EF1 tornado, Kirkwood to Mindenmines, Kansas, May 20, 2019

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF1

Date

May 20, 2019

Touchdown

4:23 PM CDT (21:23 UTC)

Lifted

4:38 PM CDT (21:38 UTC)

On the ground

15 minutes

Path length

10.7 miles (17.2 km)

Path width

1,200 yards (1097 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$1.1 million

Counties

Crawford and Barton counties

Touchdown point

37.352, -94.707

Lift-off point

37.444, -94.551

Record number

1905201523-02

24 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS SGF, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 107 mph.

• small outbuildings collapsed or uplifted.
• multiple large trees snapped and large branches down.
• several more large trees snapped and large branches.
• Starting Point. larger outbuilding collapsed walls

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

Multiple rounds of storms producing heavy rainfall, severe winds, hail and tornadoes moved across Southeastern Kansas and into the Missouri Ozarks from May 20th through May 22th as upper level disturbances interacted with a slow moving but powerful storm system over the Central Plains. Tornadoes occurred with each round, with the strongest and most numerous tornadoes occurring during the late afternoon and evening of the 22nd. The cumulative rainfall caused areas of flash flooding with some flooding lingering across the region. Some locations in southeastern Kansas and southwestern Missouri reported in excess of 8 inches of rainfall over the 72 hour period.

Multiple rounds of storms producing heavy rainfall, severe winds, hail and tornadoes moved across the Missouri Ozarks from May 20th and into the early morning hours of May 24th as upper level disturbances interacted with a slow moving but powerful storm system over the central Plains. Tornadoes occurred with each round, with the strongest and most numerous tornadoes occurring during the late afternoon and evening of the 22nd. On the anniversary of the Joplin Tornado off 2011, another tornado, rated EF-3 struck the north side of Joplin. This storm system eventually produced subsequent tornadoes in Golden City, Eldon and Jefferson City. Unfortunately there were three fatalities as a result of the tornado in Golden City. The cumulative rainfall caused areas of flash flooding with some flooding lingering across the region. Some locations in southeastern Kansas and southwestern Missouri reported in excess of 8 inches of rainfall over the 72 hour period. .

A National Weather Service storm survey determined that an EF-1 tornado with maximum winds of 105 mph traveled along a total 2 mile path. This tornado tracked out of Cherokee County crossing Highway 400 near NE 50th Street and northeast across Crawford County for a mile and a half. Damage continued to trees as the tornado tracked northeast, then heavily damaged a barn on E 510th Avenue before lifting southeast of Kramer.

A National Weather Service storm survey determined that an EF-1 tornado with maximum winds of 105 mph traveled along a 6 mile path before entering Barton County Missouri. The tornado continue for a total of 10 miles before lifting SE of Mindenmines, Missouri. This was the second tornado from a supercell that also produced the Weir tornado. This tornado touched down south of Pittsburg near the intersection of E 50th and S 220th Streets where it uprooted trees and destroyed an outbuilding. The tornado continued and additionally damaged several more outbuildings and numerous homes south of the Pittsburg Mall. There were varying degrees of damage as as the storm tracked across E 520th, 530th, and then between 240th and S 270th streets, where it snapped tree trunks, before moving into Barton County, Missouri.

A National Weather Service storm survey determined that an EF-1 tornado with maximum winds of 105 mph traveled along a 4 mile path across western Barton County, Missouri after moving out of Cherokee County, Kansas. The tornado continue for a total of 10 miles starting south of Pittsburg, Kansas before lifting SE of Mindenmines, Missouri. Damage was largely to trees in Missouri though two homes suffered minor damage near M Highway before the tornado dissipated just east of M Highway, north of SW 50th Road.

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

4 minutes of warning. NWS SGF issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:19 UTC, 4 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:32 UTC.

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 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 20:02 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 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.

Pittsburg (PTS), 11 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Springfield radar (KSGF), 110 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:21 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.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

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

The live radar over the trackEvery 2019 tornado in KansasEvery tornado in Kansas since 1950Warnings in force in Kansas nowThe forecast where you are

38 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.