F4 Tornado — Barton, Kansas

2001-04-21 · near Hoisington, Barton, Kansas

Event narrative

Initial touchdown occurred 1 mile southwest of Hoisington. The tornado rapidly achieved F3 intensity as it entered the west side of town. Moving northeast around 20 mph, the tornado intensified to F4 within 2-3 minutes. While crossing northwest Hoisington, the tornado inflicted a path about 2 miles long and about 2 blocks wide of almost complete destruction. Damage summary: 182 homes destroyed, 52 homes with major damage, 180 homes with minor to moderate damage, 12 businesses destroyed, tore the roof off the hospital, and severed power to most (if not all) areas on the northwest and north sides of town. As the tornado exited through the north side of town it weakened rapidly, inflicting F1-F2 damage as it approached Deception Creek which runs in a southeast to northwest manner 3 miles northeast of town. Once the tornado crossed the creek, it suddenly turned toward the northwest where it damaged two farmsteads shortly before dissipating.One man, 69 years of age, was killed when a minivan fell on him. There were 28 injuries of which 3 were critical.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.5000, -98.7833)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5236229. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.