EF1 tornado, Enosdale, Kansas, May 5, 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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF1

Date

May 5, 2007

Touchdown

12:50 AM CDT (05:50 UTC)

Lifted

12:51 AM CDT (05:51 UTC)

On the ground

1 minutes

Path length

1.4 miles (2.2 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Washington County

Touchdown point

39.743, -97.184

Lift-off point

39.727, -97.170

Record number

0705052350-01

An upper level low pressure system remained relatively stationary over the Central Plains Saturday through Monday, May 5th through May 7th. Severe weather swept across Northeast Kansas during the late evening hours the 5th, and the early morning of the 6th. Hail, strong winds, and tornadoes were all observed over the course of the evening. An F2 tornado that ripped across Ottawa County killed one woman, and injured one other when their mobile home was demolished. At least three other people were confirmed to have been injured during the tornado. NWS Storm Surveys the following day confirmed that damage was created by both tornadoes and strong winds across portions of northeast Kansas, but 6 tornadoes were confirmed. Cloud county qualified for FEMA funds.

A concentrated swath of damage was noted south of Enosdale, and determined to have been the result of a weak tornado. A few outbuildings were blown apart, and several tree tops were sheared off their tree trunks. One home received damage to it's roof, siding, and windows, and was slightly shifted on it's foundation. An adjuster stated that the house was totaled. According to a local newspaper, there was almost damage to a swing set and grill, and four hens were unaccounted for. Just west of this home, there was also damage to a shed and a second house. To the southwest of the tornado path, 20 power poles were snapped off, causing 200 customers to lose power. Of note-- the city of Washington approximately 4 miles northwest of Enosdale was unable to activte their tornado sirens because power was out in town. Many electrical poles had been broken, cutting off electricty to many residents.

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

20 minutes of warning. NWS TOP issued a tornado warning for this county at 05:30 UTC, 20 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 06:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 02:08 UTC and running to 09:00 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 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 00:59 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.

Concordia (CNK), 45 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 115 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 05:51 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

96 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 97 of them

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.