F0 tornado, Olson to Junction City, Kansas, November 27, 2005

1. F040 to 72 mphthis tornado

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. F173 to 112 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. F2113 to 157 mph

   Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

4. F3158 to 206 mph

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. F4207 to 260 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. F5261 to 318 mph

   Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

7. Unrated

   The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Rating

F0

Date

November 27, 2005

Touchdown

3:21 PM CST (21:21 UTC)

Path length

2.0 miles (3.2 km)

Path width

150 yards (137 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$40,000

County

Geary County

Touchdown point

39.020, -96.770

Lift-off point

39.030, -96.770

Record number

1237

Tornadoes in Kansas in November are quite unusual. In fact, in the last 20 years, there have been only two November tornado days in the entire state. Thus, the twelve tornadoes reported during this late November severe weather episode would certainly fit the category of a rare event.

This tornado was moving north as it crossed from northwest Morris county into southwest Geary county at 240 PM, approximately 3 miles southwest of Olson. It dissipated 2 miles northwest of Olson and was on the ground for 5 miles in Geary county. The tornado was weakening as it crossed Geary county. It was rated F0 for its duration in Geary county. The total path length from Morris to Geary counties for this tornado was 20 miles. The parent thunderstorm was a mini-supercell.

This tornado touched down on Fort Riley Army Base approximately 3 miles northeast of Junction City and moved north for one mile before crossing into Riley county approximately 4 miles northeast of Junction City. It produced F1 damage to trees and headstones in the Fort Riley cemetery area. The Fort was without power for several hours. The parent thunderstorm was a mini-supercell.

The tornado was briefly on the ground 5 miles SE of Junction City and moved north for approximately one quarter of a mile. It affected open country and there was no damage produced by the tornado, which was rated F0. The parent thunderstorm was a mini-supercell.

Tornado touched down at 3:21 PM 4 miles ESE of Junction City and moved north for about 2 miles before dissipating. The tornado moved across Interstate 70 near exit 307 and produced F0 damage to a hay barn, and also destroyed an indoor horse riding barn. Pieces of the barn landed a half mile away. Sufficient warning was given to allow authorities to close Interstate 70 for a short time until the tornado passed. The parent thunderstorm was a mini-supercell.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

25 minutes of warning. NWS TOP issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:56 UTC, 25 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:39 UTC and running to 23:17 UTC.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:59 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 47 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:19 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2005 tornado in KansasEvery tornado in Kansas since 1950Warnings in force in Kansas nowThe forecast where you are

64 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 65 of them

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.