Tornadoes · United States · Kansas · 2007

EF0 tornado, Hardtner to Uppdegraff, Kansas, May 6, 2007

From Hardtner to Uppdegraff, this EF0 tornado ran 3.0 miles across Barber County on May 6, 2007, touching down at 4:27 PM CDT and reaching 300 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
May 6, 2007
Touchdown
4:27 PM CDT (21:27 UTC)
Lifted
4:35 PM CDT (21:35 UTC)
On the ground
8 minutes
Path length
3.0 miles (4.8 km)
Path width
300 yards (274 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Barber County
Touchdown point
37.085, -98.682
Lift-off point
37.119, -98.649
Record number
0705061527-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Yet another day of severe weather and tornadoes occurred in south central Kansas. However, there were few tornadoes reported.

This rain wrapped tornado was over open range land. It may have damaged trees but the area was not accessible to a survey.

This was a separate tornado near a rain wrapped tornado. It was over open range land and did not strike anything. It was clearly away from trees or any objects to damage.

This was a rope shaped tornado that was over range land and did not damage anything.

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

The warnings

6 minutes of warning. NWS DDC issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:21 UTC, 6 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:40 UTC and running to 23:59 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
15:48 UTC16:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDC
16:42 UTC17:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDC
19:40 UTC23:59 UTCTornado WatchDDC
21:21 UTC21:45 UTCTornado WarningDDC
21:45 UTC22:15 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 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 20:01 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.

Lamont, OK (KLMN), 12:00Z

9.5 hours before the tornado, 118 km from the path. May 6, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lamont, OK at 12:00Z on 2007-05-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2828 joules per kilogram, CIN -8, lifted condensation level 674 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, Lamont, OK at 12:00Z on 2007-05-06The 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 227 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 44 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
2828 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2705 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
674 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
227 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
193 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.7
Supercell composite
11.6
0-3 km lapse rate
6.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Lamont, OK (KLMN), 00:00Z

2.5 hours after it, 118 km from the path. May 7, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lamont, OK at 00:00Z on 2007-05-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2404 joules per kilogram, CIN -8, lifted condensation level 1058 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 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, Lamont, OK at 00:00Z on 2007-05-07The 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 116 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 32 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
2404 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Surface CAPE
3545 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1058 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
116 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
129 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
6.1
0-3 km lapse rate
5.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Medicine_lodge (P28), 23 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
19:56 UTC6965100° 10 kt1009.8
20:56 UTC7266120° 7 kt1008.5
21:56 UTC6158310° 15 kt351008.5
22:25 UTC60.857.2220° 18 kt401010.5SQ
22:56 UTC6257190° 8 kt1009.1

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

The radar

The Vance AFB radar (KVNX), 62 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:28 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
18:50 UTCFLASH FLOODHarperHarper, KSIN THE PROCESS OF DOING SOME EVACUATIONS IN THE CITY OF HARPER
18:55 UTCHAIL 0.88AnthonyHarper, KS
18:56 UTCTSTM WND GST 0AnthonyHarper, KSWINDS GUSTING TO 40 TO 50 MPH.
18:56 UTCHAIL 1.75AnthonyHarper, KSGOLF BALL SIZE HAIL.
21:25 UTCTSTM WND GST 6020 Ssw Medicine LodgeBarber, KS
21:27 UTCTORNADO15 Ssw Medicine LodgeBarber, KSLARGE TORNADO INITIALLY RAIN WRAPPED.
21:32 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD21 Wsw Medicine LodgeBarber, KSSMALL FUNNELS WENT DOWN AND BACK UP
21:32 UTCHAIL 0.8821 Wsw Medicine LodgeBarber, KS
21:40 UTCTSTM WND GST 836 W Medicine LodgeBarber, KS
21:40 UTCTORNADO6 W Medicine LodgeBarber, KSROPE TORNADO.
22:52 UTCHEAVY RAIN 4.92 Wsw AtticaHarper, KS4.9 INCHES MEASURED SINCE 5 THIS MORNING.
00:23 UTCHEAVY RAIN 2.78AnthonyHarper, KS2.78 INCHES OF RAIN SINCE 7 THIS MORNING.

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 May 6, 2007

15 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 62:21 AM CDTEF1Montgomery, IA7.4300
May 62:40 AM CDTEF2Cass, IA7.4830$1.0 million
May 64:37 AM CDTEF1Guthrie, IA1.250$50,000
May 64:45 AM CDTEF0Union, IA4.250$75,000
May 610:20 AM CDTEF0Harper, KS1.050
May 64:33 PM CDTEF0Barber, KS1.350
May 64:40 PM CDTEF0Barber, KS1.450
May 65:10 PM CDTEF0Coke, TX1.930
May 65:30 PM CDTEF0Reno, KS4.275
May 66:00 PM CDTEF0Reno, KS0.540
May 67:00 PM EDTEF0Broward, FL1.975
May 66:42 PM CDTEF0Irion, TX0.425
May 67:50 PM CDTEF0Jefferson, NE1.0300
May 69:23 PM CDTEF0Seminole, OK0.220$40,000
May 69:38 PM CDTEF0Seminole, OK0.220$15,000

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.