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EF3 tornado in Saline County, Kansas

Tornado October 6, 2016 · Saline County, Kansas

EF3
Rating
6.5 mi
Path length
140 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 140 yards (0.08 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF3 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF3 is severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, consistent with estimated gusts of 136–165 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

A manufactured double wide home which was held down by straps was completely lifted and destroyed. Additionally a jeep was rolled approximately 200 yards; there was damage to other farm equipment which was tossed from their original locations. Another homestead received significant tree damage along the path. All farm machinery was thrown across the property. Of significance was a combine that was rolled about 75 yards.

The wider storm

An unseasonably warm moist airmass was in place across the southern and central Plains on Thursday, October 6th, 2016. Storms developed over southeast and south central Kansas during the early afternoon hours along a weak outflow boundary. These storms produced three tornadoes over Cowley County, and with another brief tornado near Strother Field. Another very brief tornado touchdown was noted in Labette County near Bartlett. Straight line wind damage from one of the storms occurred in Allen County. Additional storms developed along a cold front that was surging east. A supercell thunderstorm developed along this feature and produced two tornadoes in eastern Saline County. In addition to the tornadoes, numerous rounds of storms resulted in very heavy rainfall across mainly southeast Kansas causing flash flooding. Several water rescues were performed along with homes being flooded in Allen County.

Began near Gypsum (38.7815, -97.4704).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 656435. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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