EF3 tornado, Greensburg Arpt to Quivira Refuge, Kansas, May 4, 2007

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF3

Date

May 4, 2007

Touchdown

10:39 PM CDT (03:39 UTC)

Lifted

11:37 PM CDT (04:37 UTC)

On the ground

58 minutes

Path length

18.2 miles (29.3 km)

Path width

2,110 yards (1929 m)

Deaths

1

Injuries

2

Counties

Kiowa, Pratt, Edwards and Stafford counties

Touchdown point

37.690, -99.066

Lift-off point

37.922, -98.995

Record number

0705042139-01

A destructive tornado, the first 5 rating on the new Enhanced-Fujita Scale and the first 5 classification since May 3, 1999 when an F5 tornado ripped through Moore, Oklahoma occurred on this day. There were 16 tornadoes during about a 4 hour period, one a little over 2 miles wide! Two of the tornadoes existed for over 1 hour as they churned up the ground, leveling homes and causing fatalities along their path. Miraculously, on 13 people perished, 11 in Greensburg - a miracle because over 90 percent of the town of Greensburg was literately wiped off the face of the earth. ||Another round of tornadoes occurred the following day across generally the same area. Nearly 250 pivot irrigation sprinklers were damaged or destroyed during the 2 day outbreak. Due to the number of sprinklers involved and the lack of replacements, some farmers would be out of service for over 1 year.

This monster tornado formed as the Greensburg tornado was dissipating and quickly grew into a nearly 2 mile wide tornado. Two farms received strong EF3 damage and destroyed several pieces of machinery. A combine was thrown at least 1/4 of a mile and it disintegrated upon impact. Numerous pivot irrigation sprinklers were destroyed, along with trees and power lines. The tornado moved into Edwards county at 2131 CST.

This 2.2 wide monster moved out of Kiowa county at 2231 CST. It caused high end EF3 damage to farms, trees, machinery, pivot sprinklers and power lines. It killed dozens of cattle and horses. As the tornado dissipated, it curved back to the west.

This tornado moved across out of southeast Edwards county at 2148 CST and grew into a large tornado of a little more than a mile wide. A male was killed near Hopewell as a basement wall collapsed on him when his home was demolished. Very little of the home was left visible.

This tornado moved out of northwest Pratt county and dissipated just south of Macksville. It did strong EF3 damage to farms, trees, machinery and vehicles. A Blazer was carried over 3/4 of a mile and was barely recognizable as a vehicle. Several dozen head of cattle were killed along with wildlife in the area. One well built home was completely swept off it's foundation.

This killer tornado formed just east of another large but dissipating tornado that was approaching Macksville. Unfortunately a law officer watching the dissipating tornado was unaware that this one was rapidly forming and could not get out of harms way. His car was thrown at least 1/4 of a mile and was found in a field. He died several days later from catastrophic injuries received in the crushed vehicle. EF3 damage was done to over a dozen farms, trees, machinery, vehicles, pivot irrigation sprinklers and power poles.

The deaths

2 direct deaths are recorded for this tornado, each with what Storm Data knows of it.

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

15 minutes of warning. NWS DDC issued a tornado warning for this county at 03:24 UTC, 15 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 04:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 23:16 UTC and running to 07:00 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 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 00:46 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.

Pratt (PTT), 27 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 83 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 03:39 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 2007 tornado in KansasEvery tornado in Kansas since 1950Warnings in force in Kansas nowThe forecast where you are

28 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.