Tornadoes · United States · Kansas · 2011
EF0 tornado, Andale, Kansas, June 9, 2011
This EF0 tornado ran 0.4 miles across Sedgwick County on June 9, 2011, touching down at 6:56 PM CDT and reaching 65 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 mphthis tornado
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 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
- EF0
- Date
- June 9, 2011
- Touchdown
- 6:56 PM CDT (23:56 UTC)
- Lifted
- 6:59 PM CDT (23:59 UTC)
- On the ground
- 3 minutes
- Path length
- 0.4 miles (0.7 km)
- Path width
- 65 yards (59 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Sedgwick County
- Touchdown point
- 37.795, -97.586
- Lift-off point
- 37.798, -97.579
- Record number
- 1106091756-01
What the Weather Service recorded
Numerous strong to severe thunderstorms affected primarily portions of south-central and southeast Kansas during the evening hours on the 9th, as a strong cold front approached from the northwest ahead of an upper level disturbance. Hail up to baseball and softball size pummeled the Mount Hope area in Sedgwick County, associated with an impressive supercell thunderstorm. That same storm produced a brief tornado near Colwich, producing no known damage. Other storms produced many other reports of large hail and damaging winds across the area, producing additional property and crop damage, particularly across Sedgwick County. Additionally, very heavy rainfall on the order of 2 to 3 inches produced widespread street flooding across the Wichita Area.
The tornado touched down briefly over open country.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
10 minutes of warning. NWS ICT issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:46 UTC, 10 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:30 UTC.
The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 20:53 UTC and running to 05:00 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20:53 UTC | 05:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | ICT |
| 23:16 UTC | 00:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT |
| 23:40 UTC | 00:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT |
| 23:46 UTC | 00:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | ICT |
| 23:51 UTC | 00:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT |
| 00:19 UTC | 01:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | ICT |
| 00:40 UTC | 01:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT |
| 00:48 UTC | 01:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | ICT |
| 00:53 UTC | 01:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | ICT |
| 01:01 UTC | 01:35 UTC | Flood Warning | ICT |
| 01:24 UTC | 01:55 UTC | Tornado Warning | ICT |
| 01:38 UTC | 05:30 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | ICT |
| 01:55 UTC | 02:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT |
| 02:15 UTC | 03:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT |
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 Slight Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 20:00 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
11.9 hours before the tornado, 131 km from the path. June 9, 2011.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 600 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -569 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 561 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1962 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 10 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 105 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 144 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- -0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 3.7 K/km
Lamont, OK (KLMN), 00:00Z
0.1 hours after it, 131 km from the path. June 10, 2011.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1216 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -145 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 1177 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2235 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 39 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 13 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 104 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 199 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.5
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 7.5 K/km
The surface observations
Wichita (ICT), 21 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22:53 UTC | 96 | 66 | 180° 23 kt | 31 | 1005.8 | |
| 23:34 UTC | 93.2 | 64.4 | 180° 19 kt | 33 | 1005.8 | TS |
| 23:53 UTC | 92 | 65 | 160° 23 kt | 33 | 1004.7 | TS |
| 00:17 UTC | 91.4 | 64.4 | 160° 19 kt | 32 | 1006.4 | TS |
| 00:57 UTC | 73.4 | 69.8 | 290° 32 kt | 47 | 1010.2 | TSGRRA |
| 00:59 UTC | 69.8 | 64.4 | 280° 31 kt | 47 | 1011.2 | +TSRAGR SQ |
| 01:06 UTC | 62.6 | 60.8 | 290° 14 kt | 39 | 1011.2 | +TSRAGR FG |
| 01:13 UTC | 64.4 | 40° 9 kt | 28 | 1010.5 | +TSRAGR BR | |
| 01:27 UTC | 64.4 | 60.8 | 270° 24 kt | 30 | 1008.8 | +TSRA BR |
| 01:34 UTC | 66.2 | 60.8 | 270° 24 kt | 47 | 1009.1 | +TSRA BR |
| 01:42 UTC | 66.2 | 60.8 | 230° 27 kt | 40 | 1008.1 | +TSRA BR |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Wichita radar (KICT), 20 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:57 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22:18 UTC | HAIL 1 | 7 Se Hutchinson | Reno, KS | |
| 22:22 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | 9 Se Hutchinson | Reno, KS | |
| 22:35 UTC | HAIL 1 | Burrton | Harvey, KS | |
| 22:57 UTC | HAIL 1 | Haven | Reno, KS | |
| 22:58 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | Haven | Reno, KS | |
| 23:01 UTC | HAIL 1.5 | Haven | Reno, KS | |
| 23:30 UTC | HAIL 2.75 | Mount Hope | Sedgwick, KS | |
| 23:38 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | 4 Sw Bentley | Sedgwick, KS | BRIEF FUNNEL CLOUD REPORTED UNDERNEATH ROTATING WALL CLOUD. |
| 23:38 UTC | HAIL 4.25 | Mount Hope | Sedgwick, KS | TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTED MOSTLY GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL BUT A FEW THE SIZE OF SOFTBALLS FELL. |
| 23:56 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Nw Colwich | Sedgwick, KS | TORNADO REPORTED AT 215TH AND 61ST. |
| 23:59 UTC | TSTM WND GST 50 | Bentley | Sedgwick, KS | |
| 23:59 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | Bentley | Sedgwick, KS | |
| 00:05 UTC | TSTM WND GST 70 | 3 W Colwich | Sedgwick, KS | |
| 00:05 UTC | HAIL 1 | 2 N Cheney | Sedgwick, KS | |
| 00:05 UTC | HAIL 1.25 | 3 W Garden Plain | Sedgwick, KS | |
| 00:14 UTC | HAIL 1.5 | Cheney | Sedgwick, KS | |
| 00:18 UTC | HAIL 1.25 | 1 W Cheney | Kingman, KS | |
| 00:23 UTC | HAIL 1 | 1 W Cheney | Kingman, KS | ON 23RD STREET SOUTH 1 INCH HAIL COVERING THE HAIL. |
| 00:31 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | 3 Wsw Park City | Sedgwick, KS | |
| 00:35 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | West Wichita | Sedgwick, KS | REPORTS OF AN ENTIRE YARD OF SHREDDED LEAVES AND TREE LIMBS AT 135TH STREET WEST AND MAPLE. |
| 00:35 UTC | TSTM WND GST 70 | 2 S Park City | Sedgwick, KS | |
| 00:35 UTC | TSTM WND GST 70 | 3 Wsw Park City | Sedgwick, KS | OFF DUTY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EMPLOYEE REPORTED ESTIMATED WINDS OF AT LEAST 70 MPH. |
| 00:39 UTC | HAIL 1.25 | 3 W Garden Plain | Sedgwick, KS | |
| 00:40 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | 3 Wnw Goddard | Sedgwick, KS | OCCURRED WITH GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL. |
| 00:40 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 3 Wnw Goddard | Sedgwick, KS | OCCURRED WITH 60 MPH WINDS. |
| 00:41 UTC | TSTM WND GST 70 | 3 E Maize | Sedgwick, KS | |
| 00:41 UTC | HAIL 1 | 3 E Maize | Sedgwick, KS | INTERSTATE 235 AND MERIDIAN |
| 00:43 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 W Park City | Sedgwick, KS | STORM SPOTTER REPORTED DAMAGE TO GREEN HOUSE |
| 00:43 UTC | BLIZZARD | 1 W Park City | Sedgwick, KS | STORM SPOTTER REPORTED DAMAGE TO GREEN HOUSE |
| 00:50 UTC | HAIL 1 | Mid Continent Airport | Sedgwick, KS | QUARTER SIZED HAIL FELL AT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE. |
| 00:50 UTC | HAIL 1.5 | West Wichita | Sedgwick, KS | ALSO REPORTED 50 MPH WINDS. OCCURRING AT CENTRAL AND 119TH. |
| 00:51 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 1 W West Wichita | Sedgwick, KS | OFF DUTY NWS EMPLOYEE REPORTS GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL. |
| 00:57 UTC | HAIL 1 | 2 W Mid Continent Airpo | Sedgwick, KS | |
| 00:58 UTC | TSTM WND GST 59 | Northeast Wichita And J | Sedgwick, KS | |
| 01:00 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Benton | Butler, KS | POWERLINES REPORTED DOWN IN BENTON. CORRECTED TIME...BASED ON RADAR. |
| 01:00 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Towanda | Butler, KS | POWER LINES REPORTED DOWN IN TOWANDA. CORRECTED TIME BASED ON RADAR. |
| 01:00 UTC | TSTM WND GST 70 | Andover | Butler, KS | |
| 01:00 UTC | HAIL 1 | Mid Continent Airport | Sedgwick, KS | QUARTER SIZE HAIL FELL AT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE. |
| 01:02 UTC | TSTM WND GST 70 | Benton | Butler, KS | |
| 01:02 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 4 W Downtown Wichita | Sedgwick, KS |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2011 tornado in KansasEvery tornado in Kansas since 1950Warnings in force in Kansas nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of June 9, 2011
2 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
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.