Tornadoes · United States · Kansas · 2016

EF0 tornado, Fact, Kansas, May 9, 2016

This EF0 tornado ran 0.0 miles across Clay County on May 9, 2016, touching down at 6:40 PM CDT and reaching 25 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
May 9, 2016
Touchdown
6:40 PM CDT (23:40 UTC)
Lifted
6:42 PM CDT (23:42 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
0.0 miles (0.0 km)
Path width
25 yards (23 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Clay County
Touchdown point
39.500, -97.000
Lift-off point
39.500, -97.000
Record number
1605091740-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Scattered severe thunderstorms developed during the afternoon across central Kansas. One weak tornado was reported in Clay County. These storms then pushed eastward before weakening and merging into a line of thunderstorms.

Storm chaser provided a picture of what appeared to be a funnel condensed to near ground level. Account provided said that the tornado circulation was on the ground for 1 to 2 minutes in an open field and did no damage.

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 severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 19:08 UTC and running to 01:24 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
06:27 UTC06:52 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOP
19:08 UTC01:24 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchTOP
23:08 UTC00:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOP
23:20 UTC00:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOP
23:56 UTC00:29 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOP
00:22 UTC05:00 UTCFlash Flood WarningTOP

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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. 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.

Topeka, KS (KFOE), 12:00Z

11.7 hours before the tornado, 130 km from the path. May 9, 2016.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 2016-05-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 570 joules per kilogram, CIN -103, lifted condensation level 799 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 2016-05-09The 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 129 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 37 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
570 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-103 J/kg
Surface CAPE
986 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
799 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
129 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
258 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
4.5
0-3 km lapse rate
4.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Topeka, KS (KFOE), 00:00Z

0.3 hours after it, 130 km from the path. May 10, 2016.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 2016-05-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1656 joules per kilogram, CIN -4, lifted condensation level 1273 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 2016-05-10The 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 59 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 23 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
1656 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2731 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1273 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
59 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
127 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
7.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Manhattan (MHK), 49 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
21:52 UTC7760150° 16 kt23999.3
21:55 UTC160° 17 kt22999.3
22:00 UTC170° 16 kt999.3
22:05 UTC160° 18 kt999.3
22:10 UTC150° 17 kt999
22:30 UTC160° 11 kt998.6
22:40 UTC 998.6
22:45 UTC160° 12 kt999
22:52 UTC7658160° 17 kt24999.3
23:05 UTC160° 15 kt999.3
23:15 UTC160° 12 kt999.7
23:25 UTC160° 11 kt999.7
23:40 UTC160° 16 kt999.7
23:45 UTC160° 15 kt999.7
23:50 UTC160° 14 kt999.7
23:52 UTC7458160° 16 kt21999.3
00:15 UTC190° 19 kt1000.7-RA
00:20 UTC190° 13 kt1000.7RA
00:25 UTC170° 13 kt1000.3-RA
00:30 UTC160° 10 kt1000.3-RA
00:35 UTC170° 10 kt1000.7-RA
00:52 UTC6353110° 5 kt1000.3-RA
00:55 UTC150° 6 kt1000.3-RA
01:00 UTC180° 11 kt1000.3-RA
01:05 UTC170° 15 kt1000.3
01:10 UTC 201000.7
01:15 UTC 1001

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

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 87 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:38 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
21:58 UTCHAIL 0.88WheatonPottawatomie, KS
22:00 UTCHAIL 0.5LeonardvilleRiley, KSPEA TO JUST SMALLER THAN DIME HAIL ESTIMATED.
22:40 UTCHAIL 23 W RandolphRiley, KS
22:50 UTCHAIL 1.253 Nne LeonardvilleRiley, KS
23:10 UTCHAIL 0.75HanoverWashington, KS
23:10 UTCHAIL 0.75Se HanoverWashington, KS
23:33 UTCHAIL 2.58 Se LinnWashington, KSRANGE FROM GOLFBALL TO TENNIS BALL SIZE HAIL
23:33 UTCHAIL 2.59 S GreenleafWashington, KSRANGE FROM GOLFBALL TO TENNIS BALL SIZE HAIL
23:34 UTCHAIL 17 N GreenClay, KS
23:35 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD5 N GreenClay, KSSHERIFFS OFFICE AND STORM CHASER REPORTED SEEING A ROTATING WALL CLOUD AND BRIEF FUNNEL CLOUD FOR 5 MINUTES. THE ROTATION HAS WEAKENED SINCE.
23:36 UTCHAIL 0.8810 Se LinnWashington, KSMOSTLY COVERING THE GROUND
23:40 UTCTORNADO5 N GreenClay, KSSMALL BRIEF TORNADO SEEN BY STORM CHASER OVER OPEN FIELD.
23:41 UTCHAIL 2.752 Nw LinnWashington, KS
23:41 UTCHAIL 2.752 Wnw LinnWashington, KS
23:52 UTCTSTM WND GST 605 Sse MorrowvilleWashington, KSBETWEEN 50-60 MPH
23:52 UTCTSTM WND GST 605 Wsw WashingtonWashington, KSBETWEEN 50-60 MPH
00:00 UTCHAIL 2.75WashingtonWashington, KSVIA PHOTO ON SOCIAL MEDIA. RADAR ESTIMATED TIME.
00:38 UTCHAIL 0.756 N RandolphRiley, KSWINDS ESTIMATED AT 50 MPH WITH THE HAIL.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2016 tornado in KansasEvery tornado in Kansas since 1950Warnings in force in Kansas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 9, 2016

27 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 93:06 PM CDTEF0Davis, IA0.310
May 94:06 PM CDTEF4Katie–Wynnewood tornado, OK8.94001$1.0 million
May 94:25 PM CDTEF1Lancaster, NE0.550
May 94:30 PM CDTEF0Buffalo, NE0.020
May 94:34 PM CDTEF3Murray, OK16.61,500$4.0 million
May 94:53 PM CDTEF1Lancaster, NE0.250
May 95:06 PM CDTEF0Clay, NE2.735$75,000
May 95:15 PM CDTEF0McDonough, IL0.115
May 95:16 PM CDTUnratedCleveland, OK0.110
May 95:18 PM CDTEF0Louisa, IA0.110
May 95:18 PM CDTUnratedJohnston, OK1.520
May 95:18 PM CDTEF3Johnston, OK9.17001$250,000
May 95:41 PM CDTEF0Warren, IL0.125
May 95:46 PM CDTEF1Coal, OK12.9900$40,000
May 95:47 PM CDTUnratedAtoka, OK0.330
May 95:49 PM CDTEF2Cass, NE3.3100
May 95:58 PM CDTEF2Payne, OK6.3600$260,000
May 96:22 PM CDTEF3Bryan, OK13.83,1002$3.0 million
May 97:02 PM CDTEF1Choctaw, OK6.1650$250,000
May 97:18 PM CDTUnratedChoctaw, OK6.0150
May 97:25 PM CDTUnratedChoctaw, OK0.575
May 97:46 PM CDTEF0Guthrie, IA5.5130$5,000
May 98:18 PM CDTEF0Guthrie, IA1.520
May 97:25 PM MDTEF0Sheridan, MT0.530
May 98:59 PM CDTEF1Bowie, TX2.0390$10,000
May 99:06 PM CDTEF1Bowie, TX0.1120
May 910:34 PM CDTEF1Saline, AR2.7200$500,000

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.