Tornadoes · United States · Kansas · 2005

F0 tornado, Ensign, Kansas, October 19, 2005

Name: F0 tornado, Ensign, Kansas, October 19, 2005
Start: 2005-10-19T21:42:00.000Z
Location: Ensign, Kansas

This F0 tornado ran 0.2 miles across Gray County on October 19, 2005, touching down at 4:42 PM CDT and reaching 30 yards wide. It killed nobody.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

F040 to 72 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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.

The record

Rating: F0
Date: October 19, 2005
Touchdown: 4:42 PM CDT (21:42 UTC)
Path length: 0.2 miles (0.3 km)
Path width: 30 yards (27 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
County: Gray County
Touchdown point: 37.520, -100.300
Lift-off point: 37.520, -100.300
Record number: 1197

What the Weather Service recorded

This tornado made contact for less than a minute. It was viewed from a spotter location near the tornado and also by NWS employees at the Dodge City airport.

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

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Dodge City, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Oct 19, 1:59 PM CDT, 2 hours 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 19, 1:59 PM CDT, 2 hours 43 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
159 PM CDT WED OCT 19 2005

.DISCUSSION...

DAYS 1-2...

MAIN FORECAST CHALLENGE IS IN THE FIRST PERIOD WITH RESPECT TO
CONVECTION...SOME SVR...AS THE UPPER LOW MOVES ACROSS SOUTHWEST
KANSAS.

18Z SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS A STATIONARY FRONT EXTENDING FROM AROUND
BARBER COUNTY WEST SOUTHWESTWARD TO THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE.  MID
LEVEL SYNOPTIC DRY INTRUSION HAD ENCOMPASSED MUCH OF THE CENTRAL AND
WESTERN CWA MOST OF THE DAY SO FAR.  THIS HAS ACTUALLY ALLOWED
INSOLATION NORTH OF THE FRONT...HELPING TO SLOW THE COLD FRONT DOWN
IN THE SOUTHWEST...ALONG WITH THE DYNAMIC PRESSURE FALLS IN ADVANCE
OF THE LOW.  TRIPLE POINT SETTING UP NICELY IN THE CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
PANHANDLE, AND THIS AREA IS ALSO WHERE LOW LEVEL THETA-E AXIS IS
NOSING UP TOWARDS.  LATEST 1KM VISIBLE SHOWS TCU DEVELOPING IN
OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE AS OF 1830 UTC.  ONGOING AXIS OF ELEVATED
CONVECTION FROM STAFFORD TO MEDICINE LODGE WILL CONTINUE TO SHIFT
EASTWARD, ALTHOUGH THERE CONTINUES TO BE DEVELOPMENT OF ELEVATED
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS BACK WESTWARD TOWARDS NESS CITY TO DODGE
CITY TO ASHLAND.

IMPRESSIVE INSTABILITY IS PRESENT NORTH OF THE SURFACE FRONT.  H8
CAPE OF AROUND 800 TO 1000 J/KG WILL AUGMENT THE REGION OF GREATEST
THETA-E DECREASE IN THE H6-H7 LAYER FOR FAIRLY VIGOROUS CONVECTION.
LARGE HAIL WILL CERTAINLY BE A POSSIBILITY AS FAR NORTH AS ULYSSES
TO CIMARRON TO JETMORE TO LARNED THROUGH 03Z.  THE UPPER LOW WILL
CONTINUE TO BE ON THE MOVE, AND THE BULK OF THE CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY
WILL BE EXITING THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN CWA AFTER 06Z.  WILL KEEP
THE CATEGORICAL POPS GOING IN THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN ZONES, MAINLY
CENTERED AROUND THE 22Z TO 02Z TIME FRAME.

COLD ADVECTION WILL BE IN FULL FORCE OVERNIGHT AND TOMORROW.  THE
COLD ADVECTION AND RESIDUAL WRAP AROUND MOISTURE WILL CONTRIBUTE TO
LOW STRATUS CLOUDS, PARTICULARLY IN THE NORTHEASTERN ZONES EARLY
TOMORROW.  HIGHS WILL STRUGGLE TO REACH 60 NEAR HAYS WITH SOME NEAR
70F READINGS IN THE FAR SOUTHWEST TOWARDS ELKHART.  LIGHT WINDS
TOMORROW NIGHT WITH A FEW HIGH LEVEL CLOUDS WILL ALLOW TEMPS TO DROP
DOWN WELL INTO THE LOWER 40S.  MUCH THE SAME FOR FRIDAY WITH
CONTINUED SURFACE RIDGING IN PLACE AS NORTHWEST FLOW IN THE MID AND
UPPER LEVELS BEGINS TO AMPLIFY MORE.

DAYS 3-7...

MODELS AND ENSEMBLES NOW CLUSTERING AROUND THE SOLUTION OF BRINGING
A COLD CLOSED UPPER LOW SOUTH FROM CANADA INTO THE EASTERN 2/3RDS OF
THE CONUS THIS WEEKEND. THEREFORE SIGNIFICANTLY COLDER WEATHER AT
LEAST INTO TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. EXPECT THE MODELS TO HAVE THEIR
USUAL BIAS OF LIFTING THE LOW OUT TOO SOON SO WILL MAINTAIN THE COOL
TEMPERATURES THROUGH DAY SEVEN FOR NOW. GOING GRIDS HAVE THIS IN
HAND AND WILL NEED ONLY SOME COSMETIC TWEAKS TO MATCH OUR
NEIGHBORS.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
DDC  44  63  41  66 /  80   0   0   0
GCK  43  64  38  66 /  80   0   0   0
EHA  43  68  40  68 /  50   0   0   0
LBL  44  66  41  68 /  80   0   0   0
HYS  42  60  41  64 /  90   0   0   0
P28  48  61  43  67 /  90   0   0   0

&&

.DDC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NONE.
&&

UMSCHEID/JOHNSON

Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 19, 5:11 AM CDT, 11 hours 31 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
511 AM CDT WED OCT 19 2005

KSZ065-066-076>081-085>090-201000-
BARBER-CLARK-COMANCHE-EDWARDS-FORD-GRAY-HASKELL-KIOWA-MEADE-PAWNEE-
PRATT-SEWARD-STAFFORD-STEVENS-
511 AM CDT WED OCT 19 2005

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST
AND SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP BY THIS THIS AFTERNOON.  THERE
IS A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS SOUTH OF A LIBERAL TO
LARNED LINE, BETWEEN 4 PM AND 11 PM CDT.  THE MAIN HAZARD FROM
THESE STORMS WILL BE HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF QUARTERS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

THE PROBABILITY OF WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTERS MAY BE NEEDED LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING, SOUTH OF A
LIBERAL TO LARNED LINE.

KSZ030-031-043>046-061>064-074-075-084-201000-
ELLIS-FINNEY-GRANT-HAMILTON-HODGEMAN-KEARNY-LANE-MORTON-NESS-RUSH-
SCOTT-STANTON-TREGO-
511 AM CDT (411 AM MDT) WED OCT 19 2005

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST
AND SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH
TONIGHT.  AT THIS TIME, IT DOES NOT APPEAR AS IF ANY STORMS WILL
REACH SEVERE LIMITS.  RAINFALL WILL AVERAGE FROM A HALF INCH TO AN
INCH.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

THE PROBABILITY OF WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TODAY OR TONIGHT.

12/24

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Oct 19, 3:37 PM CDT, 1 hour 5 minutes before

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Local storm report, Oct 19, 3:42 PM CDT, 1 hour before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
342 PM CDT WED OCT 19 2005

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0325 PM     HAIL             4 S MINNEOLA            37.39N 100.01W
10/19/2005  0.88 INCH        CLARK              KS   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

RBURGERT

Local storm report, Oct 19, 3:43 PM CDT, 59 minutes before

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  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
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  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
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        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
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Local storm report, Oct 19, 4:04 PM CDT, 38 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
404 PM CDT WED OCT 19 2005

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0335 PM     HAIL             1 W BLOOM               37.48N 99.90W
10/19/2005  1.00 INCH        FORD               KS   PUBLIC

&&

UMSCHEID

Local storm report, Oct 19, 4:11 PM CDT, 31 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
411 PM CDT WED OCT 19 2005

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0356 PM     HAIL             16 N LIBERAL            37.28N 100.94W
10/19/2005  1.75 INCH        SEWARD             KS   LAW ENFORCEMENT

&&

GRZYWACZ

Local storm report, Oct 19, 4:35 PM CDT, 7 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
435 PM CDT WED OCT 19 2005

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0355 PM     HAIL             6 SE MONTEZUMA          37.54N 100.36W
10/19/2005  1.00 INCH        GRAY               KS   PUBLIC

0427 PM     HAIL             DODGE CITY              37.76N 100.01W
10/19/2005  1.00 INCH        FORD               KS   NWS EMPLOYEE

0429 PM     HAIL             DODGE CITY              37.76N 100.01W
10/19/2005  0.75 INCH        FORD               KS   NWS EMPLOYEE

&&

GERARD

The surface observations

Dodge City (DDC), 40 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Gust (kt)	Pressure (mb)	Weather
00:00 UTC

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 40 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:44 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.

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2005 tornado in Kansas Every tornado in Kansas since 1950 Warnings in force in Kansas now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of October 19, 2005

2 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 19	4:36 PM CDT	F0	Meade, KS	0.3	30
October 19	5:47 PM CDT	F1	Harper, OK	13.0	400			$40,000

What this means

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.

Sources

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