Approximately 14 tornadoes were documented and confirmed via reports and radar data all occurring during the late afternoon and evening of May 6th. The tornadoes impacted Republic, Cloud, Washington and Clay Counties.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS TOP wrote it up.
Approximately 14 tornadoes were documented and confirmed via reports and radar data all occurring during the late afternoon and evening of May 6th. The tornadoes impacted Republic, Cloud, Washington and Clay Counties. In fact, 7 tornadoes alone occurred in Republic County. This was the largest one day outbreak of tornadoes in the past 10 years for NWS Topeka. The strongest tornado was an EF3 that destroyed a home south of Munden in Republic county. The longest was over 25 miles in length also across Republic county.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Topeka, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 6, 2:16 PM CST, 1 hour 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 316 PM CDT Wed May 6 2015 .SHORT TERM...(This Evening through Thursday) Issued at 305 PM CDT WED MAY 6 2015 Shortwave trough seen in water vapor imagery across western KS has helped with widespread shower/thunderstorm development over northwest and north central KS. Per SPC, low-level shear very strong across western parts of our area while 0-6 km bulk shear not extremely impressive. This could result in heavy precip supercells across north central KS this afternoon/evening with all types of severe weather. Models indicate the potential for training of activity in north central KS this evening and some potential for flooding. Even in the short term of tonight and tomorrow, little consistency among models in timing of heavier precip farther east and when chances decrease. If NAM was right late tonight and much of Thursday would be relatively rain free across forecast area in shortwave ridging, while other short range models have more significant chances for precip throughout that period as weak, difficult to resolve disturbances move through the southwest flow aloft. Hard to be too definite with this so have generally gone 30 to 50 percent POPS for late tonight through Thursday. Will need to monitor movement and persistence of any significant precip areas given the saturated soil across portions of eastern KS. .LONG TERM...(Thursday Night through Wednesday) Issued at 305 PM CDT WED MAY 6 2015 Forecast focus on excessive rains and flooding and severe weather threat through the weekend. Will use a blend of GFS/ECWMF for the weekend system since the NAM is the outlier much slower and further south than the latest GFS and EC. For the Thu night into Fri night time frame...a front will remain draped across the area with continued SW flow aloft and weak waves expected to support continued convection across much of the area. Cannot rule out severe storms given continued 6KM shear and instability THU night into FRI night and the flooding risk may also increase as repeated bouts of heavy rains will saturate more of the area and begin to cause rises on area mainstem rivers. The greatest severe risk still appears to be later Saturday as a major upper low ejects into the Plains. 12Z GFS is the fastest and further north of the models while the EC is a bit slower and further SW with the sfc low. Either way this promises to bring a widespread bout of severe weather to the region and potentially to the CWA Saturday evening into Saturday night. Worst case scenario also keeps the eastern half of the area in the warm sector for Sunday with another round of severe storms possible albeit confidence in timing of the entire system is low/medium at this point. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFs through 18Z Thursday Afternoon) Issued at 1250 PM CDT WED MAY 6 2015 Main area of showers have lifted north of TAF sites and another area in east central KS at mid day will likely miss them to the east. Still, popup shower is a possibility for this afternoon, just not likely enough to include in TAF. MVFR ceilings to south of I70 should become VFR before this afternoon. Chance of thunderstorms re-enters the picture late this evening or overnight but timing is a challenge. && .TOP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && SHORT TERM...GDP LONG TERM...Omitt AVIATION...GDP
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 335 PM CDT WED MAY 6 2015 KSZ008>012-020>024-026-034>040-054>056-058-059-072045- REPUBLIC-WASHINGTON-MARSHALL-NEMAHA-BROWN-CLOUD-CLAY-RILEY- POTTAWATOMIE-JACKSON-JEFFERSON-OTTAWA-DICKINSON-GEARY-MORRIS- WABAUNSEE-SHAWNEE-DOUGLAS-LYON-OSAGE-FRANKLIN-COFFEY-ANDERSON- 335 PM CDT WED MAY 6 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL...NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST KANSAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. SCATTERED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORECAST OVER NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO THIS EVENING. SEVERE STORMS WITH LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND A FEW TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE MAINLY WEST OF A COUNCIL GROVE TO MANHATTAN TO MARYSVILLE LINE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. ROUNDS OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD BE SEVERE AND ALL STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS AND FLOODING. STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND SATURDAY NIGHT WITH ALL MODES OF SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE. THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY AFTERNOON WITH A RISK OF ADDITIONAL SEVERE STORMS OVER THE EASTERN PARTS OF KANSAS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED ACROSS THOSE AREAS WEST OF A COUNCIL GROVE TO MANHATTAN TO MARYSVILLE LINE THROUGH THIS EVENING. && MORE DETAILED INFORMATION CAN BE ACCESSED AT... HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/TOP/SITREP
The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 57 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:53 UTC.
14 tornado, 2 hail, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
A tornado moved from Jewell County Kansas and clipped extreme NW parts of Republic County before moving into Nuckolls county Nebraska. This tornado did tree damage and overturned a irrigation pivot before moving into Nebraska.
The first of twin tornadoes that were associated with the same parent thunderstorm. Video and photos provided by the public and storm chasers along with damage reports from EM are the basis for the tracks.
The second of twin tornadoes that were associated with the same parent thunderstorm. Video and photos provided by the public and storm chasers along with damage reports from EM are the basis for the tracks.
This tornado initially developed across extreme southwest Republic county before tracking northeast across the county. The worst damage was done to a ethanol plant just southwest of Scandia and to a home just north of Scandia where EF2 damage was noted. Otherwise, while having a wide damage path that approached 1/2 mile at times the damage was in the EF0 to EF1 range to structures in its path. This tornado was visually wide however damage pattern suggested that the wide vortex was likely not entirely on the ground at all times and that smaller vortices were likely responsible for more extensive tree damage noted from time to time within the larger damage path. It is also surmised that this tornado was actually the result of a 2-3 occlusions which would mean that this tornado could have actually been 2-3 different tornadoes along its path and life cycle however lack of damage indicators and inconclusive radar data keep this a hypothesis. The tornado damage path did extend into Nebraska.
This strong but brief tornado touched down shortly before destroying a home around 715pm CDT a few miles south of Munden, KS. The tree damage suggested EF3 intensity while some debarking was also noted downwind or to the NE of the home. The structure itself was pull from the sill plate which had bolts every 6 feet per code. however it appears that an initial failure point was the garage door which faced south and the roof was attached to both the garage and main structure so it appears that a catastrophic failure caused the entire structure to be lifted off its foundation and deposited 50-150 yards to the NE of the foundation. Two cars in the garage were moved only slightly which indicates below EF4 type intensity in this event. The tornado must have weakened rapidly since only EF0-1 damage was noted 1/2-1 mile NE of the worst damage.
EM provided information of tree limbs down southwest of Narka and radar corroborated spotter reports of a brief tornado southwest of Narka. No other damage was reported so this tornado was likely a brief touchdown.
EM provided photos of grain bin damage along a path just northwest and north of Norway in Republic county. Radar data suggests that this was another brief tornado that occurred between 738pm and 744pm CDT.
EM provided photos and reports of damage to outbuildings on the southwest side of Clyde. This was the first storm to impact the area between Clyde and Clifton. Tree damage and outbuildings suggest a small EF1 tornado hit around 833pm CDT.
Emergency Manager relayed a report into dispatch of a brief tornado touchdown south of Minneapolis. No damage was reported.
Chaser relayed report of a tornado on the ground north of Wells around 855pm CDT. No damage was found by EM in open country.
Minor tree damage along a path combined with radar data and spotter report suggest that a tornado moved along a path just southeast and east of Haddam between 910pm CDT and around 920pm CDT.
Chaser Report of a tornado along with reports of tree limb damage along a path combined with radar data suggests that a tornado traveled along a track for approx. 8 miles between Miltonvale and Clyde.
EM and Highway Dept. provided reports of power poles down along a path that coincides with radar data that suggest another tornado traveled across far southwest Washington county beginning 2-3 miles east of Clyde.
Trained spotter reported many roads under water in western and northwestern Republic county.
Spotter reported an elephant trunk shaped tornado around 2 miles northwest of Washington. EM was not able to find any damage but area is open pasture so possible that touched down in pasture and did no damage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Kansas, 2015Warnings in Kansas, May 2015
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 565931, 565932, 565933, 565934, 570139, 565935, 565936, 565937, 565960, 565941, 565948, 565945, 565972, 570140, 565973, 570141, 565946.