Tornadoes · United States · Kansas · 2009

EF1 tornado, Hanover Arpt to Bremen, Kansas, June 17, 2009

Name: EF1 tornado, Hanover Arpt to Bremen, Kansas, June 17, 2009
Start: 2009-06-17T19:20:00.000Z
End: 2009-06-17T19:33:00.000Z
Location: Hanover Arpt to Bremen, Kansas

From Hanover Arpt to Bremen, this EF1 tornado ran 8.8 miles across Washington and Marshall counties on June 17, 2009, touching down at 2:20 PM CDT and reaching 200 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $10,000 of property damage.

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 mphthis tornado
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 mph
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: EF1
Date: June 17, 2009
Touchdown: 2:20 PM CDT (19:20 UTC)
Lifted: 2:33 PM CDT (19:33 UTC)
On the ground: 13 minutes
Path length: 8.8 miles (14.2 km)
Path width: 200 yards (183 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $10,000
Counties: Washington and Marshall counties
Touchdown point: 39.959, -96.881
Lift-off point: 39.960, -96.713
Record number: 0906171320-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A shortwave trough rotated around a mid level ridge and fired off convection that turned into two supercells. These supercells moved east along the Nebraska/Kansas border and produced weak tornadoes. Large hail also accompanied these storms.

The first visible sign of a tornado was located 4.5 miles north |of Hanover, near the intersection of 27th and zenith road in |Washington county. The tornado snapped two power poles, one |snapped at the base and another at midpoint, near the Washington |and Marshall county line along 27th road where it exited Washington County at around 13:26 LST. The tornado then tracked into Marshall County at 27th and county line road and damaged several tree branches along its path into Marshall County.

The tornado tracked out of Washington County and into Marshall county near 1st road and Cherokee road with several tree branches damaged along the remainder of its path. The final damage was noted 5.5 miles northeast of Bremen, near the intersection of Cherokee and 6th road around 1336 LST. The damage indicators were consistent with an ef-0 rating while in Marshall County with an estimated path width of 50 yards.

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

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 Topeka, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Jun 17, 7:09 AM CDT, 7 hours 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 17, 7:09 AM CDT, 7 hours 11 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
709 AM CDT WED JUN 17 2009

.UPDATE...

UPDATE FOR 12 UTC AVIATION.

&&

.DISCUSSION...

SEE PREVIOUS DISCUSSION.

&&

.AVIATION...

OVERNIGHT GROUND FOG HAS BEGUN TO LIFT...AND MID JUNE INSOLATION
AND INCREASING LOW LEVEL WINDS SHOULD KEEP CONDITIONS FROM
DROPPING BELOW IFR FOR THE REST OF THE MORNING. INCREASING
SOUTHEAST WINDS TODAY WILL VEER TO THE SOUTHWEST LATE TONIGHT WITH
AS SURFACE LOW MOVES EAST ACROSS THE NORTHERN PLAINS.

65

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 320 AM CDT WED JUN 17 2009/

DISCUSSION...

ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS MOVING SLOWLY ACROSS SE KS ATTM...IN AREA
OF BETTER INSTABILITY AND WEAK ISENTROPIC LIFT. WEAK WAVE ACROSS
WRN KS GENERATING SOME SHOWERS ACROSS NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL
PORTIONS OF THE STATE.

FOR TODAY...SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALOFT OVER THE ROCKIES ACTS TO
BUILD THE UPPER RIDGE OVER OUR AREA. SHORTWAVES PROGGED TO EJECT
THROUGH THAT FLOW AROUND THE RIDGE AND INTO CTRL KANSAS LATER
TONIGHT. FOR TODAY...SEE PLUME OF 700MB TEMPS OF 14C SLOWLY MOVE
NORTHWARD TOWARDS THE NEBRASKA BORDER AND THINK THIS WILL KEEP
PRECIP CHANCES AT BAY FOR THE DAYTIME HOURS TODAY. HAVE HIGHS IN
THE LOW 90S EAST TO THE MID 90S WEST WITH INCREASING SOUTHERLY
WINDS.

TONIGHT EXPECT TO SEE PIECE OF ENERGY OVER THE ROCKIES FIRE OFF
CONVECTION ALONG THE CAP IN NEBRASKA. STORMS SHOULD DEVELOP
QUICKLY IN HIGHLY UNSTABLE AIRMASS WITH STRONG SHEAR AND
PROPAGATE EAST SOUTHEAST...A FEW OF WHICH MAY CLIP THE FAR NORTHERN
COUNTIES IN THE EVENING HOURS BEFORE PROPAGATING EASTWARD. IF THIS
OCCURS...THESE STORMS WOULD LIKELY BE SEVERE. AT THIS TIM THINK
THEY WILL STAY NORTH BUT WITH EDGE OF CAP ACROSS THE NORTH CANNOT
GO WITHOUT A SLT CHANCE THERE. GFS ALSO HINTING AT PIECE OF
ENERGY NEAR THE TX PANHANDLE MOVING INTO CTRL KS COULD GENERATE
ISOLD ACTIVITY IN A SIMILAR TIMEFRAME. THINK CAP WILL HOLD WEST
BUT WILL CARRY SLT POPS THERE FOR COLLABORATIVE SAKE. WARM
SOUTHERLY WINDS SHOULD KEEP LOWS IN THE LOW TO MID 70S OVERNIGHT
WITH SOME LOWER TEMPS POSSIBLE ALONG THE NORTHERN BORDER WHERE
COLD POOLS FROM THUNDER COULD BRING A BRIEF COOLDOWN.

ANOTHER WARM DAY IN STORE FOR THE AREA ON THURSDAY AS RIDGE
REMAINS OVER THE SOUTHERN PLAINS AND SHORTWAVE SLIDES ALONG THE
CANADIAN BORDER THROUGH THE DAY. SECONDARY WAVE THEN SLIDES IN
BEHIND...A BIT MORE SOUTH...AND BRINGS THE FRONT INTO OUR AREA ON
FRIDAY. BETTER INSTABILITY PROGGED TO SLIDE EASTWARD WITH LEADING
IMPULSE...BUT ENOUGH REMAINS FOR THUNDER POTENTIAL AS THE FRONT
MOVES THROUGH ON FRIDAY. TIMING COULD IMPACT STRENGTH OF THE
STORMS AS AN AFTERNOON PASSAGE COULD ALLOW FOR BUILDUP OF A BIT
MORE INSTABILITY. FRONTAL PASSAGE SHOULD KEEP HIGHS IN THE 80S ON
FRIDAY.

CHANCES FOR PRECIP ON SATURDAY WILL DEPEND ON HOW FAR SOUTH FRONT
MOVES BEFORE IT RETURNS ACROSS OUR AREA. IF GFS SOLUTION VERIFIES
THINK ITS RETURN SOLUTION IS TOO QUICK. HOWEVER ECMWF LINGERS THE
FRONTAL BOUNDARY ACROSS THE AREA FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY...AND
NAM DRAWS FRONT FARTHER SOUTHWARD. STAYED CURRENT FORECAST COURSE
WITH NO POPS BUT MAY NEED TO BE ADDED IF FRONTAL POSITION REMAINS
CLOSE TO OUR AREA. NO CHANGES BEYOND SATURDAY. 67

&&

.TOP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE.

&&

Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 17, 5:23 AM CDT, 8 hours 57 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
523 AM CDT WED JUN 17 2009

KSZ008>012-020>024-026-034>040-054>056-058-059-181030-
REPUBLIC-WASHINGTON-MARSHALL-NEMAHA-BROWN-CLOUD-CLAY-RILEY-
POTTAWATOMIE-JACKSON-JEFFERSON-OTTAWA-DICKINSON-GEARY-MORRIS-
WABAUNSEE-SHAWNEE-DOUGLAS-LYON-OSAGE-FRANKLIN-COFFEY-ANDERSON-
523 AM CDT WED JUN 17 2009

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL...NORTH
CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST KANSAS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS NEBRASKA LATE THIS
AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING. ALTHOUGH THE EXPECTED STORM TRACK IS
GENERALLY NORTH OF THE STATE LINE...A FEW OF THESE STORMS MAY MOVE
FAR ENOUGH SOUTH TO CLIP THE NORTHERN COUNTIES OF KANSAS. IF THEY
DO...THESE STORMS MAY BE SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
WINDS THE PRIMARY THREAT WITH ISOLATED TORNADOES ALSO POSSIBLE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

THERE IS A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY AS A
FRONT MOVES ACROSS THE STATE.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTERS MAY BE NEEDED LATER TONIGHT NEAR THE KANSAS NEBRASKA
STATE LINE.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 17, 1:42 PM CDT, 38 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
142 PM CDT WED JUN 17 2009

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

0138 PM     HAIL             1 S BAILEYVILLE         39.83N 96.18W
06/17/2009  E2.00 INCH       NEMAHA             KS   CO-OP OBSERVER

&&

BN

Local storm report, Jun 17, 1:59 PM CDT, 21 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
159 PM CDT WED JUN 17 2009

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

0156 PM     HAIL             ESE SENECA              39.83N 96.06W
06/17/2009  E1.25 INCH       NEMAHA             KS   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

BN

Local storm report, Jun 17, 2:00 PM CDT, 20 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
200 PM CDT WED JUN 17 2009

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

0200 PM     HAIL             N SENECA                39.84N 96.06W
06/17/2009  E1.50 INCH       NEMAHA             KS   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

BN

Local storm report, Jun 17, 2:03 PM CDT, 17 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
203 PM CDT WED JUN 17 2009

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

0145 PM     HAIL             1 S BAILEYVILLE         39.83N 96.18W
06/17/2009  E3.00 INCH       NEMAHA             KS   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

BN

Local storm report, Jun 17, 2:08 PM CDT, 12 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
208 PM CDT WED JUN 17 2009

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

0203 PM     HAIL             5 SSW ONEIDA            39.80N 95.98W
06/17/2009  E1.00 INCH       NEMAHA             KS   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

BN

Local storm report, Jun 17, 2:17 PM CDT, 3 minutes before

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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.

Topeka, KS (KTOP), 12:00Z

7.3 hours before the tornado, 146 km from the path. June 17, 2009.

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: 2807 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -98 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1117 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 38 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 99 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 3.7
0-3 km lapse rate: 3.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Beatrice Municip (BIE), 38 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Gust (kt)	Pressure (mb)	Weather
00:00 UTC

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

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 117 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:19 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.

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2009 tornado in Kansas Every tornado in Kansas since 1950 Warnings in force in Kansas now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 17, 2009

16 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
June 17	2:18 PM CDT	EF0	Gage, NE	0.5	25
June 17	4:40 PM CDT	EF0	Wilkin, MN	0.1	25
June 17	5:08 PM CDT	EF0	Wilkin, MN	1.0	25
June 17	7:27 PM EDT	EF0	Wayne, OH	3.8	100		$60,000
June 17	6:54 PM CDT	EF1	Buffalo, NE	1.1	200		$100,000
June 17	7:05 PM CDT	EF0	Buffalo, NE	0.2	25
June 17	7:10 PM CDT	EF0	Buffalo, NE	3.6	100
June 17	7:25 PM CDT	EF0	Todd, KY	0.2	30		$5,000
June 17	7:30 PM CDT	EF0	Freeborn, MN	1.8	50		$1,000
June 17	7:50 PM CDT	EF0	Custer, NE	0.1	20
June 17	8:00 PM CDT	EF2	Mower, MN	9.6	120	1	$2.0 million
June 17	8:02 PM CDT	EF0	Waseca, MN	2.3	50
June 17	8:38 PM CDT	EF0	Hall, NE	1.9	20		$5,000
June 17	8:50 PM CDT	EF0	Hamilton, NE	1.0	25
June 17	8:51 PM CDT	EF0	Mower, MN	0.1	15		$1,000
June 17	8:59 PM CDT	EF2	Hamilton, NE	5.1	450		$250,000

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.