Tornadoes · United States · Kansas · 2008

EF3 tornado, Laird to Riga, Kansas, May 23, 2008

Name: EF3 tornado, Laird to Riga, Kansas, May 23, 2008
Start: 2008-05-24T00:29:00.000Z
End: 2008-05-24T00:52:00.000Z
Location: Laird to Riga, Kansas

From Laird to Riga, this EF3 tornado ran 9.0 miles across Ness and Trego counties on May 23, 2008, touching down at 7:29 PM CDT and reaching 715 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 mph
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 mphthis tornado
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: EF3
Date: May 23, 2008
Touchdown: 7:29 PM CDT (00:29 UTC)
Lifted: 7:52 PM CDT (00:52 UTC)
On the ground: 23 minutes
Path length: 9.0 miles (14.5 km)
Path width: 715 yards (654 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Counties: Ness and Trego counties
Touchdown point: 38.608, -99.876
Lift-off point: 38.733, -99.831
Record number: 0805231829-01

What the Weather Service recorded

An anonymously strong upper level system allowed everything to come together at the surface to produced what is perhaps the biggest tornado outbreak to ever occur in the Dodge City CWA! Fifty-five tornadoes were documented during that afternoon and evening! Some of the tornadoes were very large and damaging. The character of the supercell thunderstorms that day had similarities to the storms that produced the Greensburg tornado a little over a year after. In fact there was one tornado that was just as large and perhaps could have been just as damaging that was headed towards the small Kiowa county town but fortunately turned and dissipated.

This was a large tornado that produced EF2 damage. It turned northwest towards the end of its life cycle but dissipated before reaching Arnold. Damage was done to trees, large power poles, a large tank, a barn and hay bales.

This was a satellite tornado that moved south on the west side of its large parent tornado. EF2 damage was done to trees (uprooted).

This tornado caused EF3 damage to trees and an old stone home. A farm implement was carried 1/2 mile south of it's original starting point. EF3 damage was also done to trees. Another home sustained EF1 damage. There were numerous power poles taken down and at least 5 head of cattle perished in the tornado. The tornado moved into Trego county at 19:42 CDT.

This tornado moved out of Ness county at 19:42 CDT. EF2 damage was done to trees and fences. Otherwise, this is a sparely populated area (farms and vegetation).

This 1.0 mile wide tornado moved over a sparsely populated area (including vegetation) but did EF2 damage to trees, power poles and a house. A large outbuilding was completely destroyed. Oil tanks ruptured and there were several head of cattle killed. Also a combine was rolled. Since this tornado moved north along a road, there was 2.4 miles of power poles taken down.

This tornado moved over a sparsely populated area but did EF2 damage to trees. It moved northwest towards the end of it's life cycle.

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

The warnings

46 minutes of warning. NWS DDC issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:43 UTC, 46 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:16 UTC and running to 01:52 UTC.

Issued (UTC)	Expired	Product	Office
19:16 UTC	01:52 UTC	Tornado Watch	DDC
19:57 UTC	20:45 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DDC
20:09 UTC	20:25 UTC	Tornado Warning	DDC
20:44 UTC	21:05 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DDC
21:14 UTC	22:00 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DDC
21:45 UTC	22:30 UTC	Tornado Warning	DDC
22:33 UTC	23:15 UTC	Tornado Warning	DDC
23:14 UTC	00:00 UTC	Tornado Warning	DDC
23:43 UTC	00:30 UTC	Tornado Warning	DDC
00:00 UTC	00:45 UTC	Tornado Warning	DDC
00:02 UTC	00:45 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DDC
00:31 UTC	01:00 UTC	Tornado Warning	DDC
00:43 UTC	01:30 UTC	Tornado Warning	DDC
00:51 UTC	01:30 UTC	Tornado Warning	DDC
01:09 UTC	02:00 UTC	Tornado Warning	DDC
01:50 UTC	02:03 UTC	Tornado Warning	DDC
01:52 UTC	06:15 UTC	Tornado Watch	DDC
01:54 UTC	03:00 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DDC

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.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Dodge City, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at May 23, 2:18 PM CDT, 5 hours 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 23, 2:18 PM CDT, 5 hours 11 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
218 PM CDT FRI MAY 23 2008

.DISCUSSION...

DAYS 1-2...

ANOTHER ROUND OF SEVERE WEATHER TO AFFECT WESTERN KANSAS TODAY.

90KT H25 JET WAS NOSING INTO SOUTHEASTERN WY AT 12Z THIS MORNING.
MOVING SOUTHEAST ACROSS WESTERN CA, 130KT JET STREAK COULD BE SEEN.
POTENT UPPER SYSTEM CONTINUES TO SIT ACROSS THE LARGE PORTION OF THE
WESTERN CONUS WITH HEIGHT FALLS OF 100 METERS IN WEST CENTRAL CA.
COLD POCKET OF H7 TEMPERATURES WERE ASSOCIATED WITH UPPER SYSTEM
PRESENTLY OVER NM. H85 READINGS IN THE TEENS AND 20S WERE FOUND
ACROSS THE SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL PLAINS. RICH GULF MOISTURE REMAINED
ENTRENCHED ACROSS MUCH OF WESTERN KANSAS INTO WESTERN NE. 15Z
ANALYSIS PLACED WARM FRONT NORTH NEAR I-70. DRYLINE WAS WELL WEST
INTO CO. BY 18Z, DRYLINE HAD MOVED THROUGH LIBERAL AND JUST WEST OF
GARDEN CITY.

ALL DATA CONTINUES TO POINT TOWARD YET ANOTHER SEVERE WEATHER
EPISODE TODAY. DRYLINE IS FURTHER WEST THAN PREVIOUS MODEL RUNS
WOULD HAVE PLACED IT. IN ADDITION, SHEAR IS MUCH MORE IMPRESSIVE. AS
LOW LEVEL JET INCREASES THIS EVENING, 0-1 KM SRH WILL INCREASE TO
OVER 250 M2/S2. SURFACE BASED CAPE IS ALREADY OVER 3000 J/KG ACROSS
PORTIONS OF WESTERN KS WITH 2000 J/KG CAPE FROM PRATT WEST TO
WESTERN KEARNY COUNTY. AS S/WV COMES OUT ACROSS WESTERN KANSAS LATER
THIS AFTERNOON, SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS WILL QUICKLY DEVELOP ALONG
THE DRYLINE. GIVEN THE ENVIRONMENT, VERY LARGE HAIL, DAMAGING WINDS
AND TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE. ANY TORNADO THAT DOES FROM WILL HAVE
THE POTENTIAL TO BE SIGNIFICANT AND LONG TRACKED. HEAVY RAINFALL
WILL ACCOMPANY THESE STORMS. THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL
CONTINUE INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. THIS MEANS THAT THE THREAT FOR
TORNADOES WILL CONTINUE AS WELL.

SATURDAY, DRYLINE WILL BE FURTHER EAST INTO THE EASTERN FA BY
AFTERNOON. THE TRACK RECORD OF THE MODELS AND DRYLINE PLACEMENT OVER
THE LAST COUPLE OF DAYS LEAVE ENOUGH UNCERTAINTY TO KEEP STORM
CHANCES IN THROUGH THE AFTERNOON HOURS WEST OF WHERE MODELS SHOW
DRYLINE. A FEW SEVERE STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE YET AGAIN. BY EVENING,
ACTIVITY WILL SHIFT EAST ACROSS EASTERN FA ONLY TO SEE THE DRYLINE
MOVE WEST DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. WILL KEEP POPS IN ACROSS THE
WEST DUE TO THIS REASON.

SUNDAY, WELL...SAME STORY...DIFFERENT DAY. DRYLINE REMAINS PRESENT
ACROSS WESTERN FA (INTO EASTERN CO). SURFACE LOW PRESSURE WILL PULL
EAST DURING THE DAYTIME. THUNDERSTORMS WILL AGAIN BE POSSIBLE.
DETAILS ARE UNCLEAR THIS TIME. IT DOES APPEAR THAT SEVERE WEATHER IS
POSSIBLE BY EVENING THOUGH.

DAYS 3-7...

AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE WILL BE LOCATED OVER THE
PACIFIC COAST TO BEGIN THE PERIOD 00Z MONDAY WHICH WILL CONTINUE TO
BRING A SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT ACROSS THE CENTRAL PLAINS.
MEANWHILE, AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL REMAIN IN
CONTROL OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN CONUS REGION. MEDIUM RANGE MODELS ARE
IN GENERAL AGREEMENT INDICATING THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE IN THE
SOUTHEAST BREAKING DOWN SOMEWHAT EARLY IN THE PERIOD BEFORE DRIFTING
SLOWLY BACK WEST INTO THE SOUTHERN PLAINS OF OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS BY
MID WEEK. A SERIES OF UPPER LEVEL S/WAVE TROUGHS WILL CONTINUE TO
CYCLE THROUGH THE SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WHICH WILL BRING THE
POSSIBILITY OF PRECIP TO THE CENTRAL PLAINS THROUGH THE MIDDLE PART
OF THE PERIOD. AT THE SURFACE, A LOW PRESSURE CENTER WILL BE SET UP
JUST LEE OF THE ROCKIES SUNDAY NIGHT WHICH WILL CONTINUE TO
INFLUENCE A GENERAL LOW LEVEL SOUTHERLY FLOW ACROSS THE CWA THROUGH
MONDAY. THIS IN TURN WILL CONTINUE TO ALLOW RELATIVE MOISTURE RETURN
TO SOUTH CENTRAL AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST KANSAS WITH DEWPOINTS AT
H85 RANGING FROM THE LOW TO MID TEENS(C). THE LOW AND AN ASSOCIATED
COLD FRONT WILL PUSH THROUGH WESTERN KANSAS LATE TUESDAY BRINGING A
BRIEF NORTHERLY FLOW TO THE FORECAST AREA BEFORE A QUICK RETURN TO A
SOUTHERLY FLOW BY THE END OF THE PERIOD. CHANCES FOR PRECIP WILL BE
BETTER THE FIRST COUPLE OF DAYS WITH DWINDLING CHANCES BY THE
THURSDAY/FRIDAY TIME FRAME.

AS FOR TEMPERATURES, EXPECT A WARM DAY MONDAY WITH TEMPERATURES AT
H85 RANGING FROM THE MID 20S(C) EAST TO THE UPPER 20S(C) WEST WHICH
WILL ALLOW SURFACE HIGHS TO REACH WELL UP INTO THE UPPER 80S(F) TO
THE LOWER 90S(F) ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. EXPECT A GENERAL COOL
DOWN TUESDAY IN WAKE OF THE PASSING COLD FRONT BEFORE UPPER LEVEL
RIDGING AND A DEVELOPING SURFACE LEE SIDE TROUGH INFLUENCE A WARMING
TREND THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK. PLAN TO DROP TEMPERATURES A BIT
TUESDAY WITH MINOR ADJUSTMENTS ELSEWHERE.

&&

.AVIATION...

A SURFACE LOW WILL PERSIST IN NORTHEAST COLORADO TODAY WHILE A
DRYLINE NEAR THE COLORADO BORDER ADVANCES BACK INTO SOUTHWEST KANSAS
BY THIS AFTERNOON. THUNDERSTORMS...SOME POSSIBLY SEVERE...CAN BE
EXPECTED AGAIN TODAY ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE DRYLINE THIS EVENING AND
INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. EXPECT MVFR/IFR CONDITIONS IN AND AROUND
ANY CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY...MAINLY EAST OF A LINE FROM COOLIDGE TO
LIBERAL. OTHERWISE, EXPECT VFR CONDITIONS. WINDS WILL BE FAIRLY
STRONG FROM THE SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST WITH SPEEDS 20 TO 30 MPH AND
GUSTY THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS BEFORE SUBSIDING OVERNIGHT.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
DDC  65  90  63  92 /  50  20  20  30
GCK  57  88  59  92 /  30  20  10  30
EHA  54  88  58  93 /  10  10  10  30
LBL  59  90  61  92 /  20  20  10  30
HYS  63  88  62  89 /  60  20  30  30
P28  68  91  65  92 /  40  30  30  30

&&

.DDC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL 7 PM CDT /6 PM MDT/ THIS EVENING FOR
KSZ061-062-074-075-084-085.

WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 9 PM CDT /8 PM MDT/ THIS EVENING FOR KSZ043-
044-061>063-074>076-084>086.

&&

FN30/32/32

Hazardous weather outlook, May 23, 11:35 AM CDT, 7 hours 54 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
1135 AM CDT FRI MAY 23 2008

KSZ030-031-043>046-063>066-076>081-086>090-241030-
TREGO-ELLIS-SCOTT-LANE-NESS-RUSH-FINNEY-HODGEMAN-PAWNEE-STAFFORD-
HASKELL-GRAY-FORD-EDWARDS-KIOWA-PRATT-SEWARD-MEADE-CLARK-COMANCHE-
BARBER-
1135 AM CDT FRI MAY 23 2008

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL
KANSAS...SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS...SOUTHWEST KANSAS AND WEST CENTRAL
KANSAS.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

IT APPEARS THAT A REPEAT OF SEVERE WEATHER IS POSSIBLE AGAIN TODAY.
THIS AFTERNOON STORMS WILL LIKELY ERUPT ALONG A DRYLINE THAT SHOULD
STRETCH FROM NEAR SCOTT CITY TO NEAR LIBERAL BY MID AFTERNOON. ANY
STORM THAT DOES DEVELOP COULD BECOME SEVERE VERY QUICKLY. NOT ONLY
WILL THERE BE THE THREAT OF DESTRUCTIVE HAIL BUT THERE WILL ONCE
AGAIN BE THE POSSIBILITY OF SIGNIFICANT TORNADOES, ESPECIALLY AS THE
DRYLINE MOVES SLIGHTLY EAST FROM NEAR DODGE CITY TO WAKEENEY BY 6 PM.

IF A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OR TORNADO WARNING IS
ISSUED...IMMEDIATE ACTION TO PROTECT LIVE AND PROPERTY SHOULD BE
TAKEN.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

THERE WILL STILL BE A THREAT OF ADDITIONAL SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY AFTERNOONS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTERS WILL BE NEEDED...FIRST FROM SCOTT CITY TO NEAR GARDEN CITY
BY 3 PM AND THEN FROM NEAR DODGE CITY TO WAKEENEY AND HAYS BY 6 PM.

&&

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT OUR WEBPAGE AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/DDC

KSZ061-062-074-075-084-085-241030-
HAMILTON-KEARNY-STANTON-GRANT-MORTON-STEVENS-
1135 AM CDT FRI MAY 23 2008 /1035 AM MDT FRI MAY 23 2008/

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST
KANSAS.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES THIS AFTERNOON WILL COMBINE WITH GUSTY
SOUTH WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH TO PRODUCE AN EXTREME FIRE DANGER.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

FIRE DANGER MAY RETURN BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT.

&&

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT OUR WEBPAGE AT HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/DDC

07/30

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 23, 7:06 PM CDT, 23 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
706 PM CDT FRI MAY 23 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0329 PM     HAIL             9 N DIGHTON             38.61N 100.47W
05/23/2008  E1.25 INCH       LANE               KS   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

JRJ

Local storm report, May 23, 7:08 PM CDT, 21 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
708 PM CDT FRI MAY 23 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0455 PM     TORNADO          2 S DIGHTON             38.45N 100.47W
05/23/2008                   LANE               KS   TRAINED SPOTTER

            TORNADO REPORTED JUST SOUTHWEST OF DIGHTON.

&&

JRJ

Local storm report, May 23, 7:12 PM CDT, 17 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
712 PM CDT FRI MAY 23 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0521 PM     TORNADO          6 N DIGHTON             38.57N 100.47W
05/23/2008                   LANE               KS   STORM CHASER

&&

JRJ

Local storm report, May 23, 7:13 PM CDT, 16 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
713 PM CDT FRI MAY 23 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0541 PM     TORNADO          7 ENE SHIELDS           38.66N 100.33W
05/23/2008                   LANE               KS   STORM CHASER

            A ROPE TORNADO WAS REPORTED 8 MILES TO THE
            WEST-NORTHWEST.

&&

JRJ

Local storm report, May 23, 7:14 PM CDT, 15 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
714 PM CDT FRI MAY 23 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0542 PM     TORNADO          7 ENE SHIELDS           38.66N 100.33W
05/23/2008                   LANE               KS   STORM CHASER

&&

JRJ

Local storm report, May 23, 7:16 PM CDT, 13 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
716 PM CDT FRI MAY 23 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0545 PM     TORNADO          4 NE SHIELDS            38.66N 100.40W
05/23/2008                   LANE               KS   STORM CHASER

&&

JRJ

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.

Dodge City, (KDDC), 00:00Z

0.5 hours before the tornado, 100 km from the path. May 24, 2008.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

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: 2314 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -20 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 2897 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1449 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 70 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 198 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 371 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 2.2
Supercell composite: 14.8
0-3 km lapse rate: 7.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Dodge City, (KDDC), 12:00Z

11.5 hours after it, 100 km from the path. May 24, 2008.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

Mixed-layer CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -87324 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2849 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 63 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -66 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 20 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0
0-3 km lapse rate: 4.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 102 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:30 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
21:30 UTC	HAIL 3	2 Ese Park	Gove, KS	RELAYED FROM NSSL.
21:31 UTC	TORNADO	2 Sw Quinter	Gove, KS	REPORTED BY EMERGENCY MANAGER
21:38 UTC	TORNADO	2 Nw Quinter	Gove, KS	RELAYED FROM KAKE-TV
21:45 UTC	TORNADO	2 Nw Quinter	Gove, KS	REPORT RELAYED FROM SPOTTER NETWORK.
21:55 UTC	TORNADO	2 S Dighton	Lane, KS	TORNADO REPORTED JUST SOUTHWEST OF DIGHTON.
22:00 UTC	HAIL 3	25 W Wakeeney	Gove, KS	RELAYED FROM DDC
22:09 UTC	TORNADO	1 W Dighton	Lane, KS	STORMCHASER REPORTED A TORNADO ON THE GROUND.
22:12 UTC	TORNADO	3 Sw Shields	Lane, KS
22:15 UTC	TORNADO	1 Nnw Dighton	Lane, KS
22:21 UTC	TORNADO	3 Ssw Shields	Lane, KS	THERE WERE TWO BRIEF TOUCHDOWNS.
22:21 UTC	TORNADO	6 N Dighton	Lane, KS
22:33 UTC	TORNADO	1 N Dighton	Lane, KS	KAKE CHASER REPORTED A ROOF RIPPED OFF A HOME.
22:38 UTC	TORNADO	10 Sse Gove	Gove, KS	5 MIN DURATION 438 TO 443. MULTIPLE REPORTS RELAYED FROM SPOTTER NETWORK.
22:40 UTC	TORNADO	8 Nw Pendennis	Gove, KS	TORNADO REPORTED ON THE LANE AND GOVE COUNTY LINE EAST OF HWY 23.
22:41 UTC	TORNADO	7 Ene Shields	Lane, KS	A ROPE TORNADO WAS REPORTED 8 MILES TO THE WEST-NORTHWEST.
22:42 UTC	TORNADO	7 Ene Shields	Lane, KS
22:45 UTC	TORNADO	14 N Dighton	Lane, KS	TORNADO REPORTED ON THE GROUND NEAR THE GOVE AND LANE COUNTY LINE JUST EAST OF HIGHWAY 23.
22:45 UTC	TORNADO	4 Ne Shields	Lane, KS
22:45 UTC	TORNADO	8 Ne Shields	Gove, KS
23:14 UTC	TORNADO	10 Ssw Quinter	Gove, KS	LARGE WEDGE TORNADO
00:00 UTC	HAIL 0.88	10 Sw Ness City	Ness, KS
00:16 UTC	TORNADO	7 N Quinter	Sheridan, KS	REPORT RELAYED FROM SPOTTER NETWORK.
00:24 UTC	TORNADO	7 Nw Ness City	Ness, KS	KAKE STORM CHASER REPORTS TORNADO ON THE GROUND.
00:30 UTC	TORNADO	4 Sw Ransom	Ness, KS
00:34 UTC	TORNADO	3 Wsw Ransom	Ness, KS
00:42 UTC	TORNADO	6 Nw Brownell	Trego, KS	TORNADO HEADED NORTH TOWARDS CEDAR BLUFF RESERVOIR
00:45 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Cedar Bluff	Trego, KS	STRONG WINDS ROLLED A HORSE TRAILER. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
00:50 UTC	TORNADO	8 Sw Cedar Bluff	Trego, KS	TORNADO DAMAGED TREES.
01:00 UTC	TORNADO	Cedar Bluff	Trego, KS
01:32 UTC	TORNADO	Ellis	Ellis, KS	TWO DAMAGING TORNADOES WERE REPORTED, WITH LOTS OF POWER FLASHES OBSERVED.
01:40 UTC	TORNADO	4 N Cedar Bluff	Trego, KS	DAMAGED INCLUDED NUMEROUS POWER POLES DOWN, ONE HOUSE COMPLETELY DESTROYED BELONGING TO A FAMILY OF 7 BUT NO ONE INJURED, AN OLD PICK UP TRUCK WAS BLOWN IN A DITCH, THREE SEMI TRUCKS WERE TURNED OVER ALONG I-70 - AMBULEN
01:48 UTC	HAIL 1.75	4 Sw Zurich	Rooks, KS
01:49 UTC	TSTM WND GST 90	11 Ese Trego Center	Trego, KS
02:00 UTC	HAIL 2.75	5 S Zurich	Rooks, KS
02:11 UTC	TORNADO	6 S Zurich	Rooks, KS	OUTBUILDING DESTROYED ON FARM
02:17 UTC	TORNADO	1 N Ellis	Ellis, KS	TORNADOES WERE REPORTED, ONE LARGE AND ONE SMALL. THE LARGER ONE WAS JUST NORTH OF THE I-70 AT THE ELLIS INTERCHANGE.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2008 tornado in Kansas Every tornado in Kansas since 1950 Warnings in force in Kansas now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 23, 2008

78 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
May 23	4:02 PM CDT	EF0	Gove, KS	0.5	25
May 23	3:13 PM MDT	EF1	Laramie, WY	2.7	100
May 23	4:20 PM CDT	EF0	Gove, KS	4.5	400
May 23	3:26 PM MDT	EF0	Platte, WY	20.5	50
May 23	4:29 PM CDT	EF0	Finney, KS	1.5	75
May 23	3:33 PM MDT	EF0	Weld, CO	0.1	25
May 23	4:34 PM CDT	EF1	Gove, KS	5.0	200		$50,000
May 23	4:35 PM CDT	EF2	Gove, KS	14.0	1,760		$1.8 million
May 23	5:01 PM CDT	EF1	Lane, KS	8.1	1,220
May 23	4:09 PM MDT	EF0	Laramie, WY	2.3	75
May 23	5:10 PM CDT	EF1	Graham, KS	14.0	400		$15,000
May 23	5:13 PM CDT	EF1	Lane, KS	1.0	150		$65,000
May 23	5:15 PM CDT	EF0	Lane, KS	3.2	75
May 23	5:22 PM CDT	EF0	Lane, KS	1.7	50
May 23	5:24 PM CDT	EF0	Gray, KS	0.7	100
May 23	5:35 PM CDT	EF1	Lane, KS	4.4	150
May 23	5:35 PM CDT	EF0	Gove, KS	5.0	100
May 23	5:45 PM CDT	EF0	Lane, KS	1.3	50
May 23	6:10 PM CDT	EF4	Quinter tornado, KS	11.4	1,320	2	$2.5 million
May 23	6:25 PM CDT	EF0	Hodgeman, KS	5.7	75
May 23	5:26 PM MDT	EF1	Goshen, WY	24.4	75		$10,000
May 23	5:33 PM MDT	EF0	Cheyenne, CO	0.5	25
May 23	6:37 PM CDT	EF0	Clark, KS	2.1	100
May 23	6:52 PM CDT	EF0	Ness, KS	1.6	60
May 23	6:52 PM CDT	EF0	Sheridan, KS	4.0	750
May 23	6:58 PM CDT	EF0	Ness, KS	3.6	100
May 23	6:00 PM MDT	EF1	Weld, CO	0.1	50
May 23	7:01 PM CDT	EF0	Clark, KS	2.5	100
May 23	7:05 PM CDT	EF0	Wichita, KS	0.5	25
May 23	7:07 PM CDT	EF2	Ness, KS	11.8	1,410
May 23	6:10 PM MDT	EF0	Kimball, NE	2.9	50
May 23	7:15 PM CDT	EF0	Sheridan, KS	6.1	350
May 23	7:25 PM CDT	EF2	Ness, KS	1.1	75
May 23	7:25 PM CDT	EF3	Clark, KS	20.9	3,170
May 23	7:42 PM CDT	EF1	Clark, KS	7.1	600
May 23	7:43 PM CDT	EF1	Clark, KS	1.1	100
May 23	7:49 PM CDT	EF1	Trego, KS	8.1	900
May 23	7:58 PM CDT	EF2	Trego, KS	9.0	1,760
May 23	8:03 PM CDT	EF3	Harper, OK	5.0	1,100
May 23	8:11 PM CDT	EF0	Kiowa, KS	1.2	75
May 23	8:17 PM CDT	EF2	Trego, KS	8.2	250
May 23	8:17 PM CDT	EF0	Kiowa, KS	1.2	175
May 23	8:28 PM CDT	EF1	Ellis, KS	2.2	150	1
May 23	8:34 PM CDT	EF0	Kiowa, KS	0.5	20
May 23	8:35 PM CDT	EF0	Kiowa, KS	1.6	75
May 23	8:40 PM CDT	EF0	Ellis, KS	5.6	150
May 23	8:44 PM CDT	EF1	Trego, KS	5.5	200
May 23	8:56 PM CDT	EF0	Kiowa, KS	1.0	50
May 23	8:58 PM CDT	EF0	Harper, OK to KS	9.1	125		$10,000
May 23	8:59 PM CDT	EF3	Comanche, OK to KS	11.0	980		$20,000
May 23	9:07 PM CDT	EF1	Trego, KS	6.4	300
May 23	9:08 PM CDT	EF1	Ellis, KS	4.3	450		$60,000
May 23	9:08 PM CDT	EF0	Kiowa, KS	6.4	125
May 23	9:16 PM CDT	EF0	Ellis, KS	0.8	50
May 23	9:16 PM CDT	EF3	Edwards, KS	18.2	1,935	1
May 23	9:22 PM CDT	EF0	Barber, KS	4.6	150
May 23	9:26 PM CDT	EF0	Clark, KS	4.5	100
May 23	9:26 PM CDT	EF1	Ford, KS	6.1	150		$145,000
May 23	9:30 PM CDT	EF1	Comanche, KS	6.0	300
May 23	9:41 PM CDT	EF0	Barber, KS	4.0	100

All 79 of them

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.