Tornadoes · United States · Kansas · 2015
EF1 tornado, Norway, Kansas, May 6, 2015
This EF1 tornado ran 2.4 miles across Republic County on May 6, 2015, touching down at 7:38 PM CDT and reaching 75 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 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
- May 6, 2015
- Touchdown
- 7:38 PM CDT (00:38 UTC)
- Lifted
- 7:44 PM CDT (00:44 UTC)
- On the ground
- 6 minutes
- Path length
- 2.4 miles (3.8 km)
- Path width
- 75 yards (69 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Republic County
- Touchdown point
- 39.712, -97.780
- Lift-off point
- 39.741, -97.756
- Record number
- 1505061838-01
The damage survey
33 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS GID and NWS TOP, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF3. The highest wind the damage implies is 160 mph.
- grain bins destroyed and cedar snapped
- outbuilding roof off poor condition
- old farm shed destroyed poor condition
- EF2 damage to home north of Scandia walls remained intact fairly well built structure
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
Approximately 14 tornadoes were documented and confirmed via reports and radar data all occurring during the late afternoon and evening of May 6th. The tornadoes impacted Republic, Cloud, Washington and Clay Counties. In fact, 7 tornadoes alone occurred in Republic County. This was the largest one day outbreak of tornadoes in the past 10 years for NWS Topeka. The strongest tornado was an EF3 that destroyed a home south of Munden in Republic county. The longest was over 25 miles in length also across Republic county.
EM provided photos of grain bin damage along a path just northwest and north of Norway in Republic county. Radar data suggests that this was another brief tornado that occurred between 738pm and 744pm CDT.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
3 minutes of warning. NWS TOP issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:35 UTC, 3 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:00 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:42 UTC and running to 01:38 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18:42 UTC | 01:38 UTC | Tornado Watch | TOP |
| 22:04 UTC | 22:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | TOP |
| 22:10 UTC | 22:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | TOP |
| 22:26 UTC | 23:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | TOP |
| 22:37 UTC | 23:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | TOP |
| 23:26 UTC | 00:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP |
| 23:38 UTC | 00:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP |
| 00:12 UTC | 06:15 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | TOP |
| 00:15 UTC | 00:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | TOP |
| 00:23 UTC | 01:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP |
| 00:35 UTC | 01:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | TOP |
| 00:41 UTC | 01:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | TOP |
| 00:41 UTC | 01:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP |
| 01:05 UTC | 01:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | TOP |
| 01:28 UTC | 02:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | TOP |
| 01:38 UTC | 05:54 UTC | Tornado Watch | TOP |
| 01:52 UTC | 02:09 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP |
| 02:04 UTC | 02:33 UTC | Tornado Warning | TOP |
| 05:13 UTC | 13:48 UTC | Flood Warning | TOP |
| 05:55 UTC | 11:45 UTC | Flood Warning | TOP |
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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. 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.
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 May 6, 3:16 PM CDT, 4 hours 22 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 6, 3:16 PM CDT, 4 hours 22 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 316 PM CDT Wed May 6 2015 .SHORT TERM...(This Evening through Thursday) Issued at 305 PM CDT WED MAY 6 2015 Shortwave trough seen in water vapor imagery across western KS has helped with widespread shower/thunderstorm development over northwest and north central KS. Per SPC, low-level shear very strong across western parts of our area while 0-6 km bulk shear not extremely impressive. This could result in heavy precip supercells across north central KS this afternoon/evening with all types of severe weather. Models indicate the potential for training of activity in north central KS this evening and some potential for flooding. Even in the short term of tonight and tomorrow, little consistency among models in timing of heavier precip farther east and when chances decrease. If NAM was right late tonight and much of Thursday would be relatively rain free across forecast area in shortwave ridging, while other short range models have more significant chances for precip throughout that period as weak, difficult to resolve disturbances move through the southwest flow aloft. Hard to be too definite with this so have generally gone 30 to 50 percent POPS for late tonight through Thursday. Will need to monitor movement and persistence of any significant precip areas given the saturated soil across portions of eastern KS. .LONG TERM...(Thursday Night through Wednesday) Issued at 305 PM CDT WED MAY 6 2015 Forecast focus on excessive rains and flooding and severe weather threat through the weekend. Will use a blend of GFS/ECWMF for the weekend system since the NAM is the outlier much slower and further south than the latest GFS and EC. For the Thu night into Fri night time frame...a front will remain draped across the area with continued SW flow aloft and weak waves expected to support continued convection across much of the area. Cannot rule out severe storms given continued 6KM shear and instability THU night into FRI night and the flooding risk may also increase as repeated bouts of heavy rains will saturate more of the area and begin to cause rises on area mainstem rivers. The greatest severe risk still appears to be later Saturday as a major upper low ejects into the Plains. 12Z GFS is the fastest and further north of the models while the EC is a bit slower and further SW with the sfc low. Either way this promises to bring a widespread bout of severe weather to the region and potentially to the CWA Saturday evening into Saturday night. Worst case scenario also keeps the eastern half of the area in the warm sector for Sunday with another round of severe storms possible albeit confidence in timing of the entire system is low/medium at this point. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFs through 18Z Thursday Afternoon) Issued at 1250 PM CDT WED MAY 6 2015 Main area of showers have lifted north of TAF sites and another area in east central KS at mid day will likely miss them to the east. Still, popup shower is a possibility for this afternoon, just not likely enough to include in TAF. MVFR ceilings to south of I70 should become VFR before this afternoon. Chance of thunderstorms re-enters the picture late this evening or overnight but timing is a challenge. && .TOP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && SHORT TERM...GDP LONG TERM...Omitt AVIATION...GDP
Hazardous weather outlook, May 6, 3:35 PM CDT, 4 hours 3 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 335 PM CDT WED MAY 6 2015 KSZ008>012-020>024-026-034>040-054>056-058-059-072045- REPUBLIC-WASHINGTON-MARSHALL-NEMAHA-BROWN-CLOUD-CLAY-RILEY- POTTAWATOMIE-JACKSON-JEFFERSON-OTTAWA-DICKINSON-GEARY-MORRIS- WABAUNSEE-SHAWNEE-DOUGLAS-LYON-OSAGE-FRANKLIN-COFFEY-ANDERSON- 335 PM CDT WED MAY 6 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL...NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST KANSAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. SCATTERED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORECAST OVER NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO THIS EVENING. SEVERE STORMS WITH LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND A FEW TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE MAINLY WEST OF A COUNCIL GROVE TO MANHATTAN TO MARYSVILLE LINE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. ROUNDS OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT. SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD BE SEVERE AND ALL STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS AND FLOODING. STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE LATE SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND SATURDAY NIGHT WITH ALL MODES OF SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE. THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY AFTERNOON WITH A RISK OF ADDITIONAL SEVERE STORMS OVER THE EASTERN PARTS OF KANSAS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED ACROSS THOSE AREAS WEST OF A COUNCIL GROVE TO MANHATTAN TO MARYSVILLE LINE THROUGH THIS EVENING. && MORE DETAILED INFORMATION CAN BE ACCESSED AT... HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/TOP/SITREP
In the hours before
Local storm report, May 6, 5:16 PM CDT, 2 hours 22 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
516 PM CDT WED MAY 06 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0515 PM TORNADO 3 W JAMESTOWN 39.60N 97.92W
05/06/2015 CLOUD KS TRAINED SPOTTER
SPOTTER REPORTED A LARGE WEDGE SHAPE TORNADO ON THE
GROUND AND ESTIMATES IT TO BE ABOUT 1/2 MILE WIDE.
&&
BDRAKELocal storm report, May 6, 5:22 PM CDT, 2 hours 16 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
522 PM CDT WED MAY 06 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0520 PM TORNADO 6 N COURTLAND 39.87N 97.89W
05/06/2015 REPUBLIC KS PUBLIC
REPORTED ON GROUND BY PUBLIC AT 515PM.
&&
KCLocal storm report, May 6, 5:34 PM CDT, 2 hours 4 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
534 PM CDT WED MAY 06 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0528 PM TORNADO 3 SE COURTLAND 39.76N 97.85W
05/06/2015 REPUBLIC KS TRAINED SPOTTER
SPOTTER CONFIRMED ROTATION WITH THE SAME STORM THAT
PREVIOUSLY HAD A TORNADO. HE COULD SEE AT LEAST A FUNNEL
WITHIN 1 MILE OF HIS LOCATION BUT COULD NOT CONFIRM IT
WAS ON THE GROUND. HE COULD NOT TALK ANY LONGER AS HE
NEEDED TO TAKE SHELTER.
&&
BDRAKELocal storm report, May 6, 5:58 PM CDT, 1 hour 40 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
558 PM CDT WED MAY 06 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0545 PM TORNADO 5 ESE REPUBLIC 39.90N 97.73W
05/06/2015 REPUBLIC KS PUBLIC
SPOTTERS CONFIRMED LARGE TORNADO
&&
KCLocal storm report, May 6, 7:01 PM CDT, 37 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
701 PM CDT WED MAY 06 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0700 PM HAIL 2 NE COURTLAND 39.80N 97.88W
05/06/2015 E1.00 INCH REPUBLIC KS TRAINED SPOTTER
SPOTTER REPORTED QUARTER INCH HAIL.
&&
BDRAKELocal storm report, May 6, 7:21 PM CDT, 17 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
721 PM CDT WED MAY 06 2015
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0720 PM TORNADO 2 SE MUNDEN 39.89N 97.51W
05/06/2015 REPUBLIC KS STORM CHASER
CONE SHAPED TORNADO REPORTED BY STORM CHASER. CONFIRMED 2
SOUTHEAST OF MUNDEN.
&&
BDRAKEThe 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
0.6 hours before the tornado, 200 km from the path. May 7, 2015.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 498 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -48 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 1577 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1054 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 32 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 263 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 410 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.6
- Supercell composite
- 9.6
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 6.5 K/km
Topeka, KS (KFOE), 12:00Z
11.4 hours after it, 200 km from the path. May 7, 2015.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 335 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -274 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 316 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1075 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 15 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 45 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 258 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 404 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.2
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.3 K/km
The radar
The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 88 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:39 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21:56 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Sw Hardy | Jewell, KS | TORNADO ON GROUND NEAR 300 ROAD AND BIRCH ROAD IN FAR NORTHEAST JEWELL COUNTY. |
| 21:56 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Sw Hardy | Jewell, KS | TORNADO ON GROUND NEAR 300 ROAD AND BIRCH ROAD IN FAR NORTHEAST JEWELL COUNTY. ROOF OFF OF HOUSE AND GRAIN BINS DESTROYED. |
| 22:03 UTC | TORNADO | 3 E Formoso | Jewell, KS | TORNADO STILL ON GROUND. |
| 22:07 UTC | TORNADO | 1 N Scottsville | Mitchell, KS | |
| 22:15 UTC | TORNADO | 3 W Jamestown | Cloud, KS | SPOTTER REPORTED A LARGE WEDGE SHAPE TORNADO ON THE GROUND AND ESTIMATES IT TO BE ABOUT 1/2 MILE WIDE. |
| 22:20 UTC | TORNADO | 6 N Courtland | Republic, KS | REPORTED ON GROUND BY PUBLIC AT 515PM. |
| 22:28 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Se Courtland | Republic, KS | SPOTTER CONFIRMED ROTATION WITH THE SAME STORM THAT PREVIOUSLY HAD A TORNADO. HE COULD SEE AT LEAST A FUNNEL WITHIN 1 MILE OF HIS LOCATION BUT COULD NOT CONFIRM IT WAS ON THE GROUND. HE COULD NOT TALK ANY LONGER AS HE NE |
| 22:45 UTC | TORNADO | 5 Ese Republic | Republic, KS | SPOTTERS CONFIRMED LARGE TORNADO |
| 23:30 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | 6 N Randall | Jewell, KS | |
| 00:00 UTC | HAIL 1 | 2 Ne Courtland | Republic, KS | SPOTTER REPORTED QUARTER INCH HAIL. |
| 00:20 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Se Munden | Republic, KS | CONE SHAPED TORNADO REPORTED BY STORM CHASER. CONFIRMED 2 SOUTHEAST OF MUNDEN. |
| 00:23 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 3.7 | Esbon | Jewell, KS | UNOFFICIAL HOME RAIN GAUGE |
| 00:30 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Ne Jamestown | Cloud, KS | TORNADO ON THE GROUND WAS MOVING NORTHEAST. NO MORE SPECIFIC INFORMATION ON VISUAL SHAPE OR DAMAGE. |
| 00:45 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 3.88 | 4 Ne Burr Oak | Jewell, KS | |
| 01:03 UTC | HAIL 1.5 | Burr Oak | Jewell, KS | |
| 02:15 UTC | TORNADO | 6 Sw Morrowville | Washington, KS | TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR AND COORDINATED WITH SPOTTER REPORT. |
| 02:42 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 6 S Clyde | Cloud, KS | THIS IS A DELAYED REPORT. SPOTTER MEASURED GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL WITH THE STORM THAT PASSED OVER HIS LOCATION AT 942 PM CDT. |
| 02:42 UTC | TORNADO | 6 Ne Aurora | Cloud, KS | OFFICERS REPORTED TORNADO ON THE GROUND. |
| 02:57 UTC | HAIL 1 | Burr Oak | Jewell, KS | |
| 02:57 UTC | TORNADO | 5 E Clyde | Washington, KS | |
| 02:58 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 4.3 | 2 Ne Courtland | Republic, KS | SPOTTER REPORTS THAT MOST LOW SPOTS AND DRAWS HAVE WATER FLOWING OVER THEM. |
| 03:19 UTC | TORNADO | 6 Se Morrowville | Washington, KS | |
| 03:25 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Ssw Washington | Washington, KS | STORM CHASER REPORTED A CONE SHAPE TORNADO ABOUT 3 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WASHINGTON. RADAR SHOWS THE STORM HEADING IN THAT GENERAL DIRECTION. |
| 03:33 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 2 Ne Courtland | Republic, KS | SPOTTER REPORTED MANY ROADWAYS WITH WATER FLOWING OVER THEM IN WESTERN AND NORTHWESTERN REPUBLIC COUNTY. |
| 03:36 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Nw Washington | Washington, KS | ELEPHANT TRUNK TORNADO |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2015 tornado in KansasEvery tornado in Kansas since 1950Warnings in force in Kansas nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of May 6, 2015
47 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 6 | 2:58 AM CDT | EF0 | Creek, OK | 1.5 | 100 | |||
| May 6 | 2:24 PM CDT | EF0 | Lincoln, KS | 10.7 | 100 | $25,000 | ||
| May 6 | 2:45 PM CDT | EF0 | Caddo, OK | 2.0 | 50 | |||
| May 6 | 2:53 PM CDT | EF0 | Caddo, OK | 0.5 | 50 | |||
| May 6 | 3:31 PM CDT | EF0 | Jewell, KS | 1.0 | 25 | |||
| May 6 | 3:55 PM CDT | EF2 | Jewell, KS | 12.6 | 350 | 1 | $1.5 million | |
| May 6 | 4:18 PM CDT | EF1 | Adams, NE | 3.9 | 300 | $1.5 million | ||
| May 6 | 4:33 PM CDT | EF3 | Grady, OK | 10.3 | 1,500 | |||
| May 6 | 4:37 PM CDT | EF0 | Major, OK | 0.1 | 20 | |||
| May 6 | 4:38 PM CDT | EF1 | Nuckolls, NE | 9.5 | 200 | $250,000 | ||
| May 6 | 4:48 PM CDT | EF0 | Grady, OK to KS, NE | 0.3 | 50 | |||
| May 6 | 4:48 PM CDT | EF2 | Nuckolls, KS to NE | 20.1 | 400 | $4.3 million | ||
| May 6 | 4:49 PM CDT | EF3 | Sedgwick, KS | 16.5 | 300 | 1 | $630,000 | |
| May 6 | 4:54 PM CDT | EF1 | Jewell, KS | 4.3 | 250 | $250,000 | ||
| May 6 | 5:04 PM CDT | EF1 | Jewell, KS | 3.1 | 60 | $5,000 | ||
| May 6 | 5:08 PM CDT | EF1 | Republic, KS | 2.1 | 75 | |||
| May 6 | 5:10 PM CDT | EF0 | Republic, KS | 3.1 | 50 | |||
| May 6 | 5:15 PM CDT | EF0 | Garfield, OK | 0.1 | 10 | |||
| May 6 | 5:20 PM CDT | EF2 | Republic, KS to NE | 36.2 | 800 | $1.0 million | ||
| May 6 | 5:26 PM CDT | EF0 | Thayer, NE | 1.8 | 100 | $500,000 | ||
| May 6 | 5:28 PM CDT | EF0 | Thayer, NE | 1.0 | 30 | |||
| May 6 | 5:33 PM CDT | EF1 | McClain, OK | 1.0 | 200 | |||
| May 6 | 5:38 PM CDT | EF0 | Sedgwick, KS | 0.3 | 50 | |||
| May 6 | 5:45 PM CDT | EF0 | Hall, NE | 0.0 | 25 | |||
| May 6 | 5:46 PM CDT | EF0 | Cleveland, OK | 0.5 | 25 | |||
| May 6 | 5:53 PM CDT | EF1 | Cleveland, OK | 3.3 | 1,000 | |||
| May 6 | 6:33 PM CDT | EF0 | Dewey, OK | 0.3 | 30 | |||
| May 6 | 6:41 PM CDT | EF0 | Caddo, OK | 3.5 | 200 | |||
| May 6 | 6:56 PM CDT | EF0 | Grant, OK | 0.3 | 20 | |||
| May 6 | 7:14 PM CDT | EF3 | Republic, KS | 1.9 | 100 | |||
| May 6 | 7:28 PM CDT | EF0 | Republic, KS | 0.0 | 50 | |||
| May 6 | 7:35 PM CDT | EF0 | Harper, KS | 0.3 | 50 | |||
| May 6 | 7:49 PM CDT | EF0 | Grady, OK | 0.5 | 40 | |||
| May 6 | 8:11 PM CDT | EF0 | Grady, OK | 3.5 | 200 | |||
| May 6 | 8:33 PM CDT | EF0 | Cloud, KS | 0.3 | 75 | |||
| May 6 | 8:38 PM CDT | EF0 | Ottawa, KS | 0.0 | 50 | |||
| May 6 | 8:41 PM CDT | EF3 | Oklahoma, OK | 2.0 | 700 | 12 | ||
| May 6 | 8:49 PM CDT | EF2 | Archer, TX | 12.0 | 400 | |||
| May 6 | 8:55 PM CDT | EF0 | Ottawa, KS | 0.3 | 50 | |||
| May 6 | 9:10 PM CDT | EF0 | Washington, KS | 6.0 | 50 | |||
| May 6 | 9:27 PM CDT | EF0 | Cloud, KS | 8.8 | 75 | |||
| May 6 | 9:37 PM CDT | EF0 | Throckmorton, TX | 3.4 | 440 | |||
| May 6 | 9:56 PM CDT | EF1 | Washington, KS | 4.0 | 75 | |||
| May 6 | 10:00 PM CDT | EF0 | Throckmorton, TX | 1.2 | 100 | |||
| May 6 | 10:36 PM CDT | EF0 | Washington, KS | 0.3 | 75 | |||
| May 6 | 10:49 PM CDT | EF1 | Gage, NE | 7.7 | 500 | |||
| May 6 | 11:00 PM CDT | EF0 | Throckmorton, TX | 0.0 | 50 |
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.