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F1 tornado in Sumner County, Kansas

Tornado May 3, 1999 · Sumner County, Kansas

Rating

24.0 mi

Whole path

880 yd

Path width

Deaths

154

Injuries

$140.8M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Sumner County → Sedgwick County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 880 yards (0.50 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F1 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F1 meant moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken; the scale paired it with winds of 73–112 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

What the National Weather Service wrote

Initial touchdown occurred 4 miles north of Wellington in Central Sumner County where several power poles were knocked down. Moving north-northeast near 30 kts, the tornado inflicted damage to about 15 structures including complete destruction of two mobile homes, a pole barn, two wood sheds and one metal shed. Also damaged were a ranch style home and a metal shed, both of which lost most of their roofing. This tornado was responsible for all 4 injuries in Sumner County. Of the injuries, 3 occurred (1 serious) in the two destroyed mobile homes. While in Sumner County, this tornado possessed a path 10 miles long and 1/4 to 1/2 mile wide. It would exit Sumner County at 1930, continuing a north-northeast track into Sedgwick County.

Began near Wellington (37.3200, -97.4000).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

F1 Barton County F1 Reno County F1 Sumner County F1 Marion County F0 Rice County F0 Saline County F0 Ellsworth County F0 McPherson County F0 Lincoln County F0 Butler County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5690093. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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