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EF2 tornado in Cherokee County, Kansas

Tornado April 27, 2014 · Cherokee County, Kansas

EF2

Rating

11.4 mi

Whole path

150 yd

Path width

Death

Injuries

$13.0M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Ottawa County, Oklahoma → Cherokee County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 150 yards (0.09 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

A survey team determined an EF2 tornado struck the town of Baxter Springs, Kansas. The tornado started near Quapaw, Oklahoma and crossed the state line into Kansas then moved through the town of Baxter Springs producing a 150 yard wide swath of damage from southwest to northeast through the center of town. Emergency management reported approximately 90 homes and 11 business were destroyed and an additional seven businesses and 85 homes suffered damage. Approximately 25 injuries were reported but no fatalities. Maximum wind speeds were estimated to be between 120 and 130 mph.

The wider storm

A powerful storm system and a dry line produced several rounds of severe thunderstorms with some super cells. There were reports of a couple tornadoes, wind damage, and large hail.

Began near Baxter Spgs (36.9987, -94.7530).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF1 Bourbon County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 506202. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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