Tornadoes · United States · Kansas · 2007
EF0 tornado, Sharon Spgs, Kansas, March 28, 2007
This EF0 tornado ran 0.5 miles across Wallace County on March 28, 2007, touching down at 5:49 PM MDT and reaching 10 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
- March 28, 2007
- Touchdown
- 5:49 PM MDT (23:49 UTC)
- Lifted
- 5:50 PM MDT (23:50 UTC)
- On the ground
- 1 minutes
- Path length
- 0.5 miles (0.8 km)
- Path width
- 10 yards (9 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Wallace County
- Touchdown point
- 38.853, -101.716
- Lift-off point
- 38.853, -101.716
- Record number
- 0703281749-01
What the Weather Service recorded
A major Spring storm system affecting the Central High Plains produced 16 tornadoes and flash flooding, in addition to severe hail and wind. This was the most tornadoes reported in a single day in the Goodland County Warning Area. The most significant tornado was an EF2 which began in Sherman county and moved north across most of Cheyenne county in Kansas. Four homesteads suffered significant property damage along the 36 mile path length. In addition to the EF2 tornado, there were three EF1 and twelve EF0 tornadoes stretching from Greeley county Kansas into Dundy county Nebraska. No injuries or fatalities occurred.
Brief tornado. No known damage.
Minor damage occurred on the east side of Sharon Springs before the tornado moved out over open country.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
0 minutes of warning. NWS GLD issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:49 UTC, 0 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:15 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 21:00 UTC and running to 04:54 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17:00 UTC | 00:00 UTC | Wind Advisory | GLD |
| 21:00 UTC | 04:54 UTC | Tornado Watch | GLD |
| 23:10 UTC | 00:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD |
| 23:27 UTC | 23:44 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD |
| 23:49 UTC | 00:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | GLD |
| 00:17 UTC | 00:33 UTC | Tornado Warning | GLD |
| 01:27 UTC | 02:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | GLD |
| 01:31 UTC | 05:30 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | GLD |
| 02:01 UTC | 02:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | GLD |
| 02:56 UTC | 03:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | GLD |
| 03:35 UTC | 04:10 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD |
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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 21:01 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.
Denver, CO (KDNR), 12:00Z
11.8 hours before the tornado, 172 km from the path. March 28, 2007.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -78255 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2075 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 62 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 25 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 29 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 125 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 6.7 K/km
Denver, CO (KDNR), 00:00Z
0.2 hours after it, 172 km from the path. March 29, 2007.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -93259 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 3911 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 70 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 11 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -11 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 91 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 9.3 K/km
The surface observations
Goodland (GLD), 57 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21:53 UTC | 73 | 49 | 150° 29 kt | 38 | 1004.4 | |
| 22:53 UTC | 71 | 55 | 150° 24 kt | 31 | 1004.7 | |
| 23:53 UTC | 67 | 55 | 140° 22 kt | 33 | 1005.1 | |
| 00:03 UTC | 66.2 | 55.4 | 140° 21 kt | 33 | 1005.1 | VCTS |
| 00:40 UTC | 60.8 | 57.2 | 180° 17 kt | 1006.1 | +TSRA BR | |
| 00:44 UTC | 60.8 | 57.2 | 170° 29 kt | 36 | 1006.4 | +TSRA BR |
| 00:53 UTC | 56 | 52 | 120° 28 kt | 35 | 1006.4 | +TSRA BR |
| 01:04 UTC | 57.2 | 51.8 | 100° 13 kt | 30 | 1005.4 | TSRA |
| 01:10 UTC | 57.2 | 51.8 | 120° 11 kt | 26 | 1005.1 | -TSRA |
| 01:40 UTC | 60.8 | 55.4 | 120° 16 kt | 23 | 1004.4 | VCTS |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Goodland radar (KGLD), 57 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:50 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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22:30 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | Winona | Logan, KS | LASTED 15 MINUTES |
| 22:49 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | 4 N Winona | Logan, KS | |
| 22:52 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | 6 N Winona | Thomas, KS | HAILING OFF AND ON FOR ABOUT 10 MINUTES |
| 22:55 UTC | HAIL 1.5 | Leoti | Wichita, KS | |
| 23:11 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | 9 Nnw Tribune | Greeley, KS | |
| 23:20 UTC | HAIL 1.5 | 10 Sw Winona | Logan, KS | |
| 23:39 UTC | HAIL 1 | 1 S Sharon Springs | Wallace, KS | |
| 23:52 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Se Sharon Springs | Wallace, KS | BRIEF TOUCH-DOWN |
| 23:57 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 5 S Tribune | Greeley, KS | |
| 23:58 UTC | HAIL 2 | Tribune | Greeley, KS | |
| 23:59 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | Tribune | Greeley, KS | |
| 00:03 UTC | HAIL 1.5 | 8 N Tribune | Greeley, KS | HAIL LASTED 2 MINUTES |
| 00:05 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Ne Sharon Springs | Wallace, KS | |
| 00:49 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Se Goodland | Sherman, KS | |
| 00:49 UTC | TORNADO | 8 Se Goodland | Sherman, KS | |
| 00:53 UTC | HAIL 1 | 1 W Goodland | Sherman, KS | |
| 00:53 UTC | HAIL 1 | Goodland | Sherman, KS | |
| 01:05 UTC | TORNADO | 5 Wsw Tribune | Greeley, KS | |
| 01:08 UTC | TORNADO | 5 E Goodland | Sherman, KS | |
| 01:12 UTC | TORNADO | 5 S Tribune | Greeley, KS | |
| 01:40 UTC | TORNADO | 12 Nw Tribune | Greeley, KS | LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTS TORNADO CROSSING COUNTY LINE |
| 02:12 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | 14 S Goodland | Sherman, KS | |
| 02:26 UTC | HAIL 1.5 | 5 Se Edson | Sherman, KS | |
| 02:26 UTC | TORNADO | 2 E Edson | Sherman, KS | TORNADO REPORTED WITH TRANSFORMER FLASHES |
| 02:45 UTC | TORNADO | 3 E Towner | Greeley, KS | AT THE GREELY CO. LINE AT HIGHWAY 96 |
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 March 28, 2007
65 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 28 | 3:05 PM CDT | EF0 | Logan, IL | 0.1 | 10 | |||
| March 28 | 3:19 PM CDT | EF0 | McLean, IL | 0.1 | 10 | |||
| March 28 | 5:20 PM CDT | EF0 | Swisher, TX | 2.5 | 75 | |||
| March 28 | 5:28 PM CDT | EF0 | Briscoe, TX | 2.0 | 75 | |||
| March 28 | 5:43 PM CDT | EF1 | Briscoe, TX | 6.8 | 100 | $35,000 | ||
| March 28 | 6:03 PM CDT | EF0 | Floyd, TX | 0.5 | 50 | $10,000 | ||
| March 28 | 6:03 PM CDT | EF0 | Briscoe, TX | 4.8 | 220 | |||
| March 28 | 6:10 PM CDT | EF0 | Briscoe, TX | 1.8 | 100 | |||
| March 28 | 6:35 PM CDT | EF2 | Briscoe, TX | 16.5 | 300 | $175,000 | ||
| March 28 | 6:40 PM CDT | EF0 | Donley, TX | 1.0 | 100 | |||
| March 28 | 5:52 PM MDT | EF0 | Wallace, KS | 6.0 | 75 | |||
| March 28 | 6:55 PM CDT | EF1 | Donley, TX | 7.3 | 150 | $5,000 | ||
| March 28 | 7:05 PM CDT | EF0 | Donley, TX | 1.0 | 200 | |||
| March 28 | 7:05 PM CDT | EF0 | Decatur, KS | 8.0 | 25 | $40,000 | ||
| March 28 | 6:12 PM MDT | EF0 | Cherry, NE | 3.0 | 150 | $250 | ||
| March 28 | 7:16 PM CDT | EF0 | Lipscomb, TX | 6.0 | 150 | |||
| March 28 | 7:28 PM CDT | EF0 | Meade, KS | 1.4 | 50 | |||
| March 28 | 7:28 PM CDT | EF2 | Beaver, OK | 16.0 | 150 | 2 | $102,000 | |
| March 28 | 7:32 PM CDT | EF0 | Meade, KS | 1.3 | 50 | |||
| March 28 | 6:33 PM MDT | EF0 | Hamilton, KS | 10.6 | 100 | |||
| March 28 | 6:37 PM MDT | EF0 | Sherman, KS | 0.5 | 10 | |||
| March 28 | 7:39 PM CDT | EF3 | Donley, TX | 3.4 | 600 | 2 | $180,000 | |
| March 28 | 7:42 PM CDT | EF1 | Meade, KS | 13.5 | 125 | $78,000 | ||
| March 28 | 7:46 PM CDT | EF2 | Donley, TX | 4.2 | 528 | $63,000 | ||
| March 28 | 7:48 PM CDT | EF3 | Gray, TX | 3.0 | 600 | 2 | $100,000 | |
| March 28 | 6:48 PM MDT | EF0 | Greeley, KS | 11.0 | 100 | |||
| March 28 | 6:49 PM MDT | EF0 | Sherman, KS | 0.5 | 10 | |||
| March 28 | 7:58 PM CDT | EF0 | Ford, KS | 7.8 | 50 | |||
| March 28 | 8:02 PM CDT | EF0 | Donley, TX | 0.3 | 50 | |||
| March 28 | 8:04 PM CDT | EF2 | Beaver, OK | 6.0 | 100 | $58,000 | ||
| March 28 | 7:05 PM MDT | EF0 | Chase, NE | 0.1 | 20 | |||
| March 28 | 7:05 PM MDT | EF1 | Arthur, NE | 20.6 | 100 | |||
| March 28 | 7:06 PM MDT | EF0 | Sherman, KS | 3.0 | 25 | |||
| March 28 | 7:09 PM MDT | EF0 | Greeley, KS | 15.0 | 100 | $25,000 | ||
| March 28 | 7:11 PM MDT | EF1 | Chase, NE | 2.5 | 20 | $15,000 | ||
| March 28 | 7:12 PM MDT | EF0 | Perkins, NE | 0.2 | 20 | |||
| March 28 | 8:13 PM CDT | EF2 | Donley, TX | 4.5 | 200 | $170,000 | ||
| March 28 | 8:14 PM CDT | EF1 | Gray, KS | 10.4 | 200 | $160,000 | ||
| March 28 | 8:15 PM CDT | EF0 | Donley, TX | 1.0 | 50 | |||
| March 28 | 7:15 PM MDT | EF2 | Sherman, KS | 7.0 | 350 | $100,000 | ||
| March 28 | 7:20 PM MDT | EF1 | Perkins, NE | 2.3 | 30 | $15,000 | ||
| March 28 | 7:20 PM MDT | EF2 | Perkins, NE | 15.9 | 900 | $1.2 million | ||
| March 28 | 8:23 PM CDT | EF2 | Gray, TX | 3.6 | 200 | $74,000 | ||
| March 28 | 8:29 PM CDT | EF2 | Cheyenne, KS | 27.0 | 700 | $2.0 million | ||
| March 28 | 8:30 PM CDT | EF0 | Gray, TX | 0.3 | 50 | $3,000 | ||
| March 28 | 8:32 PM CDT | EF1 | Hodgeman, KS | 10.7 | 200 | $3,000 | ||
| March 28 | 8:36 PM CDT | EF1 | Gray, TX | 0.3 | 50 | $39,000 | ||
| March 28 | 8:39 PM CDT | EF0 | Meade, KS | 8.7 | 100 | |||
| March 28 | 7:41 PM MDT | EF1 | Wallace, KS | 8.0 | 100 | $250,000 | ||
| March 28 | 8:45 PM CDT | EF3 | Gray, TX | 8.0 | 1,760 | $27,000 | ||
| March 28 | 7:46 PM MDT | EF1 | Grant, NE | 2.0 | 100 | $500 | ||
| March 28 | 8:49 PM CDT | EF1 | Cheyenne, KS | 4.0 | 100 | $6,000 | ||
| March 28 | 7:54 PM MDT | EF3 | Prowers, CO | 28.0 | 900 | 2 | 9 | $4.0 million |
| March 28 | 8:00 PM MDT | EF0 | Keith, NE | 0.1 | 20 | |||
| March 28 | 9:01 PM CDT | EF3 | Hodgeman, KS | 29.1 | 1,320 | $535,000 | ||
| March 28 | 9:09 PM CDT | EF1 | Cheyenne, KS | 3.0 | 200 | $25,000 | ||
| March 28 | 8:11 PM MDT | EF1 | Keith, NE | 0.7 | 20 | $100,000 | ||
| March 28 | 8:17 PM MDT | EF1 | Dundy, NE | 12.0 | 440 | $460,000 | ||
| March 28 | 8:20 PM MDT | EF0 | Keith, NE | 0.1 | 20 | $5,000 | ||
| March 28 | 8:29 PM MDT | EF0 | Sherman, KS | 2.5 | 25 | $3,000 |
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.