EF3 Tornado — Barton, Kansas

2017-05-16 · near Pawnee Rock, Barton, Kansas

Event narrative

This long track tornado moved in from Pawnee County. Law Enforcement reported the tornado just south of the county line near Pawnee Rock and then followed it as it moved to the NE. The tornado moved through the west side of Pawnee Rock causing sporadic EF1 and isolated EF2 damage to several homes and one school type facility. The tornado continued to move to the NNE causing EF2 damage to a couple of homes on West Barton County Road. One residence was a mobile home that lost the far east side of the structure and all roofing material. One injury was noted at that location as they did not seek shelter. The home just to the west lost the east half of structure with the occupants seeking refuge in the basement. Of note, a Ford F-150 was thrown or rolled approximately 75 to hundred yards away from its original location. Further to the NE, the tornado strengthened considerably as noted by complete destruction of an 1890 farm house. With the age of the home and no anchoring being present due to the structure resting on cinder blocks along with a lack of debarking, a higher rating could not be justified though the amount of devastation to the structure itself pointed towards a possible higher rating. Three occupants sought refuge in the basement and were unharmed. The next door neighbor's home was also considerably damaged with all of the structure being demolished except for one corner section. The tornado then continued to the NE over open country damaging trees and power lines along the way before dissipating NW of Hoisington. A total of 44 parcels were affected. Ten homes were deemed total losses. The estimated property value losses were estimated at $658,000.

Wider weather episode

A cyclic supercell thunderstorm produced a long track tornado across portions of Barton county, Kansas. The tornado initially touched down 3 miles west of Larned, Kansas (See NWS Dodge City, Kansas narrative for more information on the initial touchdown), traveling northeast, near Pawnee Rock, Kansas to 3 miles west of Great Bend, Kansas to just west of Hoisington, Kansas. The tornado was on the ground for 27 miles with damage rated from EF0 to a high end EF3 (3 miles west of Great Bend, Kansas). Two minor injuries were reported. Another minor tornado touchdown occurred in open country.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.2613, -98.9870)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 688491. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.