Tornadoes · United States · Kansas · 2024
Unrated tornado, Gove to Pendennis, Kansas, May 1, 2024
From Gove to Pendennis, this Unrated tornado ran 0.9 miles across Lane and Gove counties on May 1, 2024, touching down at 8:55 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 1, 2024
- Touchdown
- 8:55 PM CDT (01:55 UTC)
- Lifted
- 9:01 PM CDT (02:01 UTC)
- On the ground
- 6 minutes
- Path length
- 0.9 miles (1.4 km)
- Path width
- 50 yards (46 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Counties
- Lane and Gove counties
- Touchdown point
- 38.699, -100.306
- Lift-off point
- 38.690, -100.300
- Record number
- 2405011955-01
The damage survey
5 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS DDC and NWS GLD, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EFU.
- No damage reported. Estimated location based on radar data and storm chaser video.
- At roughly this point the tornado may have moved south into Lane County.
- Chasers reported a landspout tornado in a field east of Hwy 23. Landspout appeared to only move slightly.
- Chasers reported a landspout in a field east of Highway 23. Location is an approximate end point as the landspout did not appear to move far from where it developed.
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
Two rounds of severe weather impacted Northwest Kansas as a strong low pressure system moved across the Central High Plains. Initially, two strong supercells moved over the southern halves of Logan and Gove counties producing up to grapefruit sized hail and two EF-Unknown landspout tornadoes. The hail and tornadoes primarily occurred in southern Gove County along and east of Highway 25. One of the landspouts developed along the Gove-Lane county line and continued on into northern Lane County. No damage was reported with either tornado. During the evening hours, a linear cluster of storms moved across Northwest Kansas from Colorado producing large hail and wind gusts estimated up to 96 mph. The strongest winds occurred in Eastern Graham County where estimated 90-96 mph straight line winds produced significant damage to two metal buildings.
Hail and landspouts 05/01.
Multiple reports from media and storm chasers of a landspout EF-U tornado in a field near the Gove/Lane county line. No damage was reported. Tornado was in Gove County for one minute before continuing for another five minutes in Lane County.
At roughly this point the tornado may have moved south into Lane County.
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 Goodland, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at May 1, 8:49 PM CDT, 6 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 1, 8:49 PM CDT, 6 minutes before
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</html>Hazardous weather outlook, May 1, 8:07 PM CDT, 48 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Goodland KS 707 PM MDT Wed May 1 2024 COZ090>092-KSZ001>004-013>016-027-041-NEZ079>081-030115- Yuma-Kit Carson-Cheyenne-Rawlins-Decatur-Norton-Sherman-Thomas- Sheridan-Graham-Wallace-Greeley-Dundy-Hitchcock-Red Willow- 707 PM MDT Wed May 1 2024 /807 PM CDT Wed May 1 2024/ This hazardous weather outlook is for extreme southwest Nebraska... northwest Kansas and east central Colorado. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT... More widespread thunderstorms are developing north of I-70 in East- Central Colorado, Northwest Kansas, and Southwest Nebraska this evening. A few severe storms capable of producing large to very large hail are possible, mainly between 7pm-3am MDT. A couple of tornadoes, damaging winds, and locally heavy rainfall will also be possible in those areas. A few thunderstorms may develop in northwest Kansas late this afternoon south of Interstate 70 and east of Highway 25. A Tornado Watch is in effect for Logan, Gove, and Wichita counties until Midnight CDT. An isolated supercell is possible, mainly between 4-8 PM MDT, capable of producing large hail, damaging winds, and perhaps a tornado. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY... Scattered thunderstorms are anticipated to develop over portions of northeast Colorado and northwest Kansas Friday afternoon. Severe storms capable of producing damaging winds are possible, mainly late Friday afternoon and Friday evening, as storms increase in coverage and track southeast toward southwestern and south-central Kansas. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation may be required. KSZ028-029-042-030115- Logan-Gove-Wichita- 807 PM CDT Wed May 1 2024 This hazardous weather outlook is for northwest Kansas. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT... A few thunderstorms may develop in northwest Kansas late this afternoon south of Interstate 70 and east of Highway 25. A Tornado Watch is in effect for Logan, Gove, and Wichita counties until Midnight CDT. An isolated supercell is possible, mainly between 4-8 PM MDT, capable of producing large hail, damaging winds, and perhaps a tornado. More widespread thunderstorms are developing north of I-70 in East- Central Colorado, Northwest Kansas, and Southwest Nebraska this evening. A few severe storms capable of producing large to very large hail are possible, mainly between 7pm-3am MDT. A couple of tornadoes, damaging winds, and locally heavy rainfall will also be possible in those areas. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY... Scattered thunderstorms are anticipated to develop over portions of northeast Colorado and northwest Kansas Friday afternoon. Severe storms capable of producing damaging winds are possible, mainly late Friday afternoon and Friday evening, as storms increase in coverage and track southeast toward southwestern and south-central Kansas. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation may be required.
In the hours before
Local storm report, May 1, 8:22 PM CDT, 33 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Goodland KS
722 PM MDT Wed May 1 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0715 PM Hail 15 S Gove 38.74N 100.45W
05/01/2024 M4.00 Inch Gove KS NWS Employee
&&Local storm report, May 1, 8:24 PM CDT, 31 minutes before
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</html>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), 00:00Z
1.9 hours before the tornado, 109 km from the path. May 2, 2024.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2345 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -28 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 1956 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 989 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 48 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 10 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 70 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 169 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.6
- Supercell composite
- 6.9
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 6.9 K/km
The surface observations
Scott City (TQK), 56 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 Dodge City radar (KDDC), 108 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:52 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 2024 tornado in KansasEvery tornado in Kansas since 1950Warnings in force in Kansas nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of May 1, 2024
12 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1 | 3:56 PM CDT | EF0 | Donley, TX | 0.4 | 125 | $20,000 | ||
| May 1 | 4:04 PM CDT | EF1 | Donley, TX | 1.8 | 150 | $50,000 | ||
| May 1 | 2:30 PM PDT | EF0 | Kittitas, WA | 0.3 | 1 | |||
| May 1 | 5:14 PM CDT | Unrated | Hutchinson, TX | 1.0 | 25 | |||
| May 1 | 5:49 PM CDT | Unrated | Hall, TX | 0.0 | 30 | |||
| May 1 | 6:26 PM CDT | Unrated | Gove, KS | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| May 1 | 6:43 PM CDT | EF0 | Hansford, TX | 0.3 | 30 | $15,000 | ||
| May 1 | 6:46 PM CDT | EF0 | Hansford, TX | 0.2 | 15 | $10,000 | ||
| May 1 | 6:53 PM CDT | EF1 | Hansford, TX | 1.3 | 75 | $50,000 | ||
| May 1 | 7:10 PM CDT | Unrated | Crosby, TX | 0.0 | 30 | |||
| May 1 | 7:52 PM CDT | Unrated | Hall, TX | 1.3 | 100 | |||
| May 1 | 12:04 AM CDT | Unrated | Comanche, OK | 0.5 | 40 |
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.