Tornadoes · United States · Kansas · 2014

EF0 tornado, Topeka, Kansas, June 29, 2014

This EF0 tornado ran 1.6 miles across Shawnee County on June 29, 2014, touching down at 9:20 PM CDT and reaching 30 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
June 29, 2014
Touchdown
9:20 PM CDT (02:20 UTC)
Lifted
9:25 PM CDT (02:25 UTC)
On the ground
5 minutes
Path length
1.6 miles (2.6 km)
Path width
30 yards (27 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Shawnee County
Touchdown point
39.081, -95.689
Lift-off point
39.103, -95.680
Record number
1406292020-01

The damage survey

3 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS TOP, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 76 mph.

  • Initial damage point. Tree limbs down.
  • Second damage point. Silver maple limbs down. Other limbs in immediate vicinity down.
  • Approximate end point of non-continuous damage points of brief weak EF0 tornado.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

What the Weather Service recorded

A weak thunderstorm moved across the city of Topeka on the evening of June 29th. At approximately 920 pm CDT a brief tornado touched down and skipped along a 1.6 mile path causing tree limb damage in 3 locations. The tornado was never photographed although several photos and videos appeared to show a lowering beneath a bowl shaped updraft base. The tornado was rated an EF0 with winds perhaps up to 65 mph.

Only report received was from the public who called 911 and was transferred to the NWS at 923pm CDT. Report was of a possible tornado with some debris lofted. Unfortunately no other reports were received by the NWS via calls or on social media.

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 00:19 UTC and running to 03:38 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
00:19 UTC03:38 UTCTornado WatchTOP

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, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 01:00 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.

Topeka, KS (KFOE), 00:00Z

2.3 hours before the tornado, 11 km from the path. June 30, 2014.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 2014-06-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 4952 joules per kilogram, CIN -3, lifted condensation level 878 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 2014-06-30The 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 91 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 49 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
4952 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Surface CAPE
6708 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
878 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
91 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
145 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.8
Supercell composite
9.5
0-3 km lapse rate
6.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Topeka, KS (KFOE), 12:00Z

9.7 hours after it, 11 km from the path. June 30, 2014.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 2014-06-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2105 joules per kilogram, CIN -355, lifted condensation level 1205 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 2014-06-30The 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 254 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 26 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
2105 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-355 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2616 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1205 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
254 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
225 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Topeka (Top) (TOP), 6 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
00:53 UTC8777190° 10 kt181008.8
01:53 UTC8677180° 10 kt1009.5
02:03 UTC8577180° 9 kt1009.5VCTS
02:22 UTC8478180° 7 kt191009.8TSRA
02:35 UTC8278 1010.2TS BR
02:53 UTC8378 5 kt1010.2VCTS HZ
03:21 UTC8178140° 4 kt1010.5BR
03:53 UTC8177180° 8 kt1010.2BR

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

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 48 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:18 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
23:46 UTCHAIL 13 Sse Potawatomi ReservJackson, KSTRAINED SPOTTER ESTIMATED LARGEST HAIL SIZE OF 1 INCH.
02:23 UTCTORNADO3 N TopekaShawnee, KSBRIEF TORNADO NEAR LYMAN ROAD

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2014 tornado in KansasEvery tornado in Kansas since 1950Warnings in force in Kansas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 29, 2014

14 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 296:05 AM CDTEF1Gove, KS1.050$50,000
June 297:28 PM CDTEF0Hamilton, IA2.040
June 298:08 PM CDTEF0Shelby, IA0.550
June 298:18 PM CDTEF1Grundy, IA1.950$30,000
June 298:25 PM CDTEF1Hardin, IA1.375$1,000
June 299:12 PM CDTEF0Buchanan, MO0.325
June 299:55 PM CDTEF1Mercer, MO6.3300
June 2910:00 PM CDTEF1Grant, WI8.2600$410,000
June 2910:18 PM CDTEF2Iowa, WI29.1400$3.5 million
June 2910:26 PM CDTEF2Iowa, WI5.0200$400,000
June 2910:36 PM CDTEF0Jones, IA0.125
June 2911:27 PM CDTEF1Dane, WI2.3500$50,000
June 2912:30 AM CDTEF1Carroll, IL2.2600$50,000
June 2912:45 AM CDTEF1Schuyler, MO4.7300

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.