EF3 Tornado — Sedgwick, Kansas

2015-05-06 · near Mt Hope, Sedgwick, Kansas

Event narrative

Tornado touched down in an open field and quickly grew in strength as it moved slightly east of north. The tornado damaged 3 center pivot irrigation systems and caused damage at a farmstead by demolishing a single car detached garage and ripped off a carport that was attached to a barn. As the tornado moved on to the north, it encountered another farmstead. One house was directly in the path of the tornado and was completely leveled with nothing left standing (DI2 DOD9). The home was built in the late 1800's and was not secured to the foundation. Another home just to the northwest of the main home sustained significant damage to the southeast corner by taking down two small sections of the home. Another barn on the property was a complete loss and the trees experienced significant limb loss and some debarkation. One minor injury was reported. The person affected refused treatment. The tornado was 125 yards wide. This tornado moved into Harvey County.

Wider weather episode

A modest dryline developed across South Central and Central Kansas during the afternoon hours of May 6th, 2015. Moderate instability and shear combined to produce supercell thunderstorms across South Central Kansas and Central Kansas.

The supercell thunderstorms produced some large hail, but also produced five tornadoes across the area. One of the tornadoes was rated an EF3, with another rated an EF2.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.8404, -97.6507)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 565780. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.