Tornadoes · United States · Kansas · 2024

EF0 tornado, Hazelton, Kansas, May 25, 2024

This EF0 tornado ran 1.3 miles across Barber County on May 25, 2024, touching down at 7:15 PM CDT and reaching 1 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
May 25, 2024
Touchdown
7:15 PM CDT (00:15 UTC)
Lifted
7:18 PM CDT (00:18 UTC)
On the ground
3 minutes
Path length
1.3 miles (2.2 km)
Path width
1 yards (1 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Barber County
Touchdown point
37.090, -98.400
Lift-off point
37.108, -98.392
Record number
2405251815-01

The damage survey

11 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS DDC and NWS ICT, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 125 mph.

  • Estimated starting point via radar.
  • Estimated end point based on radar data.

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 05/25.

EF0 tornado developed in Hazelton and went NE 1 mile.

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 tornado watch, issued at 20:27 UTC and running to 02:31 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
20:27 UTC02:31 UTCTornado WatchDDC
22:37 UTC23:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDC
23:08 UTC00:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDC
23:39 UTC00:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDC
00:17 UTC00:30 UTCTornado 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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 20:09 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), 00:00Z

0.3 hours before the tornado, 152 km from the path. May 26, 2024.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 2024-05-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1898 joules per kilogram, CIN -87, lifted condensation level 1730 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 2024-05-26The 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 208 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 65 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
1898 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-87 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1906 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1730 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
65 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
208 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
235 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
2.9
0-3 km lapse rate
9.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Dodge City, (KDDC), 12:00Z

11.7 hours after it, 152 km from the path. May 26, 2024.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 2024-05-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 163 joules per kilogram, CIN -341, lifted condensation level 1406 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 2024-05-26The 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 -80 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 49 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
163 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-341 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1406 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-80 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
44 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.3
0-3 km lapse rate
4.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Vance AFB radar (KVNX), 46 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:15 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
23:55 UTCHAIL 1Medicine LodgeBarber, KSReport was from social media with pictures.
23:55 UTCHAIL 1.5Medicine LodgeBarber, KS
00:07 UTCHAIL 1.752 S Medicine LodgeBarber, KS
00:07 UTCHAIL 1.752 S Medicine LodgeBarber, KS
00:15 UTCTORNADOHazeltonBarber, KSEF0 tornado developed in Hazelton and went NE 1 mile.
00:20 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Nnw HazeltonBarber, KSReport of suspected tornado.
00:20 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Nnw HazeltonBarber, KSReport of suspected tornado.
00:27 UTCHAIL 1.256 S AtticaHarper, KS
00:31 UTCTORNADO4 Ene CorwinHarper, KSDelayed report of a tornado 10 miles west-southwest of Anthony. The spotter observed damage.
00:32 UTCHAIL 211 Nnw WaldronHarper, KS
00:35 UTCHAIL 15 S CorwinHarper, KS
00:58 UTCTORNADO10 W AnthonyHarper, KSTrained spotter indicated a roof completely removed off of house. Power lines down as well.

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 May 25, 2024

19 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 254:59 PM EDTEF0Beaver, PA0.130$10,000
May 255:16 PM CDTEF1Archer, TX3.4200$20,000
May 255:33 PM CDTEF1Clay, TX3.4100$2,000
May 255:42 PM CDTEF2Eastland, TX2.570$100,000
May 256:14 PM CDTEF1Woodward, OK2.650$40,000
May 256:29 PM CDTUnratedMajor, OK3.4200
May 257:29 PM CDTEF2Harper, KS6.7100
May 257:54 PM CDTUnratedLove, OK0.330
May 258:06 PM CDTUnratedLove, OK0.550
May 259:39 PM CDTEF3Valley View tornado, TX47.31,400780$19 million
May 2510:46 PM CDTEF1Denton, TX1.4800$1.0 million
May 2511:19 PM CDTEF3Claremore–Pryor tornado, OK23.92,000223$45 million
May 2511:20 PM CDTEF1Collin, TX8.3800$10,000
May 2511:23 PM CDTEF3Collin, TX0.7175$1.2 million
May 2512:07 AM CDTEF1Mayes, OK6.12,000$1.0 million
May 2512:15 AM CDTEF1Hunt, TX1.150$50,000
May 2512:25 AM CDTEF1Mayes, OK2.4300$3.8 million
May 2512:36 AM CDTEF1Delaware, OK1.8650
May 2512:59 AM CDTEF3Decatur tornado, Oklahoma and Arkansas7.93,2002$6.2 million

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.