Tornadoes · United States · Kansas · 2019
Unrated tornado, Rosalia, Kansas, May 24, 2019
This Unrated tornado ran 0.2 miles across Butler County on May 24, 2019, touching down at 4:53 PM CDT and reaching 50 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 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.
Unratedthis tornado
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
- Unrated
- Date
- May 24, 2019
- Touchdown
- 4:53 PM CDT (21:53 UTC)
- Lifted
- 4:54 PM CDT (21:54 UTC)
- On the ground
- 1 minutes
- Path length
- 0.2 miles (0.3 km)
- Path width
- 50 yards (46 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Butler County
- Touchdown point
- 37.748, -96.621
- Lift-off point
- 37.751, -96.621
- Record number
- 1905241553-01
What the Weather Service recorded
A prolonged period of severe thunderstorms that produced a grand slam of flash floods, large hail, damaging winds & even a couple tornadoes hit nearly all of the Wichita (ICT) County Warning Area (CWA) throughout the afternoon & night on the 24th. Of the severe thunderstorm modes, floods & flash floods proved to be, by far, the greatest threat to these areas. The flash flooding continued across primarily Southeast Kansas well into the 25th and in parts of South-Central Kansas, the morning of the 26th. River flooding continued the following week.
Brief touch down in an open field.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
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 Wichita, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at May 24, 2:41 PM CDT, 2 hours 12 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 24, 2:41 PM CDT, 2 hours 12 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Wichita KS 241 PM CDT Fri May 24 2019 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Monday night) Issued at 241 PM CDT Fri May 24 2019 Stationary front currently extends from eastern Nebraska to near KICT and into the TX Panhandle. Airmass east of this feature remains extremely moist with PW values around 175%-200% of normal with dewpoints around 70. 850mb moisture transport into the boundary has allowed sct convection to persist early this afternoon along the front. Should see an increase in activity later this afternoon as low level moisture continues to work back to the northwest and 850-700mb moisture transport continues to ramp up with retreating boundary allowing for maximum convergence. Confidence is increasing that we are in for yet another round of heavy rain late this afternoon and especially this evening for areas generally along the Turnpike into the Flint Hills. Obviously with antecedent conditions, flash flooding will be likely with the extreme rainfall rates we are expecting. With CAPE values in the 2,000/3,000J/KG range and 0-6km bulk shear 30-40kts, large hail will be possible with stronger storms this afternoon and tonight. Would like to rule out tornado threat, but with very high 0-3km CAPE, very low LCLs and a boundary floating around, cant' rule out a couple brief tornadoes into the early evening hours. Surface boundary, along with rich moisture, will work back to the west tonight into Sat, with the front making it all the way back to near the KS/CO border. Current thinking is that the bulk of the daytime convection Sat will be out over western KS, where pesky boundary will be situated. Models agree on rapid increase in moisture transport early Sat evening into southwest KS which will result in a large MCS developing and tracking east Sat night. With this, will continue Flash Flood Watch through Sat night. Best chance for daytime severe storms Sat affecting our forecast area, would be for something to develop along the warm front as it lifts northwest, which would affect generally the northwest portion of our forecast area. Sun looks like a repeat of Sat, at least for location of convection. Should see daytime development over western KS where boundary will be floating around. In addition, there looks to be decent model agreement some shortwave energy lifting out of NM. Anything that develops out west Sun will also work east Sun night into Mon morning, affecting much of our area. .LONG TERM...(Tuesday through Friday) Issued at 241 PM CDT Fri May 24 2019 By Tue morning, main upper low is expected to be situated in the southwest Nebraska/northeast CO area and is expected to lift northeast Tue afternoon. Cold front is expected to stretch generally along the Turnpike Tue afternoon and will provide a chance for at least some sct convection Tue afternoon into Tue evening. Looks to be some agreement between the GFS and ECMWF in finally pushing the boundary and moist airmass south and east of the area for Wed into the end of the work week, which would finally bring an end to day after day of flooding and severe storms. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Saturday afternoon) Issued at 108 PM CDT Fri May 24 2019 Primary aviation concerns: TSRA, MVFR CIGS, and LLWS A surface boundary stretches southwest to northeast from the Texas Panhandle through northern Missouri. An unstable and very moist airmass along this boundary will lead to scattered to numerous thunderstorms with reductions in VIS/CIGs. The coverage of TSRA may wane some after 06z, potentially with a break through Saturday morning. Late tonight, a brief period of LLWS may develop as well. Lower CIGs will continue to be a concern as well. Martin && .HYDROLOGY... Issued at 241 PM CDT Fri May 24 2019 There will be an enhanced risk for flash flooding from now through the evening hours for areas generally along the KS Turnpike into the Flint Hills. This is where the best low level moisture convergence will be situated as the surface front lifts back to the northwest. Rainfall rates into the evening hours will easily be over 1.5 inches per hour with rates up to 3 inches per hour not out of the question. Should see a lull in flash flood potential during the day Sat, with the better focus shifting to western KS. However, the MCS that forms over western KS will track east Sat evening and will bring additional flooding threat first to the areas west of I-135 early Sat evening and further east later Sat night. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Wichita-KICT 77 66 81 66 / 60 60 20 60 Hutchinson 76 65 82 64 / 40 40 20 60 Newton 76 65 81 65 / 60 60 20 70 ElDorado 76 67 80 65 / 70 70 20 70 Winfield-KWLD 78 67 81 67 / 80 80 20 60 Russell 78 62 83 60 / 10 20 30 60 Great Bend 77 63 82 61 / 10 20 30 60 Salina 79 66 82 62 / 20 20 20 60 McPherson 76 65 82 64 / 30 30 20 60 Coffeyville 82 70 82 69 / 60 60 30 50 Chanute 80 69 81 67 / 70 70 30 60 Iola 79 69 81 67 / 80 70 30 70 Parsons-KPPF 81 70 82 68 / 60 60 30 50 && .ICT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Flash Flood Watch through Saturday morning for KSZ049>053- 067>072-082-083-091>096-098>100. && SHORT TERM...RBL LONG TERM...RBL AVIATION...RM HYDROLOGY...RBL
Hazardous weather outlook, May 24, 3:02 PM CDT, 1 hour 51 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Wichita KS 302 PM CDT Fri May 24 2019 KSZ032-033-047>053-067>072-082-083-091>096-098>100-250930- Russell-Lincoln-Barton-Ellsworth-Saline-Rice-McPherson-Marion-Chase- Reno-Harvey-Butler-Greenwood-Woodson-Allen-Kingman-Sedgwick-Harper- Sumner-Cowley-Elk-Wilson-Neosho-Chautauqua-Montgomery-Labette- 302 PM CDT Fri May 24 2019 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of Central Kansas, South Central Kansas and Southeast Kansas. .DAY ONE...This afternoon and Tonight Scattered to numerous thunderstorms will impact the region, likely most numerous this afternoon and evening generally southeast of a line extending from Salina to Lyons. Strong to severe thunderstorms are likely, with the primary threat being large hail and damaging winds, although an isolated tornado cannot be ruled out. Additionally, flash flooding is likely late this afternoon through the evening hours for areas generally along the Kansas Turnpike including the Flint Hills. This will be due to very high rainfall rates that maybe on the order of 3 inches per hour. Please refer to the Flash Flood Watch for additional information. Widespread river flooding, some of which is significant, will continue to be a threat as well. Please see the latest River Flood Warnings for the latest information. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday through Thursday Periodic rounds of thunderstorms with heavy rain, flooding, and severe weather will continue to threaten the area at times through Tuesday evening. Please continue to monitor later forecasts as we refine the threat areas for each day. Significant and high-impact river flooding will continue well into next week. Please see the latest River Flood Warnings for the latest information. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is likely this afternoon and evening, mainly southeast of a line extending from Salina to Lyons. && For a graphical version of this information, see our webpage at: http://weather.gov/wichita/hwo/
In the hours before
Local storm report, May 24, 4:20 PM CDT, 33 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Service Notice</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
<main class="wrap">
<section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
<div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
<h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
<p id="message1">
The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
</p>
<p id="message2">
Please try again in a few minutes.
</p>
<p class="small" id="detail">
If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
</p>
</section>
</main>
<script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>Local storm report, May 24, 4:29 PM CDT, 24 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
429 PM CDT FRI MAY 24 2019
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0419 PM TORNADO 1 S DOUGLASS 37.50N 97.01W
05/24/2019 BUTLER KS TRAINED SPOTTER
TORNADO WAS SPOTTED ON THE GROUND PASSING THROUGH THE
SOUTH SIDE OF DOUGLASS. TREE DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED.
&&
TVAUGHANLocal storm report, May 24, 4:36 PM CDT, 17 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
436 PM CDT FRI MAY 24 2019
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0419 PM TORNADO 2 E DOUGLASS 37.52N 96.97W
05/24/2019 BUTLER KS STORM CHASER
LARGE TREES DOWN SNAPPED AT THE BASE.
&&
CWHLocal storm report, May 24, 4:38 PM CDT, 15 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
438 PM CDT FRI MAY 24 2019
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0432 PM FLASH FLOOD 2 S BURNS 38.06N 96.89W
05/24/2019 BUTLER KS EMERGENCY MNGR
4 TO 6 INCHES OF WATER OVER THE ROAD ON COUNTY ROADS JUST
SOUTH OF THE BUTLER/MARION COUNTY LINE.
&&
TVAUGHANLocal storm report, May 24, 4:40 PM CDT, 13 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
440 PM CDT FRI MAY 24 2019
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0438 PM FLASH FLOOD POTWIN 37.94N 97.02W
05/24/2019 BUTLER KS EMERGENCY MNGR
EMERGENCY SERVICES RESPONDING TO POSSIBLE WATER RESCUE IN
POTWIN. REPORTS OF HIGH WATER FLOWING INTO A HOME.
&&
TVAUGHANLocal storm report, May 24, 4:43 PM CDT, 10 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
443 PM CDT FRI MAY 24 2019
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0440 PM HAIL 1 W LEON 37.69N 96.80W
05/24/2019 M1.00 INCH BUTLER KS EMERGENCY MNGR
NICKEL TO QUARTER SIZE HAIL WEST OF LEON ON HWY 400. ALSO
40+MPH WINDS.
&&
TVAUGHANThe 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
9.9 hours before the tornado, 163 km from the path. May 24, 2019.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1022 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -72 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 618 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 779 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 48 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 33 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 232 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 210 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.0
- Supercell composite
- 3.2
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.8 K/km
The surface observations
El Dorado (EQA), 17 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00 UTC |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Wichita radar (KICT), 73 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:55 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.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2019 tornado in KansasEvery tornado in Kansas since 1950Warnings in force in Kansas nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of May 24, 2019
18 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 24 | 3:40 AM CDT | EF1 | Marshall, KS | 9.6 | 50 | |||
| May 24 | 4:19 AM CDT | EF1 | Nemaha, KS | 5.9 | 50 | |||
| May 24 | 12:33 PM CDT | EF1 | McDonough, IL | 7.8 | 50 | |||
| May 24 | 12:41 PM CDT | EF1 | McDonough, IL | 1.9 | 30 | |||
| May 24 | 1:10 PM CDT | EF0 | Fulton, IL | 1.2 | 20 | $10,000 | ||
| May 24 | 4:19 PM CDT | EF1 | Butler, KS | 1.4 | 75 | |||
| May 24 | 5:24 PM CDT | EF1 | Barnes, ND | 4.1 | 150 | |||
| May 24 | 6:11 PM CDT | EF0 | Barnes, ND | 0.2 | 75 | |||
| May 24 | 6:20 PM CDT | EF0 | Steele, ND | 4.5 | 150 | |||
| May 24 | 6:35 PM CDT | EF0 | Jackson, OK | 0.5 | 20 | $20,000 | ||
| May 24 | 6:36 PM CDT | EF1 | Johnson, IA | 10.8 | 75 | |||
| May 24 | 7:22 PM CDT | EF0 | Mahnomen, MN | 6.6 | 200 | |||
| May 24 | 7:27 PM CDT | EF0 | Cedar, IA | 0.0 | 10 | |||
| May 24 | 7:30 PM CDT | EF1 | Mahnomen, MN | 3.5 | 200 | |||
| May 24 | 8:00 PM CDT | EF0 | Jackson, MO | 0.3 | 50 | |||
| May 24 | 8:08 PM CDT | EF0 | Jackson, MO | 0.7 | 25 | |||
| May 24 | 8:19 PM CDT | EF0 | Lafayette, MO | 2.7 | 40 | |||
| May 24 | 8:40 PM CDT | EF0 | Vernon, WI | 0.1 | 20 | $1,000 |
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.