Tornadoes · United States · Kansas · 2024

EF0 tornado, Eminence, Kansas, June 18, 2024

This EF0 tornado ran 0.0 miles across Finney County on June 18, 2024, touching down at 3:46 PM CDT and reaching 10 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
June 18, 2024
Touchdown
3:46 PM CDT (20:46 UTC)
Path length
0.0 miles (0.0 km)
Path width
10 yards (9 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Finney County
Touchdown point
38.180, -100.540
Lift-off point
38.180, -100.540
Record number
2406181446-01

The damage survey

2 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS DDC, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EFU.

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

Hail and wind 06/18.

Numerous photos and video evidence of a tornado. Report of the tornado persistent for 10 minutes. Rating EFU due to no damage reported.

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 19:42 UTC and running to 23:04 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
19:42 UTC23:04 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchDDC
20:23 UTC21:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDC
21:07 UTC21:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDC
21:28 UTC22:15 UTCTornado WarningDDC
21:40 UTC22:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDC
21:56 UTC22:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDC
22:12 UTC23:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDC
22:15 UTC23:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDC
22:49 UTC23:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDC
00:00 UTC15:30 UTCFlood WatchDDC
00:34 UTC12:30 UTCFlood WarningDDC

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 19:56 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), 12:00Z

8.8 hours before the tornado, 72 km from the path. June 18, 2024.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 2024-06-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1953 joules per kilogram, CIN -300, lifted condensation level 835 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, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 2024-06-18The 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 219 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 24 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
1953 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-300 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1138 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
835 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
219 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
419 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2
0-3 km lapse rate
3.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Dodge City, (KDDC), 00:00Z

3.2 hours after it, 72 km from the path. June 19, 2024.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 2024-06-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2281 joules per kilogram, CIN -38, lifted condensation level 1217 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, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 2024-06-19The 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 145 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 26 knots.193958Sfc1 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
2281 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-38 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2289 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1217 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
145 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
232 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.2
Supercell composite
7.0
0-3 km lapse rate
6.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Garden_city (GCK), 32 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
18:50 UTC 271004.4
18:54 UTC9364180° 21 kt321004.7
18:55 UTC 271004.7
19:00 UTC180° 18 kt1004.7
19:05 UTC 271004.4
19:10 UTC 241004.4
19:15 UTC170° 19 kt241004.4
19:20 UTC 271004.4
19:25 UTC170° 18 kt241004.4
19:30 UTC 231004.4
19:35 UTC 301004.4
19:40 UTC 261004.4
19:45 UTC 231004.4
19:50 UTC 16 kt261004.4
19:54 UTC9664160° 19 kt291004.1
19:55 UTC 291004.1
20:00 UTC 301004.1
20:05 UTC 301004.1
20:10 UTC 301003.7
20:15 UTC 231003.7
20:20 UTC 261003.7
20:25 UTC 1003.4
20:30 UTC 311003.4
20:35 UTC 281003.4
20:40 UTC 231003.4
20:45 UTC 221003.4
20:50 UTC 1003
20:54 UTC9361340° 17 kt261003
20:55 UTC 231003
20:59 UTC9362330° 22 kt351003
21:00 UTC 311003.4
21:10 UTC 351003.4
21:15 UTC 341003.4
21:20 UTC 281004.1
21:25 UTC340° 19 kt231004.4
21:35 UTC 341004.7
21:40 UTC10° 19 kt231004.7
21:45 UTC 341004.7
21:50 UTC 451004.7
21:54 UTC816410° 28 kt491004.7
21:55 UTC 1005.1
22:00 UTC360° 21 kt1005.4
22:05 UTC20° 21 kt1005.4
22:10 UTC 361005.1
22:15 UTC10° 26 kt341005.1
22:20 UTC20° 21 kt281005.4
22:25 UTC 301005.4
22:30 UTC10° 21 kt261005.4
22:35 UTC 331005.8
22:40 UTC 311006.1
22:45 UTC 311005.8

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

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 68 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:42 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
20:02 UTCLANDSPOUT8 Ne Garden CityFinney, KS
20:46 UTCTORNADO16 Wnw KalvestaFinney, KSNumerous photos and video evidence of a tornado. Report of the tornado persistent for 10 mins. Rating EFU due to no damage reported.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2024 tornado in KansasEvery tornado in Kansas since 1950Warnings in force in Kansas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 18, 2024

2 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 187:47 PM CDTEF0Ford, KS0.010
June 189:13 PM CDTEF1Polk, WI5.0100

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.