EF2 tornado in Edwards County, Kansas

Tornado May 24, 2016 · Edwards County, Kansas

EF2

Rating

13.7 mi

Whole path

150 yd

Path width

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 150 yards (0.09 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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

This was an anti-cyclonic tornado that destroyed large power poles, several pivot irrigation sprinklers, and trees.

The wider storm

Severe thunderstorms erupted during the late afternoon ahead of a dry line. Numerous tornado producing supercell thunderstorms were observed. Dodge City, although with parts damaged by a tornado, escaped a major disaster as tornadoes near that location moved north and northwest, instead of moving northeast (as dictated by the upper steering winds).

Began near Hodges (37.7947, -99.3725).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 641256. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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