F3 Tornado — Ellis, Kansas

1998-10-16 · near Yocemento, Ellis, Kansas

Event narrative

Tornado that began in eastern Trego county, steadily moved northeast before dissipating north of Hays. The tornado hit several farms in rural Ellis county and slammed into sparsely populated Yocemento. After leaving Yocemento, the tornado tore through a feedyard and on across other parts of rural Ellis county. Fortunately, the tornado stayed just west and north of populated Hays where a high school football game was in progress. The tornado damaged or destroyed 10 homes, a grain elevator, many outbuildings, a tractor and a feedlot. During the weaker moments of the tornado, it moved a 14,000 pound tractor 30 yards. One modular constructed home on a concrete slab was completely destroyed with the remains carried 1/2 of a mile. A steel I-beam from a concrete building travelled several hundred yards, eventually crashing into a grain elevator. Three empty anhydrous ammonia tanks were moved causing a leak of a benign amount of vapour. An injury occurred to a male driving a tractor-trailer rig on Interstate 70.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.7800, -99.5700)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5669819. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.