Tornadoes · United States · Kansas · 2025

Unrated tornado, Medway, Kansas, August 3, 2025

This Unrated tornado ran 0.6 miles across Hamilton County on August 3, 2025, touching down at 6:01 PM MDT and reaching 25 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
6:01 PM MDT (00:01 UTC)
Lifted
6:04 PM MDT (00:04 UTC)
On the ground
3 minutes
Path length
0.6 miles (1.0 km)
Path width
25 yards (23 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Hamilton County
Touchdown point
38.233, -101.806
Lift-off point
38.225, -101.811
Record number
2508031801-01

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.

  • Start of brief tornado starting at 2301 UTC and lasting 2-3 minutes. No damage or items to impact
  • Approximate end point of brief tornado lasting 2-3 minutes. No damage

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

An upper-level trough moved over western Kansas early in the morning. Correlating with a PVU maximum and left exit region of the jet aloft, plenty of dynamical support was present for strong storms to develop producing all hazards. This included a weak and brief tornado, 4 inch hail, and 85 mph winds. This manifested in a couple supercells and a small bowing MCS moving southward across SW Kansas.

Storm chaser video showed a brief tornado last for a couple minutes. No damage was found.

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 01:17 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
21:39 UTC01:17 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchDDC
22:42 UTC23:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDC
23:03 UTC23:27 UTCTornado WarningDDC
23:24 UTC00:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDC
23:52 UTC00:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm 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. 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), 00:00Z

0.0 hours before the tornado, 175 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

Dodge City, (KDDC), 12:00Z

12.0 hours after it, 175 km from the path. August 4, 2025.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Dodge City, at 12:00Z 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 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -78789, lifted condensation level 1913 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 2025-08-04The 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 30 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 40 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-78789 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1913 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
2 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
30 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
112 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
2.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 127 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:01 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
21:49 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.
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.
23:47 UTCHAIL 2.756 S SyracuseHamilton, KSReport received from social media with pictures.
23:48 UTCHAIL 214 S SyracuseHamilton, KS

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 34:22 PM MDTUnratedGreeley, KS0.050
August 34:44 PM MDTUnratedGreeley, KS0.850

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.