Tornadoes and Hail in Kansas, June 11, 2008

Hail from the size of quarters to the size of golfballs was reported by spotters under this thunderstorm.

Two reports of baseball size hail.

Trained spotters reported hail from one inch, to one and a half inch, to two inches in diameter.

A continuous swath of quarter to golf ball size hail was reported by several trained spotters and law enforcement officers.

This is the first segment of a tornado that moved through 2 counties. This tornado continued northeast out of Dickinson County and dissipated shortly after entering Geary County. The tornado first touched down at a farmstead to the north-northwest of the town of Enterprise. A grain bin was destroyed, and some tree damage was observed. Damage was also noted to another farmstead where a grain bin was destroyed, as were a center pivot and several power poles. The tornado then entered Chapman on the southwest side. It was reported that 70 homes were completely destroyed, and 215 damaged. In all, three-quarters of the buildings in town sustained damage. Two churches were demolished. The town's middle school and high school were both severely damaged. Approximately 100 residents were in the locker rooms of the high school seeking shelter from the storm when the tornado struck. Trees across town were twisted and nearly stripped of their leaves and branches. For the most part, the downtown business section received only minor damage. Once outside the town, another farmstead was hit which damaged trees and outbuildings before lifting to the northeast of town. Debris from the town was littered for several miles east of the town. Dozens of individuals sustained minor injuries. Three were critically injured. One death was reported when a tree was blown onto a woman who had just put her daughter into the carseat of her vehicle. Thousands of volunteers took part in the clean-up effort over the next few weeks.

Several power poles reported down.

The second segment of the EF-3 tornado that continued northeast out of Dickinson County producing heavy damage to the town of Chapman. Within Geary County EF-0 damage was indicated as the tornado moved through primarily rural portions of Western Geary County. The tornado crossed Interstate 70 within Geary County and light debris from Chapman remained scattered around the interstate approximately a quarter mile wide. Tree damage was found within the county as well as a center pivot being overturned. The tornado lifted a shortly after entering the county.

A brief tornado touched down in the town of Carlton. A few trees were reported to have been damaged.

The tornado touched down to the southwest of Manahattan on a farm, and first destroyed a large machine shed, and threw a grain cart into an adjacent field. The tornado tracked to the northeast and destroyed several homes that were in the process of being built. Then, the tornado entered the Miller Ranch area of Manhattan, where the EF-4 damage was observed. Fifteen well built homes were completely destroyed. Nearby in the Amherst residential area, approximately thirty homes were damaged. A local newspaper reported that 45 residences in Manhattan were destroyed, 142 were damaged, and 637 were affected by the tornado. Ninety three apartments or duplexes, twenty mobile homes, and ten total businesses were impacted. Thereafter, the windows at the Little Apple Honda/Toyota car dealership were blown out, and several cars on the lots were tossed. A nearby hardware store and several self-storage units were demolished. Other nearby businesses were also damaged. The Lee Elementary School was then damaged. The tornado continued toward the Kansas State University campus. There, the roof was blown off a fraternity house, windows were blown out of buildings, the USDA Wind Erosion Labratory roof was damaged, and debris from damage to the southwest was blown across the campus. Summer classes at the University were shuffled around to find appropriate, undamaged buildings to hold summer students. New student orientation was also going on the week the tornado struck. It was reported that $37 million dollars in damage was done to the KSU campus alone.

The total preliminary damage estimate from the Manhattan torando was approximately $71 million. Off-campus, $22 million in structural damage was reported, as was $7 million in vehicle damage.

A local newspaper reported that the Lee Elementary School in Manhattan sustained some damage as a result of the strong winds. Several windows were broken out, and debris littered the playground.

The mesocyclone within this thunderstorm produced a tornado in western Pottawatomie County which lifted, then produced a second, stronger tornado that went through Soldier. This tornado produced only minor damage for the most part. The beginning of the tornado path was marked by broken large tree branches. Along the path, more large tree branches were broken, a grain bin was blown into a field, and several tree tops were damaged. The end of the tornado path was near where several trees were broken off in a cemetary to the north-northwest of Louisville.

This is the first segment of an EF-2 tornado that began in Pottawatomie County, moved northeast into Jackson County and continued northeast into Nemaha County before dissipating. This is segment 1 of 3 for the tornado path. In Pottawatomie County the tornado touched down near a farmstead south of Havensville and compromised some of the external walls of a residence as well as tearing a large portion of the roof off of the residence. Extensive damage was noted to outbuildings and trees near the residence. The tornado continued northeast damaging mainly rural areas of northeastern Pottawatomie County damaging trees and power poles.

This is the second segment of a tornado that initially touched down in Pottawatomie County and then continued northeast into Jackson County before continuing northeast and dissipating in Nemaha County. This is segment 2 of 3. Upon entering Jackson County the tornado did EF1 and EF0 damage primarily to outbuildings, power poles and large trees. As the tornado continued northeast, it moved south of Soldier causing extensive damage to two farmsteads. One residence was blown off of its foundation while another sustained extensive damage to its external walls and roof. All surrounding outbuildings were destroyed. The tornado continued northeast, striking a mobile home just south of the Nemaha County border. The mobile home was destroyed, and the occupant sustained fatal injuries. The tornado then continued northeast into Nemaha County.

This is the last segment of a tornado path that touched down in Pottawatomie County, moved northeast into Jackson County, and then continued northeast into Nemaha County where it lifted. This is segment 3 of 3. After the tornado crossed into Nemaha County, it caused extensive damage to large trees in rural areas. The damage indicators to the large trees were consistent with EF1 windspeeds.