Tornadoes · United States · Kansas · 2007

EF0 tornado, Hugoton, Kansas, June 19, 2007

This EF0 tornado ran 0.8 miles across Stevens County on June 19, 2007, touching down at 9:06 PM CDT and reaching 50 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.

  1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

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

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

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

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

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

  6. 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.

  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.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
June 19, 2007
Touchdown
9:06 PM CDT (02:06 UTC)
Lifted
9:08 PM CDT (02:08 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
0.8 miles (1.3 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Stevens County
Touchdown point
37.144, -101.350
Lift-off point
37.132, -101.350
Record number
0706192006-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Widespread severe weather pounded southwest Kansas producing very large hail, high wind, and a tornado.

This brief tornado did not strike anything to cause damage.

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

The warnings

42 minutes of warning. NWS DDC issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:24 UTC, 42 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:15 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 22:01 UTC and running to 03:39 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
12:06 UTC14:53 UTCDense Fog AdvisoryDDC
22:01 UTC03:39 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchDDC
01:24 UTC02:15 UTCTornado WarningDDC
01:43 UTC02:47 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDC
01:50 UTC02:29 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDC
02:01 UTC02:30 UTCTornado WarningDDC

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 forecast that day

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 01:05 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 air that afternoon

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.

Dodge City, (KDDC), 00:00Z

2.1 hours before the tornado, 146 km from the path. June 20, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 2007-06-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 3489 joules per kilogram, CIN -2, lifted condensation level 1034 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 2007-06-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 35 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 35 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
3489 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Surface CAPE
3782 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1034 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
35 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
89 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.2
Supercell composite
6.0
0-3 km lapse rate
7.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Dodge City, (KDDC), 12:00Z

9.9 hours after it, 146 km from the path. June 20, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 2007-06-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 56 joules per kilogram, CIN -455, lifted condensation level 1430 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 2007-06-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 2 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 23 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
56 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-455 J/kg
Surface CAPE
50 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1430 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
0 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
5 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Liberal_muni (LBL), 36 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
00:15 UTC84.271.6110° 13 kt201015.9
00:35 UTC82.471.690° 12 kt191016.3
00:55 UTC82.471.690° 12 kt1016.6
02:35 UTC64.460.8330° 20 kt401019
02:55 UTC64.460.8260° 13 kt1016.6TS
03:15 UTC64.457.2270° 11 kt1015.2TS
03:35 UTC6855.4130° 17 kt271019.3
03:55 UTC66.262.6130° 20 kt271019.3

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

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 140 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:06 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.

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
00:30 UTCHAIL 0.758 Ne HickokGrant, KS
00:55 UTCHAIL 11 W UlyssesGrant, KS
01:00 UTCTORNADO5 Sw UlyssesGrant, KS
01:15 UTCHAIL 1.753 Se Big BowGrant, KS
01:25 UTCHAIL 1.759 W UlyssesGrant, KS
01:30 UTCTSTM WND GST 805 N HugotonStevens, KS
01:40 UTCHAIL 0.75LiberalSeward, KS
01:44 UTCTORNADO1 N HugotonStevens, KS
01:45 UTCTSTM WND DMG14 Se Johnson CityStanton, KS3 INCH DIAMETER TREE BRANCHES DOWN.
01:45 UTCTSTM WND DMG6 Nw HugotonStevens, KSHIGH WINDS BLEW ROOF FROM AN OUTBUILDING.
01:45 UTCHAIL 0.8814 Se Johnson CityStanton, KS
01:50 UTCHAIL 1LiberalSeward, KS
01:51 UTCHAIL 1.57 Nne HugotonStevens, KS
01:59 UTCHAIL 1.75LiberalSeward, KS
02:07 UTCTORNADO3 S HugotonStevens, KS
02:15 UTCHAIL 12 Nne LiberalSeward, KS
02:20 UTCHAIL 14 N RollaMorton, KS
02:28 UTCHAIL 18 S RollaMorton, KS
02:30 UTCHAIL 1.7512 Ne RichfieldMorton, KS
03:07 UTCHAIL 0.753 Ene ElkhartMorton, KS
03:11 UTCHAIL 0.887 E ElkhartMorton, KS

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2007 tornado in KansasEvery tornado in Kansas since 1950Warnings in force in Kansas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 19, 2007

6 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 191:00 PM CDTEF0Morgan, AL0.325
June 192:35 PM CDTEF0Sheridan, KS2.050
June 191:55 PM MDTEF0Baca, CO3.175
June 194:50 PM EDTEF0Lycoming, PA1.070
June 196:55 PM CDTEF0Iberville Parish, LA0.120
June 199:38 PM CDTEF0Texas, OK2.250

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.