Tornadoes · United States · Kansas · 2007

EF0 tornado, Colony to Selma, Kansas, February 28, 2007

Name: EF0 tornado, Colony to Selma, Kansas, February 28, 2007
Start: 2007-03-01T01:24:00.000Z
End: 2007-03-01T01:30:00.000Z
Location: Colony to Selma, Kansas

From Colony to Selma, this EF0 tornado ran 3.5 miles across Anderson County on February 28, 2007, touching down at 7:24 PM CST and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody.

The rating scale

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

EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
EF2111 to 135 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.
EF3136 to 165 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
EF5over 200 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: EF0
Date: February 28, 2007
Touchdown: 7:24 PM CST (01:24 UTC)
Lifted: 7:30 PM CST (01:30 UTC)
On the ground: 6 minutes
Path length: 3.5 miles (5.7 km)
Path width: 100 yards (91 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
County: Anderson County
Touchdown point: 38.130, -95.100
Lift-off point: 38.174, -95.064
Record number: 0702281924-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A low pressure system pushed northeastward out of Oklahoma during the afternoon hours the 28th. The warm front extending from the low provided a focus for thunderstorm development. Tornadoes, gusty winds, and large hail were all reported across the Topeka CWA, with the first reports received just after 18:00 CST.

Report relayed from storm chaser to KAKE TV, who transmitted the report to NWS-Topeka. An HP-supercell thunderstorm tracked across southern Anderson Couty the evening of the 28th. The supercell thunderstorm produced a tornado that touched down just east of the city of Colony. |The tornado moved northeast and was on the ground for nearly 9 1/2 miles. It lifted around 5 miles east of Welda. The average width of the tornado was 250 yards. Ultimately, over 40 structures were damaged but remarkably no injuries occurred. Most structures reported minor damage. However, numerous trees were toppled and outbuildings destroyed. Power lines were downed resulting in power loss to a number of southeast Anderson county residents. At least one barn was destroyed and several homes received significant structural damage. Windows were blown out of a number of homes as well as cars. The most significant damage occurred to a large span metal horse arena. This arena had steel girders and concrete footings. It was lifted out of the ground and destroyed. Horsemen in the arena at the time the tornado approached found safety in a small interior room and were uninjured. However, a horse and rider who remained in the arena were both thrown 100 feet into a field. But neither the horse nor the rider was seriously injured. Another horse had a steel pipe driven through its head but was not killed. The resident of this property lost his billfold to the tornadic wind. However, in the clean-up the next day, he found his billfold in a bird's nest nearby. An elderly lady who was very deaf was asleep in her house when it was hit by the tornado. The house received significant damage. But she was unhurt and had no idea what happened until a neighbor found her later and explained her house had been hit. The Garnett police chief was racing south behind the storm in his patrol car and nearly lost control when he came upon 3 to 4 inches of solid ice (hail) on the road. Reports indicated that a large amount of hail had fallen along a parallel path 3 to 5 miles north of the tornado. At one farmstead, a railroad car used as a storage shed was pushed off its foundation and rolled three times along the ground, smashing cattle panels and fences. The tornado was rated EF-1.

A weak EF-0 tornado touched down in southeast Anderson County around 1 mile east of Selma, and tracked northeast entering Linn county around 4 miles northeast of Selma. See Stormdata for Kansas, northeast, for more information on the continuation of this tornado. In Anderson County, the tornado flattened some grasses, and caused minor tree damage. The tornado occurred from a parent HP-Supercell thunderstorm. The path width was around 100 yards and the length around 3.5 miles. |

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

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 00:56 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.

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 Topeka, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Feb 28, 3:25 PM CST, 3 hours 59 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 28, 3:25 PM CST, 3 hours 59 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
325 PM CST WED FEB 28 2007

.DISCUSSION...

CONCERNS REMAIN SEVERE POTENTIAL EAST CENTRAL LATER TONIGHT AND THEN
SNOW FOR OVERNIGHT HOURS.

MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES ACROSS OUR AREA TODAY...AND TEMPERATURES HAVE
MIXED OUT INTO THE 60S MOST AREAS. UPPER TROF MOVING ACROSS THE
ROCKIES ATTM...AND ARE STARTING TO SEE RESPONSE IN SURFACE LOW
DEEPENING OVER THE TX PANHANDLE. WHILE SOME DEWPOINTS ALONG AND
SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 70 ARE HOLDING IN THE LOWER 40S...DRIER AIR HAS
PROGRESSED EASTWARD WITH DEWPOINTS IN THE 30S ACROSS MUCH OF
SOUTHERN KS. DEWPOINTS IN THE 40S AND 50S NOT FAR AWAY IN NE OK.

SURFACE LOW IS PROGGED TO DEEPEN AND MOVE ACROSS SOUTHERN
KANSAS...THEN LIFT INTO NORTHERN MO AND INTO IOWA. INVERTED TROF TO
SET UP ACROSS KANSAS THROUGH MIDNIGHT.  STILL THINK WE WILL SEE SOME
POOLING OF DEWPOINTS ALONG THIS TROF AS IT CONTINUES TO DEVELOP AND
DRAW OKLAHOMA DEWPOINTS NORTHWARD. COOLING ALOFT FROM ADVANCING
UPPER TROF WILL BRING COOLING OVER OUR CWA AROUND 0Z. AT THAT
TIME...THINK CAP WILL WEAKEN ENOUGH TO INITIATE STORMS IN OUR FAR SE
CWA...AND TO SUSTAIN ANY CONVECTION WHICH INITIATES FURTHER
SOUTHWARD. 06Z RUC IS CLOSE TO CURRENT THINKING WHERE S/SE FLOW WILL
DRAW MOISTURE AND STORMS NORTHWARD ALONG I70 CORRIDOR THROUGH THE
EVENING...THEN RUN INTO CONVERGENCE IN THE SURFACE TROF AS FRONT
PUSHES SOUTHWARD. WITH CAPES UP TO 1200 J/KG...AND 0-6KM SHEAR
RUNNING 50 KTS WITH SURFACE BASED CONVECTION...THINK WE WILL SEE
SOME SEVERE STORMS BEFORE MIDNIGHT.

NEXT CONSIDERATION IS SNOW FROM MIDNIGHT TO NOON THURSDAY. MID LEVEL
FREEZING MARK COMES INTO THE WESTERN CWA BY MIDNIGHT...THEN
PROGRESSES EASTWARD TOWARD TOP BY 12Z.  HAVE SPREAD SNOW AND BLOWING
SNOW EASTWARD...WITH A RAIN SNOW MIX AND RAIN OUT AHEAD.  THINK WE
WILL HAVE SOME LINGERING THUNDER 6-9Z ALONG AND SE OF I35.  AS UPPER
STORM GATHERS STRENGTH AND SFC LOW DEEPENS...SURFACE WINDS INCREASE
TO SUSTAINED 20 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS...AND WILL THEREFORE KEEP THE
SN/BLSN ADVISORY.  WINDOW FOR SNOWFALL IS TIGHT...BUT STRAIGHT
CONVERSIONS 10/1 OF QPF TO SNOW SHOULD BRING ADVISORY NUMBERS ACROSS
THE NORTHERN COUNTIES. BETTER QVECTOR CONVERGENCE...SATURATED
PV...AND TROWAL FEATURES NOT COMING TOGETHER OVER OUR AREA FOR HEAVY
SNOW...ALTHOUGH SOME FRONTOGENESIS WILL LIKELY BRING SOME LOCALLY
HIGHER AMOUNTS. WILL GO WITH 2-5 IN THE NORTHERN 2 TIERS OF COUNTIES
AT THIS TIME. IF SYSTEM SLOWS OR STARTS TO DEEPEN FASTER...WILL NEED
TO BE SHIFTED.

WINDS WILL REMAIN WESTERLY THURSDAY ACROSS THE CWA AND INCREASE FROM
THE WEST/NORTHWEST FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY MORNING. THIS WILL LIKELY
KEEP LOWS THURSDAY NIGHT UP FROM WHAT THEY OTHERWISE WOULD BE
(ESPECIALLY NORTHERN CWA WHERE SNOWCOVER EXPECTED TO BE DEEPEST)
WITH LOWS MAINLY IN THE LOW TO MID 20S.  ANOTHER SHORTWAVE LOBE WILL
SWING SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE AREA ON THE BACKSIDE OF UPPER LOW STILL
OVER THE GREAT LAKES. AS THIS OCCURS...NOT ONLY WILL THE WINDS
INCREASE...BUT ALSO THE CHANCE FOR SNOW FLURRIES/VERY LIGHT SNOW
NORTH/NORTHEAST CWA WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE TROUGH. HAVE ADDED A
CHANCE FOR FLURRIES FAR NORTH/NORTHEAST FRIDAY NIGHT/EARLY SATURDAY
TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS...BUT EXPECT THE EVENT TO REMAIN LIGHT. THIS
WILL ALSO BRING A REINFORCING PUSH OF COOLER AIR AND CLOUDS INTO THE
AREA AS WELL. EXPECT HIGHS SATURDAY TO BE NEARLY THE SAME OR
SLIGHTLY COOLER THAN FRIDAY MOST AREAS.

AS CWA TRANSITIONS FROM NORTHWEST FLOW TO A MORE ZONAL FLOW BY THE
END OF THE WEEKEND WITH UPSTREAM RIDGING...TEMPERATURES WILL BEGIN
TO MODERATE AS 850 FLOW BECOMES MORE WESTERLY AND 850 TEMPS INCREASE
RAPIDLY LATE SUNDAY INTO MONDAY. THIS IN COMBINATION WITH MORE
SUNSHINE SHOULD HELP PUSH HIGHS SUNDAY INTO THE UPPER 40S TO LOWER
50S THEN MAINLY THE LOW TO MID 50S ON MONDAY...THEN GENERALLY 55 TO
60 TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY.  MOISTURE AND FORCING APPEAR WILL BE
LIMITED SUNDAY INTO THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK...SO WILL CONTINUE WITH
A DRY FCST.

&&

.TOP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT UNTIL 12 PM CST
THURSDAY KSZ008>012-020>023-034.

&&

Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 28, 7:21 PM CST, 3 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
721 PM CST WED FEB 28 2007

KSZ008>012-020>024-026-034>040-054>056-058-059-020130-
REPUBLIC-WASHINGTON-MARSHALL-NEMAHA-BROWN-CLOUD-CLAY-RILEY-
POTTAWATOMIE-JACKSON-JEFFERSON-OTTAWA-DICKINSON-GEARY-MORRIS-
WABAUNSEE-SHAWNEE-DOUGLAS-LYON-OSAGE-FRANKLIN-COFFEY-ANDERSON-
721 PM CST WED FEB 28 2007

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL...NORTH
CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST KANSAS.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT

SEVERE WEATHER TO INCLUDE TORNADOES WILL MOVE ACROSS PARTS OF EAST
CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS INTO THE EARLY MORNING
HOURS THURSDAY. THE SEVERE WEATHER SHOULD BE GENERALLY EAST OF A
HERINGTON TO HIAWATHA LINE. HAIL ONE INCH OR LARGER AND WIND GUSTS
OVER 58 MPH ARE LIKELY.

A STRONG LOW PRESSURE ARE OVER WESTERN OKLAHOMA WILL MOVE
NORTHEAST INTO NORTHWEST MISSOURI OVERNIGHT. MOIST UNSTABLE AIR
AHEAD OF THIS FEATURE WILL BRING THE THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER.
TOWARDS MIDNIGHT THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS COLDER AIR WILL
FOLLOW IN THE WAKE OF THE LOW AND TURN THE RAIN TO SNOW.
TOTAL SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 4 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE
OVERNIGHT GENERALLY ALONG AND NORTH OF A LINE FROM ABILENE TO
HOLTON...WITH THE HEAVIER TOTALS FORECAST ALONG THE NEBRASKA
BORDER. IN ADDITION...STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS WILL RESULT IN
BLOWING SNOW ACROSS FAR NORTHERN KANSAS. SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW
ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT INTO THE MORNING HOURS
THURSDAY FOR PARTS OF NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST KANSAS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

SNOW WILL LINGER THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS THURSDAY BUT
ACCUMULATIONS SHOULD BE MINOR. TOTAL SNOWFALL SHOULD RANGE FROM 2
TO 5 INCHES. SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORIES WILL CONTINUE
HOWEVER FOR PARTS OF NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST KANSAS DURING THE
MORNING...AS WIND GUSTS TO AROUND 35 MPH WILL CREATE AREAS OF
REDUCED VISIBILITIES AND DRIFTING SNOW.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTERS WILL BE NEEDED INTO THE EARLY MORNING HOURS FOR SEVERE STORMS
GENERALLY ALONG AND SOUTHEAST OF HERINGTON TO HIAWATHA LINE.
ALSO SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SNOWFALL AMOUNTS TO THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TOPEKA.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Feb 28, 7:12 PM CST, 12 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <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>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Local storm report, Feb 28, 7:14 PM CST, 10 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <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>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Local storm report, Feb 28, 7:17 PM CST, 7 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <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>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Local storm report, Feb 28, 7:18 PM CST, 6 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <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>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Local storm report, Feb 28, 7:21 PM CST, 3 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <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>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Local storm report, Feb 28, 7:24 PM CST, 0 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <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>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The surface observations

Fort Scott (FSK), 48 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 Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 102 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:23 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 2007 tornado in Kansas Every tornado in Kansas since 1950 Warnings in force in Kansas now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of February 28, 2007

9 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
February 28	1:55 PM EST	EF0	Broward, FL	2.2	100	$10,000
February 28	6:33 PM CST	EF0	Woodson, KS	0.3	50
February 28	6:53 PM CST	EF0	Anderson, KS	1.2	50
February 28	7:01 PM CST	EF0	Allen, KS	0.1	20
February 28	7:05 PM CST	EF1	Anderson, KS	9.4	440
February 28	7:07 PM CST	EF0	Allen, KS	0.3	250
February 28	7:30 PM CST	EF4	Blue Mound–Mound City tornado, KS	24.5	800	$400,000
February 28	8:27 PM CST	EF1	Bates, MO	12.9	100	$50,000
February 28	10:05 PM CST	EF1	Cass, MO	6.2	50	$50,000

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.