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EF1 tornado in Washington County, Kansas

Tornado May 6, 2015 · Washington County, Kansas

EF1
Rating
4.0 mi
Path length
75 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 75 yards (0.04 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 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

EM and Highway Dept. provided reports of power poles down along a path that coincides with radar data that suggest another tornado traveled across far southwest Washington county beginning 2-3 miles east of Clyde.

The wider storm

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.

Began near Vining (39.5963, -97.3324).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

13 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF3 Republic CountyEF2 Republic CountyEF2 Republic CountyEF1 Republic CountyEF1 Republic CountyEF0 Republic CountyEF0 Republic CountyEF0 Ottawa CountyEF0 Washington CountyEF0 Washington CountyEF0 Ottawa CountyEF0 Cloud CountyEF0 Cloud County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 565973. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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