Tornadoes · United States · Kansas · 2025

Unrated tornado, Horace to Tribune Arpt, Kansas, August 3, 2025

From Horace to Tribune Arpt, this Unrated tornado ran 0.0 miles across Greeley County on August 3, 2025, touching down at 4:22 PM MDT 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.

  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 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. 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
August 3, 2025
Touchdown
4:22 PM MDT (22:22 UTC)
Lifted
4:23 PM MDT (22:23 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.0 miles (0.0 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Greeley County
Touchdown point
38.530, -101.800
Lift-off point
38.530, -101.800
Record number
2508031622-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A pair of supercells developed across northwest Kansas and led to many reports of hail as large as baseballs near Sharon Springs and Grainfield, damaging winds and a couple of tornadoes across Greeley county.

Report from dispatch of a tornado that touched the ground and went back up quickly. It was not ongoing as of the report.

Multiple reports from chasers of a tornado that tracked near CR Z and CR 9 intersection. Further supported by livestream. Did not look to be ongoing after a minute or two.

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 21:39 UTC and running to 23:26 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
21:39 UTC23:26 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchGLD
21:54 UTC22:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLD
22:29 UTC22:40 UTCTornado WarningGLD
22:31 UTC23:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLD
22:39 UTC22:59 UTCTornado WarningGLD

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. The outlook in force was issued at 19:47 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

10.4 hours before the tornado, 186 km from the path. August 3, 2025.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 2025-08-03Temperature 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 -89525, lifted condensation level 1375 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 2025-08-03The 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 142 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 45 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-89525 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1375 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
142 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
288 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Dodge City, (KDDC), 00:00Z

1.6 hours after it, 186 km from the path. August 4, 2025.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 2025-08-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2467 joules per kilogram, CIN -10, lifted condensation level 1267 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 2025-08-04The 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 74 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 23 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
2467 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1044 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1267 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
74 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
161 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
5.2
0-3 km lapse rate
6.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 93 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:22 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
21:15 UTCHAIL 1.5Sharon SpringsWallace, KSQuarter to Ping pong sized hail reported via social media.
21:15 UTCHAIL 1.5Sharon SpringsWallace, KSQuarter to Ping pong sized hail reported via social media.
21:30 UTCHAIL 1.5Sharon SpringsWallace, KSImage of hailstones larger than half dollars from Sharon Springs from social media.
21:30 UTCHAIL 1.5Sharon SpringsWallace, KSImage of hailstones larger than half dollars from Sharon Springs from social media.
21:49 UTCHAIL 1.2510 Nne HoraceGreeley, KSHailed along the highway, estimated at half dollar size.
21:49 UTCHAIL 1.2510 Nne HoraceGreeley, KSHailed along the highway, estimated at half dollar size.
21:59 UTCHAIL 2.758 S Sharon SpringsWallace, KSSpotter reported hail generally around quarters in size, but with a few baseball sized hail stones as well.
21:59 UTCHAIL 2.758 S Sharon SpringsWallace, KSSpotter reported hail generally around quarters in size, but with a few baseball sized hail stones as well.
22:19 UTCHAIL 2.757 S Sharon SpringsWallace, KSCorrects previous hail report from 7 S Sharon Springs. Various hail sizes noted in multiple photos. Caused some damage to travel trailer and barn.
22:19 UTCHAIL 2.757 S Sharon SpringsWallace, KSCorrects previous hail report from 7 S Sharon Springs. Various hail sizes noted in multiple photos. Caused some damage to travel trailer and barn.
22:19 UTCHAIL 2.757 S Sharon SpringsWallace, KSVarious hail sizes noted in multiple photos.
22:22 UTCTORNADO3 N HoraceGreeley, KSRelayed report from dispatch of a tornado that touched the ground and went back up quickly. It was not ongoing as of the report. Time and location estimated from radar.
22:22 UTCTORNADO3 N HoraceGreeley, KSRelayed report from dispatch of a tornado that touched the ground and went back up quickly. It was not ongoing as of the report. Time and location estimated from radar.
22:31 UTCHAIL 25 Nw TribuneGreeley, KSPhotos provided showing hail next to ruler. Time estimated by radar.
22:31 UTCHAIL 25 Nw TribuneGreeley, KSPhotos provided showing hail next to ruler. Time estimated by radar.
22:33 UTCTSTM WND GST 611 Sse HoraceGreeley, KSSite KS-Tribune measures 61 mph wind gust.
22:33 UTCTSTM WND GST 611 Sse HoraceGreeley, KSSite KS-Tribune measures 61 mph wind gust.
22:43 UTCHAIL 1.75TribuneGreeley, KSVarious hail sizes noted.
22:43 UTCHAIL 1.75TribuneGreeley, KSVarious hail sizes noted.
22:48 UTCHAIL 1.75TribuneGreeley, KSPhotos of numerous hail stones from social media next to golf balls. Time estimated.
22:48 UTCHAIL 1.75TribuneGreeley, KSPhotos of numerous hail stones from social media next to golf balls. Time estimated.
22:48 UTCTORNADO13 Ssw HoraceGreeley, KSMultiple reports from chasers of a tornado that briefly touched the ground. Further supported by livestream. Time and location estimated from livestream and radar. Did not look to be ongoing after a minute or two.
22:48 UTCTORNADO13 Ssw HoraceGreeley, KSMultiple reports from chasers of a tornado that briefly touched the ground. Further supported by livestream. Time and location estimated from livestream and radar. Did not look to be ongoing after a minute or two.
23:01 UTCTORNADO17 Ne CoolidgeHamilton, KSBrief tornado lasting 2-3 minutes, no damage.
23:04 UTCTORNADO17 Ne CoolidgeHamilton, KSApproximate end time of brief tornado. No damage.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2025 tornado in KansasEvery tornado in Kansas since 1950Warnings in force in Kansas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of August 3, 2025

3 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 34:33 PM CDTUnratedMcPherson, NE0.010
August 34:44 PM MDTUnratedGreeley, KS0.850
August 36:01 PM MDTUnratedHamilton, KS0.625

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.