Tornadoes · United States · Kansas · 2022

EF1 tornado, Narka, Kansas, June 7, 2022

This EF1 tornado ran 3.1 miles across Republic County on June 7, 2022, touching down at 10:15 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.

  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.

The record

Rating
EF1
Date
June 7, 2022
Touchdown
10:15 PM CDT (03:15 UTC)
Lifted
10:25 PM CDT (03:25 UTC)
On the ground
10 minutes
Path length
3.1 miles (4.9 km)
Path width
75 yards (69 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Republic County
Touchdown point
39.961, -97.425
Lift-off point
39.939, -97.375
Record number
2206072115-01

The damage survey

12 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS TOP, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 93 mph.

  • Mature cottonwood snapped blown toward SE
  • Typical scene in morroville tree limbs down large and small some trees snapped looks like Washington damage throughout town
  • Two grain bins showing stress from what appears to have been 80-90mph northwest winds. Photo is looking southeast so you see the northwest side of the bins
  • Large grain bin crushed from what appears to have been a NNW wind. Unknown cause could be tornado

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

A cluster of storms moved out of Nebraska during the evening of June 7th and evolved into a line of storms that accelerated southeast across central and northeast Kansas. At least 2 small tornadoes occurred along with widespread damaging straight line winds of 60 to 80 mph.

Damage survey noted damage to main grain elevator in town with a sporadic damage path noted to the southeast to trees limbs with lack of access further southeast unable to determine how much further southeast path occurred. Area primarily fallow field or newly planted corn so few DI to see from ground around end point.

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.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 23:38 UTC and running to 04:53 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
23:38 UTC04:53 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchTOP
02:40 UTC03:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOP
03:15 UTC04:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOP
03:19 UTC03:27 UTCTornado 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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:59 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.

Omaha, NE (KOAX), 00:00Z

3.3 hours before the tornado, 175 km from the path. June 8, 2022.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 2022-06-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 799 joules per kilogram, CIN -19, lifted condensation level 1456 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 2022-06-08The 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 16 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 47 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
799 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-19 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1684 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1456 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
2 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
16 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
234 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
7.9
0-3 km lapse rate
7.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Omaha, NE (KOAX), 12:00Z

8.7 hours after it, 175 km from the path. June 8, 2022.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 2022-06-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -76389, lifted condensation level 1033 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 2022-06-08The 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 -68 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 79 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-76389 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1033 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
79 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-68 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
33 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 98 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 03:14 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
03:08 UTCTSTM WND DMG7 Nw MundenRepublic, KSREPORT FROM MPING: 3-INCH TREE LIMBS BROKEN; POWER POLES BROKEN.
03:15 UTCTSTM WND DMGMorrowvilleWashington, KSMULTIPLE LARGE TREES DOWN.
03:27 UTCTSTM WND DMGMorrowvilleWashington, KSCORRECTS PREVIOUS TSTM WND DMG REPORT FROM MORROWVILLE. TREES UPROOTED (8-12 INCH DIAMTER) WITH 8 INCH LIMBS DOWN.
03:29 UTCTSTM WND DMGMorrowvilleWashington, KSDELAY REPORT RECEIVED VIA SOCIAL MEDIA. LARGE TREE UPROOTED.
03:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 N MorrowvilleWashington, KSEMPTY GRAIN BINS WITH WALLS CAVED IN, TIN ROOFS BLOWN OFF SHED, UTILITY TRAILER ROLLED.
03:31 UTCTSTM WND GST 70MorrowvilleWashington, KSDELAYED REPORT. SEVERAL 3 INCH TREE LIMBS DOWN AND DAMAGE TO OUTBUILDINGS.
03:31 UTCTSTM WND GST 722 Sse ConcordiaCloud, KSCORRECTS PREVIOUS NON-TSTM WND GST REPORT FROM 2 SSE CONCORDIA. ASOS STATION KCNK CONCORDIA.
03:31 UTCNON-TSTM WND GST 722 Sse ConcordiaCloud, KSASOS STATION KCNK CONCORDIA.
03:40 UTCTSTM WND GST 602 Wnw LinnWashington, KS
03:40 UTCTSTM WND GST 772 S WashingtonWashington, KSMEASURED AT THE KANSAS STATE MESONET SITE NEAR WASHINGTON, KANSAS.
03:54 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Nw WatervilleMarshall, KSEMPTY GRAIN BIN FLIPPED OVER AND THROWN.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2022 tornado in KansasEvery tornado in Kansas since 1950Warnings in force in Kansas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 7, 2022

12 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 72:21 PM MDTEF1Niobrara, WY3.5225
June 75:03 PM MDTUnratedSedgwick, CO0.050
June 75:09 PM MDTUnratedSedgwick, CO0.050
June 75:30 PM MDTEF0Mora, NM0.210
June 75:44 PM MDTUnratedPhillips, CO0.050
June 76:09 PM MDTUnratedPhillips, CO0.050
June 76:36 PM MDTUnratedBent, CO3.425
June 76:56 PM MDTUnratedProwers, CO6.420
June 78:18 PM MDTUnratedBaca, CO6.320
June 79:42 PM CDTEF0Nuckolls, NE9.425$1.0 million
June 79:27 PM MDTUnratedBaca, CO8.120
June 711:02 PM CDTEF1Marshall, KS2.875

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.