EF3 Tornado — Republic, Kansas

2015-05-06 · near New Tabor, Republic, Kansas

Event narrative

This strong but brief tornado touched down shortly before destroying a home around 715pm CDT a few miles south of Munden, KS. The tree damage suggested EF3 intensity while some debarking was also noted downwind or to the NE of the home. The structure itself was pull from the sill plate which had bolts every 6 feet per code. however it appears that an initial failure point was the garage door which faced south and the roof was attached to both the garage and main structure so it appears that a catastrophic failure caused the entire structure to be lifted off its foundation and deposited 50-150 yards to the NE of the foundation. Two cars in the garage were moved only slightly which indicates below EF4 type intensity in this event. The tornado must have weakened rapidly since only EF0-1 damage was noted 1/2-1 mile NE of the worst damage.

Wider weather episode

Approximately 14 tornadoes were documented and confirmed via reports and radar data all occurring during the late afternoon and evening of May 6th. The tornadoes impacted Republic, Cloud, Washington and Clay Counties. In fact, 7 tornadoes alone occurred in Republic County. This was the largest one day outbreak of tornadoes in the past 10 years for NWS Topeka. The strongest tornado was an EF3 that destroyed a home south of Munden in Republic county. The longest was over 25 miles in length also across Republic county.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.8584, -97.5478)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 565935. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.