EF1 tornado, Selden to Lyle, Kansas, May 22, 2008

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 22, 2008

Touchdown

5:11 PM CDT (22:11 UTC)

Lifted

5:46 PM CDT (22:46 UTC)

On the ground

35 minutes

Path length

17.6 miles (28.3 km)

Path width

400 yards (366 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$500,000

Counties

Sheridan and Decatur counties

Touchdown point

39.524, -100.621

Lift-off point

39.769, -100.587

Record number

0805221611-01

A series of intense supercell thunderstorms moved north across the area during the afternoon and early evening hours. Long-track tornadoes, flash flooding, large hail and damaging winds were reported across much of northwest Kansas into extreme southern Nebraska. Eleven tornadoes were verified by storm chasers and damage surveys.

This tornado developed SW of Selden in Sheridan county and tracked for 17.5 miles into central Decatur county SW of Oberlin. The tornado damaged outbuildings and trees at a farmstead NW of Selden producing F1 damage.

This tornado moved into southern Decatur county from Sheridan county and tracked to 5 miles SW of Oberlin. Damage occurred to irrigation pivots and outbuildings in southern Decatur county.

The same supercell thunderstorm which produced the tornado across SW-C Decatur county developed a second tornado about 3 miles SW of Oberlin. This tornado moved north and and dissipated one mile SE of Cedar Falls, traveling along the west side of highway 83. This tornado remained mostly over open fields, but destroyed a number of irrigation pivots and damaged. The rear flank downdraft caused damage in several locations on highway 83, including grain bins at a feed lot and outbuildings at a farmstead.

This tornado developed just south of highway 24 west of Hoxie, and moved north nine miles before dissipating. It produced EF2 damage at a home on highway 24, removing much of the roof of the home and destroying a large metal outbuilding. Significant tree damage also occurred. South of the highway, an irrigation pivot was overturned and a second home suffered minor damage and a small outbuilding was destroyed.

Tornado occurred over open country with no known damage.

This brief tornado remained over open country with no known damage.

An intense supercell thunderstorm produced this long track tornado which traveled 34 miles from extreme southern Decatur county into Red Willow county Nebraska. Dozens of utility poles were snapped and numerous outbuildings were destroyed.

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

63 minutes of warning. NWS GLD issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:08 UTC, 63 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:52 UTC and running to 04:09 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 High Risk, with a 0.30 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 19:59 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.

Oberlin (OIN), 22 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 99 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:12 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 2008 tornado in KansasEvery tornado in Kansas since 1950Warnings in force in Kansas nowThe forecast where you are

27 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.