest of Beloit.

With the 8 am CDT Severe Weather Outlook, the Storm Prediction Center upgraded North Central Kansas to a moderate risk for severe thunderstorms. A weak short-wave trough was approaching the region, embedded within a broad upper-level trough, over the western United States. A quasi-stationary front, oriented in an east-west fashion, extended across Nebraska. During the early morning hours, a mesoscale convective system tracked through eastern Nebraska southeastward into Missouri. This MCS laid down an outflow boundary that extended across northern Kansas, to a lee-side low. It was to the north of this outflow boundary that storms initiated. At the time of initial thunderstorm development, temperatures were in the lower to middle 80s to near 90, with dewpoints in the middle 60s. This resulted in an extremely unstable atmosphere, with MLCAPE between 3000 and 4000 J/kg. Deep layer shear was 40 to 50 knots, which was more that strong enough for supercell storm structures.