Tornadoes · United States · Kansas · 2015
EF0 tornado, Collyer, Kansas, May 9, 2015
This EF0 tornado ran 4.0 miles across Trego County on May 9, 2015, touching down at 7:28 PM CDT and reaching 100 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
- May 9, 2015
- Touchdown
- 7:28 PM CDT (00:28 UTC)
- Lifted
- 7:40 PM CDT (00:40 UTC)
- On the ground
- 12 minutes
- Path length
- 4.0 miles (6.4 km)
- Path width
- 100 yards (91 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Trego County
- Touchdown point
- 39.062, -100.120
- Lift-off point
- 39.118, -100.133
- Record number
- 1505091828-01
What the Weather Service recorded
A strong upper level jet streak, unstable atmosphere and a warm front lifting north helped to fuel thunderstorms, some severe.
This tornado was video taped by a web tower cam but it passed through an area with no trees, fences or buildings.
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. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00:30 UTC | 01:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | DDC |
| 00:42 UTC | 05:00 UTC | Tornado Watch | 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:04 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.
Dodge City, (KDDC), 00:00Z
0.5 hours before the tornado, 148 km from the path. May 10, 2015.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 330 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -51 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 1182 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1372 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 70 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 21 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 184 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 151 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.2
- Supercell composite
- 5.1
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 7.6 K/km
Dodge City, (KDDC), 12:00Z
11.5 hours after it, 148 km from the path. May 10, 2015.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -102481 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2109 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 81 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 21 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 178 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 291 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.0 K/km
The surface observations
Hill_city (HLC), 41 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23:35 UTC | 65 | 60 | 110° 13 kt | 19 | 1008.5 | |
| 23:53 UTC | 66 | 60 | 110° 12 kt | 20 | 1008.5 | |
| 00:04 UTC | 66 | 60 | 110° 12 kt | 1008.1 | ||
| 00:21 UTC | 65 | 60 | 110° 15 kt | 22 | 1007.8 | |
| 00:32 UTC | 65 | 60 | 110° 13 kt | 1007.8 | ||
| 00:53 UTC | 65 | 60 | 110° 13 kt | 20 | 1007.5 | |
| 01:19 UTC | 64 | 60 | 110° 13 kt | 20 | 1007.1 | |
| 01:53 UTC | 63 | 59 | 120° 15 kt | 22 | 1007.5 | |
| 02:14 UTC | 64 | 59 | 110° 15 kt | 21 | 1007.8 | |
| 02:37 UTC | 63 | 60 | 110° 13 kt | 20 | 1007.8 | |
| 02:53 UTC | 63 | 60 | 130° 12 kt | 20 | 1007.5 |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Goodland radar (KGLD), 139 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:27 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:28 UTC | TORNADO | 2 N Collyer | Trego, KS | |
| 00:32 UTC | TORNADO | 4 Ssw Saint Peter | Graham, KS | LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTS A TORNADO NORTH OF INTERSTATE 70 MILE MARKER 108. |
| 00:35 UTC | TORNADO | 4 N Collyer | Trego, KS | |
| 00:55 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Wsw Saint Peter | Graham, KS | SPOTTER REPORTS A TORNADO ON THE GROUND. |
| 00:58 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Ssw Saint Peter | Graham, KS | TORNADO ON THE GROUND. REPORTED BY KWCH. ALSO REPORTED BY LOCAL DISPATCH AND SPOTTERS. |
| 01:00 UTC | TORNADO | 7 Ne The Monument Rocks | Gove, KS | SPOTTER REPORTS A LARGE TORNADO ON THE GROUND. |
| 01:08 UTC | TORNADO | 10 Nne The Monument Roc | Gove, KS | CALLER REPORTS A SMALL TORNADO ON THE GROUND. |
| 01:12 UTC | TORNADO | 10 Nne The Monument Roc | Gove, KS | TORNADO ON THE GROUND. LIVE ON KWCH. |
| 01:16 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | 10 W Gove | Gove, KS | EMERGENCY MANAGER REPORTS A FUNNEL CLOUD WEST OF GOVE 2 MILES NORTH OF ROAD S. |
| 01:16 UTC | TORNADO | 10 Wsw Gove | Gove, KS | EMERGENCY MANAGER REPORTS A TORNADO ON THE GROUND INTERMITTENTLY. |
| 01:33 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | 10 W Gove | Gove, KS | STORM CHASER REPORTS A RAPIDLY ROTATING WALL CLOUD WITH A LOW FUNNEL. |
| 01:38 UTC | TORNADO | 1 S Grinnell | Gove, KS | TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTS A TORNADO ON THE GROUND 1 MILE SOUTH OF GRINNELL. |
| 01:38 UTC | TORNADO | 5 S Grinnell | Gove, KS | TORNADO ON THE GROUND SOUTH OF I-70 NEAR GRINNELL. |
| 01:38 UTC | TORNADO | 7 S Grinnell | Gove, KS | CALLER REPORTS A TORNADO ON THE GROUND NORTH OF COUNTY ROAD S. |
| 01:45 UTC | TORNADO | 3 S Grinnell | Gove, KS | TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTS A TORNADO ON THE GROUND 3 MILES EAST OF OAKLEY. |
| 01:48 UTC | TORNADO | 2 S Grinnell | Gove, KS | EMERGENCY MANAGER REPORTS PIVOTS DESTROYED APPROXIMATELY 2 MILES SOUTH OF CAMPUS IN NW GOVE COUNTY. TIME IS RADAR ESTIMATED. |
| 01:51 UTC | TORNADO | 1 S Grinnell | Gove, KS | TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTS A TORNADO ON THE GROUND 1 MILE SOUTH OF GRINNELL. |
| 02:01 UTC | TORNADO | 1 Nw Grinnell | Sheridan, KS | TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTS A TORNADO ON THE GROUND 1 MILE NORTHWEST OF GRINNELL. |
| 02:12 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Ene Angelus | Sheridan, KS | STORM CHASER REPORTS A TORNADO ON THE GROUND NORTHEAST OF OAKLEY. |
| 02:23 UTC | TORNADO | 1 N Angelus | Sheridan, KS | SPOTTER REPORTS A LARGE WEDGE TORNADO ON THE GROUND 1 MILE NORTH OF ANGELUS. |
| 02:33 UTC | TORNADO | 5 Se Menlo | Sheridan, KS | TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTS A LARGE TORNADO ON THE GROUND WITH AN INTERMITTENT SMALL TORNADO AS WELL. |
| 02:50 UTC | TORNADO | 5 Ne Menlo | Sheridan, KS | TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTS A TORNADO ON THE GROUND NE OF MENLO. |
| 02:55 UTC | TORNADO | 7 Ese Rexford | Sheridan, KS | TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTS A LARGE, MULTI-VORTEX TORNADO ESE OF REXFORD. |
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 9, 2015
28 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 9 | 4:32 PM CDT | EF3 | Eastland, TX | 3.8 | 1,400 | 1 | 2 | $300,000 |
| May 9 | 3:40 PM MDT | EF0 | Lincoln, CO | 0.0 | 50 | |||
| May 9 | 3:41 PM MDT | EF0 | El Paso, CO | 3.3 | 100 | |||
| May 9 | 4:55 PM CDT | EF0 | Cooke, TX | 0.7 | 40 | |||
| May 9 | 5:15 PM CDT | EF0 | Eastland, TX | 0.1 | 20 | $90,000 | ||
| May 9 | 4:27 PM MDT | EF0 | Kiowa, CO | 1.1 | 50 | |||
| May 9 | 4:30 PM MDT | EF0 | Elbert, CO | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| May 9 | 5:30 PM CDT | EF0 | Love, OK | 0.3 | 30 | |||
| May 9 | 4:40 PM MDT | EF0 | Elbert, CO | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| May 9 | 5:50 PM CDT | EF0 | Love, OK | 0.3 | 30 | |||
| May 9 | 4:50 PM MDT | EF0 | Kiowa, CO | 11.1 | 150 | $3,000 | ||
| May 9 | 5:57 PM CDT | EF0 | Wichita, TX | 3.3 | 50 | |||
| May 9 | 6:09 PM CDT | EF0 | Cotton, OK | 1.0 | 100 | |||
| May 9 | 5:20 PM MDT | EF0 | Cheyenne, CO | 2.1 | 10 | |||
| May 9 | 6:24 PM CDT | EF0 | Marshall, OK | 3.0 | 200 | |||
| May 9 | 5:35 PM MDT | EF0 | Cheyenne, CO | 1.0 | 25 | |||
| May 9 | 6:58 PM CDT | EF0 | Erath, TX | 0.3 | 80 | |||
| May 9 | 7:25 PM CDT | EF1 | Bryan, OK | 5.3 | 200 | |||
| May 9 | 7:55 PM CDT | EF0 | Graham, KS | 2.8 | 50 | |||
| May 9 | 8:00 PM CDT | EF0 | Gove, KS | 5.7 | 100 | |||
| May 9 | 8:24 PM CDT | EF0 | Roger Mills, OK | 2.0 | 100 | |||
| May 9 | 8:25 PM CDT | EF0 | Harlan, NE | 0.3 | 15 | |||
| May 9 | 8:36 PM CDT | EF0 | Harlan, NE | 0.0 | 15 | |||
| May 9 | 8:38 PM CDT | EF1 | Gove, KS | 6.1 | 50 | $50,000 | ||
| May 9 | 9:12 PM CDT | EF0 | Sheridan, KS | 13.9 | 150 | |||
| May 9 | 9:50 PM CDT | EF2 | Sheridan, KS | 18.8 | 150 | $75,000 | ||
| May 9 | 10:43 PM CDT | EF1 | Decatur, KS | 11.7 | 50 | $6,000 | ||
| May 9 | 11:20 PM CDT | EF0 | Red Willow, NE | 4.2 | 25 |
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.